18 of the Biggest Emo Hits Ever from When We Were Young Festival Artists

From My Chemical Romance to Paramore.

by:
Jackie Kolgraf
October 19, 2022

When We Were Young Festival Preview SpecialThis weekend, we’re putting on our darkest eyeliner and digging our studded belts out of storage as the inaugural When We Were Young Festival heads to Las Vegas. With an epic lineup of emo and rock bands from the ’00s and ’10s, the festival is the ultimate nostalgic destination for millennials, and SiriusXM is helping you relive these golden years (without the use of your blue iPod Nano).

Alt Nation (Ch. 36) has put together a playlist of the biggest emo hits ever — from early to mid-2000s emo, screamo and pop-punk artists playing When We Were Young Festival — that’ll instantly transport you back to the days of MySpace, Converse, chipped black nail polish and Manic Panic. And if you weren’t part of the scene back then, allow us to introduce you to bands from the emo era you need to know. You’ll be writing their lyrics on your shoes in no time.


Related: See the Top 25 EZoo Artists of All Time 


Plus, don’t miss live sets, backstage interviews, highlights and more, straight from When Were Young Fest, all weekend long on Alt Nation.

Click here to stream now

Top 18 Artists

18. “Face Down” – Red Jumpsuit Apparatus (2006)

17. “Ohio Is for Lovers” – Hawthorne Heights (2004)

16. “Everything I Ask For” – The Maine (2008)

15. “Until the Day I Die” – Story of the Year (2003)

14. “Understanding in a Car Crash” – Thursday (2001)

13. “Mercy Me” – Alkaline Trio (2005)

12. “Feel Good Drag” – Anberlin (2005)

11. “I’ve Got Friends” – Manchester Orchestra (2009)

10. “Swing, Swing” – All-American Rejects (2002)

9. “First Day of My Life” – Bright Eyes (2005)

8. “The Taste of Ink” – The Used (2001)

7. “Complicated” – Avril Lavigne (2002)

6. “Miss Murder” – AFI (2006)

5. “MakeDamnSure” – Taking Back Sunday (2006)

4. “Misery Business” – Paramore (2007)

3. “Screaming Infidelities” – Dashboard Confessional (2000)

 2. “The Middle” – Jimmy Eat World (2001)

1. “Welcome to the Black Parade” – My Chemical Romance (2006)


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