Photo of Hawthorne Heights by Erica Vining
It’s 2005, and you log into your Myspace account with the name “Ericahhmazing” to update your profile photo to a stunning black and white of you laying in a road with your bangs combed as far over as they’ll go and the caption #roadkill. I may be decades older now, and considered an “elder emo,” but Ericahhmazing lives on as a peak moment in my life.
The dreary, overcast afternoon Saturday set the scene for a gathering of my fellow elder emo’s for the Is For Lovers Festival. Donned head to toe in black, I had one really difficult decision before I braved the gloomy outdoors for the road trip to Pop’s in Sauget, IL—Docs or Vans?
This Wild Life
We made it to the city just in time to catch This Wild Life, a bouncy duo hailing out of Long Beach, California. With their neon graffiti button-ups and matching board shorts, This Wild Life was arguably my favorite set of the night. Kevin Jordan and Anthony Del Grosso are impressive instrumentalists, with each playing a variety through the set which included your standard guitar and bass as well as drumming, ukulele, and keys. Describing themselves as the “discount Dashboard” and “secondhand Secondhand Serenade,” the duo captured the attention of the audience both with their wit and attire as well as their blaring talent. Jordan and Del Grosso did have some help on stage with a touring bassist. This Wild Life played primarily originals, but they did take time to throw in a cover of the pop punk hit “Cute Without the E” by Taking Back Sunday which hyped up even the saddest of emo kid in attendance.
Stick to Your Guns
Stick to Your Guns (STYG) followed This Wild Life, and this set stood out for the stark difference in genre. I didn’t expect hardcore to make an appearance at a pop punk festival, however, that’s exactly what STYG brought with them. The band is large, with at least five members on stage through the set. If you’ve been to Pop’s you know that stage isn’t massive, but that didn’t stop STYG from having the highest energy of the night. Overall, STYG was enjoyable for lovers of metal music, and they had impressive energy on stage which made it fun to watch even if you prefer a softer band.
Armor for Sleep
Armor for Sleep transitioned us back to a pop punk vibe, making their first appearance at Pop’s. The band skipped the typical jest about how to pronounce Sauget and launched quickly into their set. The band has a tumultuous history with several lengthy hiatuses before officially returning to the scene in 2020 ahead of their album The Rain Museum. Armor for Sleep has been a staple on many emo tours including with Dashboard Confessional, Hawthorne Heights, and more recently the band performed on the Emo’s Not Dead Tour with Yellowcard as a headliner. Playing through eight songs, fans were treated to their newest release, the single “In Another Life,” which debuted July 18th. “In Another Life” has a nostalgic quality about it, reminiscent of the early 2000s at the peak of pop punk.
Anberlin
Anberlin followed Armor for Sleep, with Matty Mullins of Memphis May Fire filling in for vocalist Stephen Christian as he takes a hiatus. As a huge fan of Memphis May Fire, and a former emo kid, this was a collaboration I was really excited to see on stage. Mullins wasn’t the only fill-in for the set, with another hard rock band offering up their drummer to cover Anberlin’s drummer Nathan Young, who had a baby recently. Drummer Daniel Nelson of The Word Alive (among others) stepped up for the tour and blended seamlessly with the rest of the crew on stage. Formed in 2002, Anberlin has remained a constant on every punk playlist for the last two decades. Opening with “The Resistance” off their 2008 album New Surrender, Mullins took the stage in a haze of green lights. Anberlin appeared to be the only band of the night who weren’t operating solely on house lighting and the addition of LED sticks added dynamics to the visuals of the set, changing from greens to blues and oranges as the set progressed. Anberlin had ten songs on stage, enticing crowd surfers for the first time of the night.
Thursday
The band Thursday followed Anberlin as the night’s co-headliner and I’ll be honest, despite my emo peak in my teenage years, I was unfamiliar with this band. In my research ahead of the show, I found the band formed in 1997 and are another rare act that has remained mostly intact in terms of members since their inception. Thursday was another band that is large, packing six members on the tiny stage at Pops. The dark house lighting made it difficult to capture the set on camera, with the exception being vocalist Geoff Rickly making great use of the cramped stage, using every free space to spin and jump while singing. Thursday played many of their hits including “Standing on the Edge of Summer” and “Jet Black New Year” which was a crowd favorite. Thursday closed with “War All The Time” off their 2003 album of the same name.
Hawthorne Heights
There are few songs from the 2000s that are immediately recognizable in the first two notes, but “Ohio Is for Lovers” will always have a place on that list next to “Welcome to the Black Parade” by My Chemical Romance. The zenith of pop punk exists in the entire The Silence in Black and White discography, so I was thrilled when Hawthorne Heights played “Niki FM” as one of their first three songs. “Sandpaper and Silk” and “Dissolve and Decay” also made an appearance, and if anything age has only improved JT Woodruff’s ability to scream live. The crowd at Pop’s kept security busy through the set with their energy, and there was an impressive show out of elders staying for the entire set which is well past our 9:00pm bedtime in our 30s and 40s. Hawthorne Heights closed with “Ohio is for Lovers” and I effectively went back to my role as mom and wife, but for one night the Is for Lovers Festival allowed Ericahhmazing to exist again and I will forever be thankful for that. | Erica Vining
