Never in my life have I experienced something quite as intimate as I did on Friday night. With a band, that is. In what I assume is a very rare opportunity, one of my pop punk/emo heroes, Emery, was playing an acoustic show at a house nearby. So I went!
At a first glance, I thought for sure my friend and I were going to get murdered. Thank goodness some other people showed up at the same time as we did! Upon entering a very dark and seemingly abandoned multi-level apartment, we all made our way up to the attic where the show was being held (now do you understand the murder vibes?!). There were fun lights strung up on the ceiling and some various pieces of furniture strewn about, but after about half an hour, the place really filled up!
Before the show started, Toby and Devin, drank and mingled with some of the concert-goers. But then it was time to get to it! Stationed in some folding chairs with two acoustic guitars and two amps, they set off explaining how the evening was going to progress. In between a couple songs, they would pause and allow for questions. At first, everyone was too shy to ask anything, but then the questions came at a steady clip. Some were sentimental, some were technical, and some were as light as “how are you doing?”
Neither member held back with their answers and shared a good amount of humorous stories, such as their song lyrics getting mistaken by their label back in the day. And as I said, aside from the Q&A session, we were treated to all the great Emery hits, like “Studying Politics” and “Walls,” while they also threw in some of their solo tunes. Honestly, they sounded incredible, and they didn’t try and mess around with the arrangements of the songs, which I really appreciated.
They also talked a bit about their Emeryland membership, in which fans who join are treated to EPs quarterly. If you join now, you’ll be getting some Christmas tunes! It was also nice to hear them discuss their “emo-ness” and religion in music. I was fascinated to learn that one of their very first tours was with an atheist band! All in all, some great commentary from Toby and Devin.
After you enjoy this photo I snapped, take a look at Emery’s website for a house show in your neck of the woods. I definitely recommend going, because it turns out you won’t get murdered after all!
