2024 Concerts

2025-01-02

I went to a ton of shows in 2024. I owe it all to music festivals! I love traveling to attend music fests. I was lucky enough to go to two this year, which is where I saw pretty much all of the shows. I wrote about one of them here. In total, I was able to see 38 shows! I've never seen so many shows in a year before.

The shows in question, in no particular order:

• My Chemical Romance x 2
• Fall Out Boy x 2
• Coheed and Cambria x 2
• L.S. Dunes x 2
• Protest the Hero
• '68
• Underoath
• Silverstein
• Cobra Starship
• The Linda Lindas
• Rancid
• Green Day
• Gouldie Boutilier
• Logic
• Noah Cyrus
• The Grogans
• Billy Talent
• KYLE
• TOBi
• Grandson
• The Lazys
• The Beaches
• Neck Deep
• The Used
• The Maine
• Valley
• Chelsea Cutler
• Jeremy Zucker
• Benson Boone
• Saosin
• Orville Peck
• 3OH!3
• Ocean Alley
• The Smashing Pumpkins

The Good

Silverstein

I felt compelled to go see Silverstein, even though I liked maybe two or three Silverstein songs before seeing them. When I was younger, I was really obsessed with their song, "Discovering the Waterfront" to the point of even buying it from iTunes. I managed to listen to some more just before the festival and found a couple of more favourites, but I still wasn't familiar with their discography. I somehow found myself right at the barrier, which felt a little bit wrong, not being a super fan of theirs.

I don't regret it though, because I ended up beside this really sweet couple. They let me stand in front of the taller of the two (and he was so tall, like at least six feet) at the barrier. Their energy was so great, I think it rubbed off on me. But really, Shane (the lead vocalist), totally went all out. He sounded so good! And he kept saying throughout the set that this crowd was way better than the previous day. Really, I think everyone was bouncing off of each other's energy, which was so cool. People were just in sync. That's part of a reason why I love concerts, when the conditions are right, it's like a mutual exchange of love.

Anyway, every single song Silverstein performed was amazing. I definitely belted out to "Ides of March" and "Discovering the Waterfront." Seriously, one of the best sets I saw that weekend.

My Chemical Romance

To continue the nostalgia trip, I was absolutely floored when I saw My Chemical Romance. I saw them twice and thank goodness I did because their set on the second day was just so much better. I cried both nights. It's probably the nostalgia goggles but I like could not let go of listening to MCR for a solid two months after seeing them.

Noah Cyrus

Beforehand, I had never really listened to Noah Cyrus. I did not expect to enjoy her music, but I really did! It mostly sounded like country, and honestly, just good vibes throughout. She also looked amazing. The outfit she was wearing looked like something out of the Dune franchise. And she was a total sweetheart on stage: joking, frequently telling people to drink water, and stopping to point out people who need medics. Overall, she really put on a good show! She's definitely got a great voice.

Grandson

Another unexpected act was Grandson. I have listened to one of his albums before, for an album club some years ago but I didn't revisit it beforehand. That album was one of my favourites from the album club, despite its incredibly dark material. Even with the dark material, Grandson really let loose on stage. His presence was amazing, especially for a one man act, who mostly stayed in one place while playing a guitar. I think a part of this was because he was just an opener and you really gotta go all out for a crowd who may or may not know you. He was also very sweet, he asked us to introduce yourself to the person next to you. Incredibly awkward, but I appreciated the sentiment.

The set was honestly a bit of a rollercoaster, emotion wise. I found myself disassociating a bit midway through (probably the heat and lack of water and also the hard hitting lyrics) and of course, that's when I felt that he made eye contact with me. I wasn't super close but close enough to see his face clearly, and it embarrassed me a bit. But I was brought back to life, and headbanged my way through the rest of the set. At the end, he even started climbing one of the structures and I was low key terrified for him, hah. Still, it was a great show!

Green Day

Green Day changed my life forever. Really. They were the first band I got into, and I started writing mainly because of them. I wrote a ton of Green Day fanfic in my junior high school days. And eventually, the Green Day fansite I posted fanfic on, evolved into a more serious fanfic site that included custom HTML layouts for your stories. I partly began to take web dev seriously because of it. I made my first online friends on those sites. Who knows where would I be now without them?

Honestly, I don't know how I made it to 29 without ever going to any of their shows. When I learned that they were doing an "American Idiot" and and a "Dookie" tour, I just had to buy tickets. And I don't regret it one bit. It's probably one of the best shows I have ever seen. Despite being in their 50s, these guys can still put on a show. And it was like two hours long, at least. I cried a little. I was so happy for the rest of the night and also incredibly sad that it was over. I wanted more!

The not so good

Protest the Hero

I love this band a ton. They were doing a tour of my favourite album, "Volition." And it was great. Rody was funny as always. His voice sounded great. The rest of the guys absolutely killed it. But. I feel like something always goes wrong whenever I go to a Protest the Hero concert. Gross bodily fluids warning incoming, skip to the next paragraph if you get queasy easily, but I managed to get both diarrhea and my period in the middle of the show. I was so miserable. I did manage to catch all the songs I wanted to hear, but ugh. Not great timing. I feel like it's cursed for me to go to their shows.

Logic

While Logic still put an amazing show, I was so disappointed in the length of the show. He stopped twice to admonish the crowd who were throwing stuff at him. To be clear, that's not his fault at all. What kind of fans actually do that? It's such a waste of time to stop and then get scolded by a celebrity. The next thing is kind of his fault, but he kept talking throughout. Which, okay, he hasn't had a concert in a while, I can forgive him for that. But the combo of the two just really ate up his set time. And then he went over time. And then they actually put some random DJ on after him. Who decided that?? Literally 3/4 of the crowd left after Logic. He really should have just been given more time and ended the night.

I shouldn't complain too much. I danced my fucking heart out at the show. I even cried during one of his monologues. It was a ton of fun and he played so many of the hits.

Orville Peck

I am sorry to any Orville Peck fans out there, but I did not enjoy his show. I think I went to his show, hoping to change my mind on his music. That didn't really happen, sadly. I think what bothers me the most about his music, is that his voice feels "put on." I've only really listened to "Stampede" so maybe I need to listen to some more. I really just cannot get past the campiness and theatrics. I like what he stands for, I like his costumes, I've been growing on country as a genre, and he seems like a decent guy, but I just can't get into his music.

2025?

I only have one music festival and one concert planned for this year. I'm seeing My Chemical Romance, again, in Toronto. I'm so excited. I hope it's just as magical as the last time. I also hope to go to see some local bands. For some reason, I am afraid of small, intimate venues. I feel like it's just so much easier to stand out that way, and I do not like to be perceived. But I want to see what my city has to offer in terms of music!