I have fully embraced my status as an elder emo. During my freshman year of college, way back in 2001, I discovered bands like Taking Back Sunday, Brand New, Thursday and Senses Fail, and my life was forever changed. That the genre has not only survived, but continues to thrive and influence new generations of bands was clearly on display at the final date of the Sad Summer Fest, as it closed out on an insanely hot day at Irvine’s FivePoint Amphitheatre.
Punk rock festivals are nothing new to me – I was a Warped Tour kid, and saw Taking Back Sunday for the first time nearly 20 years ago at a Warped Tour. I’ve also attended Riot Fest, as well as Arroyo Seco, Coachella and Beachlife Festival. So how did Sad Summer compare to those other fests?
Let’s get the bad out of the way first: water stations. The only area where the fest was really not prepared was at the lone, skimpy water station. As opposed to other fests where they’ve set up large water dispensing units, with multiple taps for concert goers to easy and quickly fill up their water bottles to stay hydrated, Sad Summer had one water refill machine that broke, and two Arrowhead water dispensers with jugs that needed frequent refilling. This led to extremely long lines to get water, and while that may have been a win for every booth selling Liquid Death or other refreshments, it was a lose for the sweating music fans.
Now the good. The environment was a lot of fun, and played into its emo credentials with inflatable emo teddy bears, emo kid photo booths (playing off the recent Barbie booth trends), games, and plenty of food and drink options (for those looking to save money, the venue’s booths were a better deal than the food trucks). I also appreciated that each band had their own individual tent for selling merchandise, as opposed to one booth for everything. It led to much more order and gave artists a place to come meet their fans after sets (shoutout Cliffdiver).
Speaking of Cliffdiver, they kicked off the fest with a powerhouse performance. Despite recently suffering from a serious bus accident, the band were a force on stage, mixing emo, punk, and even a welcome dash of ska (shout-out to Donnie their sax player) into their sound. The dual guitars and dual vocalists gave a lot of texture and diversity to their sound, and lyrically the band infused a whole lot of hope and positivity into their songs. At one point, vocalist Joey Duffy admitted to attempting to take his own life in the past, and then why he was so happy to still be here, reassuring fans that things get better from an authentic place. So needless to say, I was won over and queued up their music for my ride home that evening.
Sydney, Australia’s Stand Atlantic came next with a fierce performance. Probably the hardest band on the bill, Stand Atlantic got the first epic circle pit of the day going. Vocalist Bonnie Fraser didn’t mess around, encouraging the mosh pit, as the band went into numbers that could fit in as well at hard rock fests like Aftershock as they did at Sad Summer. Tracks like the more pop-leaning “Pity Party” were the kind of tunes that reminded you of why they also belonged in the pop-punk/emo world, with its catchy, shout-along chorus. And I also had to love how the band repped their Aussieness by bringing back out members of Cliffdiver to join them for “shoeys”, taking shots out of tiny shoes.
In between sets, I found myself needing to escape to the shade for a respite from the heat. While I resigned myself to being a squishy ball of sweat for most of the day, there was little escape from the oppressive sun in the main venue, and all the bands playing during the day shared their appreciation for the fans who showed up early and braved the torturous conditions.
I was definitely starting to wear down already when Mom Jeans came on. I had only heard a few songs by the band prior to the show, but based on the crazy long lines for their merch all day, it was clear that something was happening around this band (only Hot Mulligan seemed to match them for consistently long merch lines). If the band’s fans were worn down by the heat, they certainly didn’t show it. Despite the songs being a bit more of a quirky, indie pop/pop-punk style, the front area still got into a circle pit on tracks, and showed enthusiasm for all their songs. While personally I didn’t find myself too strongly drawn to the band’s music, they certainly are a band to watch if their passionate fanbase continues to grow.
Both I and my fellow IndyReview writer Jared Eichmann (who was also in attendance at Sad Summer) are Hot Mulligan fans (read Jared’s past write-up of one of their shows), and so we knew a bit of what to expect from their performance. The band has a way of taking jagged, coarse melodies and making them into anthemic punk rock songs. Even if I can usually only make out 10% of the lyrics on their tracks, I still can keep listening to the band over and over again. And their performance at Sad Summer was no different. Both their new and “old crusty” tracks went on like gangbusters, and I would say the band is as close to a Gen Z version of Taking Back Sunday as we’re going to get. There were a number of extra fun moments too, with vocalist Nathan Sanville showing off his “worm” dance moves, and grabbing a fan’s paper to draw a dick for a future tattoo (perhaps). They’re a dynamic band who have certainly earned their place among the emo elites.
After so much time in the sun, I needed a break for food and shade, so unfortunately had to sacrifice seeing PVRIS perform in order to save my strength for the remainder of the night. I grabbed a burger and got into conversation with some other show attendees, talking about bands like Circa Survive and Bright Eyes (potentially future Sad Summer headliners?). After the much needed rest, and finally getting a water refill, I returned to my seat for The Maine.
While I’ve been familiar with the band since their early days, I have to admit I only really started listening to them a couple years ago with their excellent album XOXO: From Love and Anxiety in Real Time. After that album, and with their fantastic recent singles, I was excited to see The Maine live for the first time. They certainly wasted no time with impressing me. Blasting out the door with their new song “Blame”, they proved why radio is finally embracing them. They really are more of a pop rock n’ roll band, with elements of power pop and dance rock, than a traditional emo group. Their big, hooky songs have mass-appeal quality, and the world is finally starting to take notice. Their most recent single, “Love You A Little”, is one of their biggest yet, and the band took advantage of being on tour with Taking Back Sunday to bring Adam Lazzara out to join on the song live (watch the video at the top).
Vocalist John O’Callaghan put in the effort to make sure everyone in the amphitheatre was having a good time, running off stage and up into the stands to interact with fans are make it a memorable performance. It was bombastic in a good way, and the energy kept going even during the ballad “Into Your Arms”. There are few songs stickier than “Sticky”, so after the band played that it of course went on repeat in my skull, even as they closed their set with their most “emo” song “Black Butterflies & Deja Vu”.
If you follow The Indy Review, you’re probably already aware that we like Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness a lot too. You can read Jared’s review of his most recent album, or my coverage of his intimate Hotel Cafe show, to get a sense. This was my first time seeing the man with a full band since catching him back in the day with Something Corporate, and it was a thrill to see how far he’s come as a live performer. While his songs remain sincere and heartfelt, as a performer he’s clearly out to have a great time as he goes through his catalogue.
The two highlights for me: first was him digging back out my favorite SoCo song “Hurricane”, and performing it while crowd-surfing in a giant inflatable llama. What else can you say? Great song and hilarious way of performing it. He had a great time with props, using a large colorful parachute during “Synesthesia”, and donning a sparkly cape for “Stars”. But it wasn’t a prop that made his closing with “Cecilia and the Satellite” special – it was bringing out the song’s namesake, his daughter Cecilia, to join him on the song. The moment was purely adorable, and a good reminder that even emo’s can grow up to be happy family dads and moms.
As I said at the top of the article, I saw Taking Back Sunday nearly two decades ago at the Warper Tour, and believe me that performance stuck with me. Their chaotic, ruthless performance made them one of the most important bands of that era for me, with Lazzara climbing the stage and hanging upside down from the rafters while performing. While I have remained a TBS fan since, I hadn’t seen them live since then, so was interested to see how their live show had evolved as they have.
I didn’t expect the same physical theatrics, as those types of moves just don’t become as possible at forty as they are in your twenties. Thankfully Lazzara has learned to adapt his performance style to remain a completely mesmerizing frontman. He seems to have taken lessons from James Brown and Chris Rock in both his dance moves and audience interaction, though the bit of crazy he lets shine behind his eyes while singing is wholly his own. The band opened their set with the fantastic “A Decade Under the Influence” and then went into the scathing “Liar (It Takes One to Know One)”. The songs came back to me as if I was listening to them just moments before. Adam’s voice still sounds great, and the band’s camaraderie seems to still be intact. Co-vocalist/guitarist John Nolan was quick with a witty repartee, and while he wasn’t able to scream like he used to (and the sound on his vocals sounded a little too low at times), his contributions were still impactful on the set.
While the band’s older songs will always be what I go for, I was just as excited to hear underrated tracks like the Tom Petty-ish “You Can’t Look Back” and the proto-punk anthem “Tidal Wave”, which is equal parts Ramones and Against Me!. As the band is prepping to release a new album (I believe this year), they played their current single “The One”, a mid-tempo romantic song, and later in the set, the unreleased but even better “S’Old”. And as a surprise to no one, they closed their set (and the Sad Summer Fest) with the one-two punch of elder emo anthems; “Cute without the “e”” and “MakeDamnSure”, both of which got the pit riled into a final fervor for the evening. Taking Back Sunday have earned their stripes as not simply an iconic emo band, but simply as a great touring rock unit. It’s thrilling to see how younger generations have embraced them and their now platinum debut album. Can’t wait to hear what they do next (and I secretly hope John Nolan brings back his side-project Straylight Run for a west coast tour at some point soon).
If you missed the fest this year, treat yourself to a selection of the bands’ setlists in this playlist.
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