Locals Added to OC Observatory Fest

While critics are busy trying to predict the eventual decline of music festival popularity, go ahead and add another jewel to an already-stacked year: The inaugural When We Were Young Festival announced its two-day lineup Tuesday morning and the April 8-9 throwdown is, as Consequence of Sound aptly put it, "an emo kid's dream come true."

The upcoming fest, which is scheduled to invade the Observatory Orange County in Santa Ana, is headlined by none other than the patron saint of sad people everywhere, Morrissey.

However -- as the Glum One has a tendency to cancel shows (which the Hard Times already hilariously skewered) -- festival organizers went big down the line on late-'90s/early-'00s punk and emo bands: AFI, Descendents, Taking Back Sunday, Alkaline Trio, the Get Up Kids, and Saves the Day are all slated to perform (what, no My Chemical Romance?).

Of course, in an effort to be inclusive, they've got the indie-rock genre set with Dr. Dog, Silversun Pickups, Cage the Elephant and Foxygen, while also appeasing the all-important surf/rock crowd with FIDLAR, Beach Fossils, SadGirl, Tijuana Panthers, the Buttertones, the Regrettes and others. And, hey, if none of those names interest you, at least go for the absolute awesomeness of rock-anthem overlords Sheer Mag and thank us later.

While the lineup's admittedly pretty killer, it's a couple groups in the slightly smaller print that we're particularly thrilled to see included -- specifically, Pinback and the Frights. Both are, of course, hometown heroes when it comes to our local music scene and seeing them on the detention-sketched show poster makes our hearts swell with pride.

Pinback's most notably been, uh, back on the tour trail recently after a hiatus, for a 10th anniversary tour for their 2007 "Autumn of the Seraphs" album while the Frights have been living the dream it seems -- opening a recent tour with WWWY Fest mates FIDLAR; signing to Dangerbird Records; and releasing a critically acclaimed new album ("You Are Going to Hate This") last year. Heck they even took home the highly sought after Breakout Artist of the Year at our 2016 SoundDiego Music Awards. Huzzah!

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It's not everyday that some of our favorite San Diego bands get tapped for a huge festival this, and since Santa Ana's only a hop, skip and a jump away, we may just have to don some eyeliner and follow the river of tears up there in April.

Tickets to When We Were Young go on sale Friday, Feb. 10 at 10 a.m. PST. For more information, visit the official website.

When We Were Young Festival lineup