Last year, the people behind Salt Lake City’s Kilby Block Party (aka S&S Presents) put on a new emo (and emo-adjacent) festival in Las Vegas called Best Friends Forever, which focused on the genre’s indie rock-oriented second (’90s-era) and fourth (2010s-era) waves, offsetting all the third wave emo nostalgia that took over Vegas one week later at When We Were Young. BFF already confirmed that it will return from October 10-12 (which is once again one week before When We Were Young), and organizers just sent out an email to 2024 ticketholders with a very exciting detail: “about 70% of the people who responded to our survey requested an artist that has been booked for the 2025 line-up.”
The first edition brought back Cap’n Jazz, who have reunited in the past but had been back in hibernation for seven years, so it seems totally possible that this is a tease of another exciting reunion. Texas is the Reason? The Promise Ring? Mineral? Christie Front Drive? The just-reunited Rilo Kiley? Jawbreaker or even Jets To Brazil? We’ll find out soon but until then, any other guesses?
Update: looks like Mineral is one of the confirmed bands.
Update: BFF organizers have given us a statement further explaining the quote about the survey: “The intention of our email was to celebrate the fact that a large portion of our 2025 lineup is made of various bands that BFF attendees want to see. Each survey respondent listed 5 bands. 70% of the time, we saw any one of the 38 bands on the 2025 lineup listed in survey responses. The top 5 bands requested were listed in 10-15% of the survey responses. We landed several of our top 5 requested acts. There will be rarities, reunions, and farewell shows. We can’t wait to release the lineup!”
The email also points out some logistical changes to the festival, including that they’ll now have free water refill stations after last year’s much-talked about water mishaps that were lighting up Reddit. They’re also now allowing re-entry for all 3-day passholders, they’re promising that there will be improved viewing areas for those with accessibility needs, and they’ll have more food and drink options, including reduced prices for beverages, more size options, and additional non-alcoholic drink options.
BFF also points out that an early bird pre-sale for past ticketholders begins Thursday (2/27) at 10 AM PST, and the public early bird pre-sale begins Friday (2/28) at 10 AM PST. Stay tuned for more updates and see the full email below.
Meanwhile, Cap’n Jazz just recently announced more tour dates for 2025, including two NYC shows. They also gave their sole album its first vinyl reissue since its initial 1995 release, and you can pick up the BrooklynVegan-exclusive ice blue vinyl variant in the BV shop.
Hello!
On behalf of Best Friends Forever, we wanted to thank you again for attending our first ever BFF in 2024. We are also grateful to everyone who answered our survey questions in an effort to improve year over year.
ARTISTS in 2025
We are happy to report that about 70% of the people who responded to our survey requested an artist that has been booked for the 2025 line-up! The full announcement is coming very soon. This was our favorite part of the survey. We loved seeing who everyone would be excited for and it really made a difference in how we curated the lineup this year.LOGISTICS in 2025
With last year being our first edition of BFF and being in a new space that we had never worked in, we came away with a lot of ideas for improvement (a lot which came from helpful feedback via your survey responses) and we are making adjustments to help make Best Friends Forever in 2025 even better! These changes include:* Re-entry will be allowed for all 3-Day passes (both GA and VIP). GA+ has been discontinued.
* The Downtown Las Vegas Event Center will be providing complimentary water refill stations which will be available each day from open until close.
* Improved viewing areas for those with accessibility needs.
* Beverages will have more size options and reduced prices.
* Additional non-alcoholic drink options will be offered.
* Food options will be better targeted to audience requests.
* Additional craft & retail vendors will be added.
As a further thank you to past attendees, we are offering the exclusive chance to purchase Early Bird presale tickets for BFF 2025 ahead of the lineup announcement.
On Feb 27th at 10am PST, you will be able to purchase 3-Day passes starting at $199 GA and $299 VIP. This offer will be available for 24 hours until the public Early Bird goes live the following day Feb 28th at 10am PST for $219 GA and $319 VIP.
The number of available Early Bird passes will be very limited.
While we can’t give away the 2025 line-up just yet, we can say that this year’s BFF is going to be very special and we can’t thank you enough for being a part of the journey of this festival.
Thanks again for giving us your thoughts and we hope to be seeing you again very soon! 🦊🧚♀️