šāØNostalgia: Anberlin At Enmore Theatre (January 25th)
Tour: For the First Time in Forever
Date: January 25th 2024
Bands / Artists featured: The Word Alive, Hawthorne Heights, Anberlin
From: Arizona, Ohio, Florida
Hello! Welcome to another lil World Wide by Webspinner piece :)
Itās been a while since Iāve been here, but I knew I had to put something together for this incredible show experience. It was such a pleasure to be a small part of such a special night and I canāt wait to tell you about it below :)
Part I ā Whoās Who?
The Word Alive are a metalcore band from Phoenix, Arizona formed in 2008. They are made up of vocalist Tyler āTelleā Smith, guitarists Zack Hansen and Jose DelRio, and drummer Daniel Nelson. Growing up in the 2010's pop/punk sphere Iād come across them on a few occasions but hadnāt listened to them until this show. They were both exactly what I thought they would be sonically, and not what I expected in terms of their energy.
Hawthorne Heights are a midwest emo,,, alternative rock band formed in 2001 currently made up of vocalist and lead guitarist JT Woodruff, bassist and backing vocalist Matt Ridenour, lead guitarist and unclean vocalist Mark McMillon, and drummer Chris Popadak. The band are well known for their combination of heavier elements and vocals with a lighter, more gloomy pop-punk-esque sound. Their best-known track āOhio Is For Loversā perfectly introduces their sound and their approach to raw lyricism. Having only heard that song before this show, I was surprised to see their set turn out to be quite wholesome. They put together a emotional set that made me both laugh and tear up.
Setlist: This Is Who We Are / Saying Sorry / Hard To Breathe / Constant Dread / Pens and Needles / Niki FM / Dandelions / Ohio Is For Lovers
Anberlin probably donāt need an introduction, but, they are an alternative rock band formed in 2002. Since 2007, the band is made up of lead singer Stephen Christian, guitarists Joseph Milligan and Christian McAlhaney, bassist Deon Rexroat, and drummer Nathan Young. This show was part of Stephen Christianās final tour before his indefinite hiatus from the band. Theyāre a band Iād heard be brought up in various conversations around the roots of midwest emo and various alternative/rock discourse, but this show was my first proper introduction to Anberlin. And it was such a wonderful introduction.
Setlist: The Resistance / Never Take Friendship Personal / Paperthin Hymn / Two Graves / Impossible / A Day Late / Adelaide / The Unwinding Cable Car / Inevitable / Dance, Dance Christa PƤffgen / Dismantle.Repair. / Godspeed / Lacerate / Feel Good Drag / (*Fin)
Part II ā The Show
I had a lovely time at this show, it felt like I travelled back in time. It had this really surreal feel and I did quite a bit of reflecting during the night.
The Word Alive were on first, a band I pretty much exclusively knew from various Rocksound issues and Warped Tour lineups. They were so full of energy and overall just so sick to watch. I think the things that stood out to me from their set were the guitar tone and their higher scream vocals. One really built the atmosphere, and the other was just very well executed every single time. I will say though, their songs all had the very same vibe, there wasnāt anything that stood out in their setlist that was like specifically cooler or more or less fun. This is either evidence that they managed to keep the same energy from start to finish, or that their style has been pretty similar throughout their career. Neither of these is a necessarily good or bad ā the band are very good at what they do ā just an observation. After seeing their set I will be setting aside some time to properly check out their stuff because ā¦ they were so good and Iām not sure why I wasnāt expecting that to be the case.
Hawthorne Heights played an EMO set (in every sense of the word). And for some reason, that makes me feel like theyāre harder to write about. I donāt think I ever thought Iād see āOhio Is For Loversā live, out of everything that was played this entire night ā that was the only song I went in knowing. The rest of their set was so wonderful, with breaks between songs for heartfelt speeches that made me tear up. Their crowd interaction was so special ā from conversations about Australia to social media to just ā¦ life in general ā it was wonderful to see that connection. It was also just so fun to observe the audience having such a great time ā singing along to every word and screaming with their friends and loved ones. I never really thought Iād see a band like this live it really felt like a time capsule. Iām so grateful I got to see them live, I feel like Iāve got more of an understanding of the band and their history and I had so much fun discovering new bits of their sound that I hadnāt come across before.
Anberlinās set had everything. They had their elements of theatric elements and an insane amount of energy I wasnāt expecting from what I assumed would simply be a full-on, darker, emo band. It was definitely still emo but in a different way ā sonically cleaner but with lyrics that I think felt more poetic? It definitely still had its dark elements but it was hard for it to feel heavy when the whole band were running around with massive smiles on their faces. I loved their energy, their wholesome stage presence, and how the audience fed that energy back to them ā especially in the later few songs. At the very end, when they came out and played ā(*fin)ā, as their encore ā I cried ! This was just such a wonderful way to be introduced to the band ā I loved it, it was the perfect mix of glitter and gloom.
Part III ā Final Highlights
Now, this is one of the first times I write a show review for a lineup Iām not quite familiar with so the highlights are a little different.
ā It made me a little emotional to see the crowd experience the show ā people who grew up with the band bringing their kids, their partners, and their friends, to watch the show. Also, not necessarily a highlight but an interesting observation ā this is the least phones Iāve seen at a show.
ā I just really liked the different atmospheres each band created and how they managed to work so well together.
ā I also really liked ā hear me out ā Anberlinās outfits. Their full band in white aesthetic sent me back to when I saw The Maine for the first time in 2019 ā hence also, the āglitter and gloomā reference before. If you know me, you know how important that show was to me, and how necessary it was to the creation of Webspinner. So it wasā¦ quite unexpected, but quite lovely.
ā Man, Iām so happy I got to see Stephen Christian in the lineup. What a bittersweet way to be introduced to the band.
I had a lovely time, thank you so much to Adam Lindsay of Beehive PR for reaching out and letting me jump on this one. Not to repeat myself, but this was quite the emotional night and I loved it. Thank you all so much for reading and supporting all the wonderful bands and creatives I get to work with and whose stories I have the pleasure of sharing!
Find The Word Alive over on:
Website / Instagram / Twitter / Facebook / Youtube / Spotify / Apple Music / Amazon Music / Tiktok
Get more Hawthorne Heights info over on:
Website / Instagram / Twitter / Facebook / Youtube / Spotify / Apple Music / Amazon Music
Stay up to date with Anberlin over on:
Website / Instagram / Twitter / Facebook / Youtube / Spotify / Apple Music / Amazon Music
Get more Webspinner on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter and check out the Spotify. If you have any questions, requests, ideas, or want to work with Webspinner get in touch through webspinnermag@gmail.com, Iāve not been too active on there, so I canāt promise a quick reply (or any reply for that matter), but itās always nice to find new music in my inbox every once in a while.
