Six bands brought 20 Years of Tears to Uptown for dream screamo marathon

August 22, 2024

Emily Jacobs,

Hawthorne Heights // Photo by Emily Jacobs

Is For Lovers & Hawthorne Heights Present 20 Years of Tears w/ Thursday, Anberlin, Armour for Sleep, Emery, and This Wild Life
The Uptown Theater
Friday, August 16

Almost exactly a year ago, I was melting in 105-degree weather with zero shade in Iowa for Hawthorne Heights’ Is For Lovers festival. The heat was so miserable that security was spraying the crowd with water guns. I was one of many who regretted wearing eyeliner on the first day. Despite the less-than-ideal weather, it’s one of my best recent memories.

Last Friday’s show felt like a shortened version of that weekend—three of the bands I saw at the festival also played this show—but thankfully indoors this time around.

For their 20 Years of Tears Tour, Hawthorne Heights played the entirety of their debut album, The Silence In Black and White, in celebration of its 20 anniversary. Their KC stop at Uptown Theater was a night full of beloved emo acts, including This Wild Life, Emery, Armor For Sleep, Anberlin, and Thursday.

With six bands playing, the doors opened at 4:30 p.m. One of the first things I noticed was the large amount of people at the show who didn’t look old enough to remember when The Silence In Black and White was released, or people like me who vaguely recall hearing “Niki FM” on the radio. I’m beyond thrilled that there are so many people my age and younger than me in KC that appreciate early 2000s emo.

This Wild Life // Photo by Emily Jacobs

This Wild Life—an emo acoustic rock duo from Long Beach, CA—eased the audience into the night. The duo consists of Kevin Jordan, the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist, and Anthony Del Grosso, the lead guitarist, backing vocalist, and percussionist.

One issue I often have with acoustic artists is that their songs all sound the same, but This Wild Life manages to incorporate some variety in theirs, even playing a ukulele in one song. They broke things up in the middle of their set by playing a cover of “Cute Without the ‘E’ (Cut From the Team)” by Taking Back Sunday.

Jordan explained that they opted to play a cover in their set because they knew most of their audience on the tour wouldn’t be familiar with them, so they chose a song that most emo fans would know and be able to sing along with—a strategy that worked out well for them.

It was fitting that This Wild Life played first, as they were definitely the outlier in the 2000s post-hardcore stacked lineup. In fact, it didn’t feel like the night truly kicked off until the lights dimmed in anticipation of Emery making their way onto the stage.

Emery // Photo by Emily Jacobs

This was Emery’s third appearance in KC in the last eight months, following a performance at Not Just a Phase Fest this summer and a headliner last December where the band played 2008’s In Shallow Seas We Sail in its entirety. I was bummed to miss these shows, but I did catch Emery at Iowa Is For Lovers—although a set in record-breaking heat and direct sunlight was not their best.

On Friday night, their set was a chef’s kiss. Lead singer Toby Morrell’s robust vocals paired with unclean vocalist Josh Head’s powerful screams at their best, quickly raised the energy of the crowd as the venue filled up. It’s incredibly fitting that they refer to themselves as the Badass Dads Band, as that’s precisely the vibe they present.

The only disappointment of Emery’s set was that it was a mere seven songs. But they made the most of a brief setlist, starting off with “The Ponytail Parades” and ending with their best-known, “Walls,” with one of my personal favorites, “Studying Politics,” right in the middle.

Armor For Sleep // Photo by Emily Jacobs

Armor For Sleep slowed things down between Emery and Anberlin. There was nothing fundamentally wrong with their set, but I would have enjoyed them significantly more if they had played after This Wild Life, before Emery.

After the intensity of the previous band’s performance, Armor For Sleep was rather underwhelming. I would have appreciated their slower, more atmospheric sound as a build-up to some of the heavier bands.

To be fair, I’m not as familiar with Armor For Sleep’s discography as I am with most of the other bands on the ticket. The people around me were cheering, hollering, and clapping, so perhaps my opinion is the minority.

Anberlin // Photo by Emily Jacobs

Anberlin picked things back up, employing a darker, more dramatic lighting scheme than the previous bands, adding to their flair. Their lineup also looked a little different this time around.

Lead vocalist Stephen Christian has taken a break from touring with the band, with Memphis May Fire vocalist Matty Mullins taking on the role of lead vocals for the 20 Years of Tears Tour—as well as for two tracks on Anberlin’s newest album, Vega, which just released two weeks ago.

It didn’t quite feel like I was seeing Anberlin without Christian at the helm of it, but Mullins did a stellar job of filling in. They played a decent amount of their newer stuff, but naturally included the classics such as “Never Take Friendship Personal,” “Paperthin Hymn,” and the finale, “Feel Good Drag.”

The highlight of the first five bands was Thursday, which was unsurprising given that they were the main selling point on the ticket for me. Their second album, Full Collapse, still holds a spot in my regular rotation.

Thursday // Photo by Emily Jacobs

Thursday took the stage at 8:45 p.m., starting their set with “The Other Side of the Crash/Over and Out (of Control),” the opening track of their fourth album, A City By The Light Divided. I love when bands choose an album opener for the first song, even when the set isn’t an album playthrough—it’s simply fitting.

“We’re going to play old songs, and then we’re going to play older songs,” lead vocalist Geoff Rickly joked, alluding to the fact that they haven’t released a new album since 2011’s No Devolución—though they finally released a new single this year—“Application for Release From the Dream”—which they played.

What followed was 11 back-to-back bangers, comprising of staples like “Standing on the Edge of Summer” and the heart-wrenching “Understanding in a Car Crash”—which took the prize for being the only song to bring tears to my eyes that night—and underrated gems like “Fast to the End” and “Paris in Flames.”

Hawthorne Heights // Photo by Emily Jacobs

I was relieved when Hawthorne Heights finally came on at 10 p.m., both because I was thrilled to see them live again and because I was eager to go home to my couch after being on my feet for five hours. They came bounding onto the stage to a background of red LED lights, with lead vocalist JT Woodruff sporting his signature black-and-white checkered jacket.

As promised, they played through the entirety of The Silence In Black and White, and Woodruff got real about where they were at as a band around the release of the album.

“We didn’t have the confidence to realize that [the songs] were okay,” Woodruff said. “We thought we needed more time, we always felt rushed, we always felt like we could’ve done better—and you guys have done an incredible job on our journey, telling us that these songs are exactly how you wanted them when you first heard them.”

Woodruff went on to talk about how fans he’d met had told him that songs on the album got them through a number of life challenges, such as addiction and depression, and how hearing those stories and positive feedback from fans motivated them to keep going.

Hawthorne Heights followed up the album playthrough with one of their popular songs from their second album, “Saying Sorry,” and their newest song, “Gold Econoline”—a tear-jerking acoustic tune about looking back on memories with loved ones who have since passed away.

While they played the rest of the album in order, they saved “Ohio Is For Lovers” for the closer, bringing the night to a climactic ending that culminated in thunderous applause.

All photos by Emily Jacobs:

Hawthorne Heights