LA EMO WRITER
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Chicago is so a few days ago

Chicago is so a few days ago

Fall Out Boy & Thrice show recaps

All week I’ve been battling an ear infection. Not much is more annoying for a music fan than ear pressure/pain getting in the way from enjoying a show. Thankfully, my handy pair of concert grade earplugs made the ear infection a little easier to tolerate. If you’re still going to shows on a regular basis without using some heavy duty earplugs, what the heck are you doing? USE PROTECTION! Earasers, if you’re listening - please sponsor me!

I have to thank everyone for following and showing support so early into this project! Launching a new thing in the hopes that people will give you a moment of their time is scary. Like I mentioned last week, in time I hope to make this email a mix of emo culture news / commentary as well as a place for some genre adjacent themed original writing that will range from memoir, poetry, and fiction.

Missed last week’s newsletter? Read it here

🖤 Elisa

IT’S NOT A PHASE

Things found online this week:

Frank Iero’s (MCR / LS Dunes) Reverb store goes live tomorrow. May the odds ever be in your favor. → Reverb
Rina Sawayama called out Matthew Healy during her Glastonbury set → Video
The legendary Saint Vitus in Brooklyn announced a new book that dives into the bar’s history & the bands that have graced its stage → Kickstarter

FROM THE PIT

This week I got to see two incredible shows - Thrice’s 20th anniversary tour for ‘The Artist in the Ambulance’, and Fall Out Boy’s tour kick-off in Chicago.

For Fall Out Boy, I took a red eye flight out from LAX to O’hare to catch the show. My friend Annie grew up in Chicago - she saw FOB, The Academy Is, and plenty other Chicago-native bands play small clubs back in the early 2000’s. She texted me when FOB announced they’d be playing at Wrigley Field and we made plans to meet up and go to this show.

Our friend group was pumped for The Academy Is as well. I got to see TAI play Riotfest last year, and was incredibly bummed when their set got cut off before they could perform “Snakes on a Plane” - this time I was finally redeemed and got to hear them play it! I also loved seeing Atom Willard rocking behind the drum kit for Alkaline Trio’s set, it feels like a great fit and I’m happy their lineup change seems to be working out well.

Fall Out Boy is a band I actually prefer seeing live over listening their recordings, primarily because of Patrick’s voice. His tenor has this soulful, full sound that has gained an edge over the years. I especially loved hearing the live debut of G.I.N.A.S.F.S.

So glad I was able travel out there - I went roundtrip within 24hrs, with back to back night of sleeping on planes. Worth it! I’m incredibly lucky that I have the means to do the occasional trip like this to see a show, and am looking forward to seeing the tour again when it rolls up to LA next week.

Check out the full setlist → Setlist.fm

FOB at Wrigley Field

Also this week, Thrice wrapped up their ‘Artist in the Ambulance’ 20th anniversary tour in Anaheim. Thrice is another one of the many bands from the Warped Tour era that I’ve consistently followed all this time. I don’t think I’ve missed a single one of their tours in over ten years. Fun fact - their ‘Vheissu’ 15th anniversary tour was the very last show I saw pre-pandemic... at the Fox Theater the end of February 2020.

Random emo culture history I remember, there was this old Fuse interview with Simple Plan and I remember Pierre listed ‘Artist in the Ambulance’ as one of his favorite albums of all time. I tried digging up that tv clip, but this it exists now only in my memory. (yes, that was a questionable titanic reference)

Thrice has done a couple album anniversary tours prior to this one, but this was definitely the one I’ve been looking forward to the most. And again, it just feels good to see a band in their hometown/state. Getting to yell the chorus to ‘Stare At The Sun’ with the crowd was cathartic as fuck.

Openers Holy Fawn were new-to-me and I dug their metal / post-hardcore / shoegaze sound that reminded me of a bit of Deafheaven with a dash of Godspeed You! Black Emperor. I’m totally tuned in and hope to see them come back to SoCal again soon.

Check out the full setlist → Setlist.fm