My middle school self continues to thrive this year! Just like Scary Kids Scaring Kids graced me with an anniversary tour last month, emo stalwarts, Armor for Sleep have followed suit. Now, the 15 year anniversary of their first major-label debut, What to Do When You Are Dead, was meant to happen last year but COVID had other plans. No worries! It worked out even better for me this year!
Obviously, since the band was celebrating the anniversary of that album, it’s only natural that they play all the way through. Which they did and it was glorious. As soon of the first chords of “Car Underwater” hit I was back to my middle school and high school self, lightly headbanging to the beat. I was not alone though. The crowd was vast and as nostalgic as I was (maybe more). I saw lots of excited faces, lots of headbanging, and even a mosh pit, which was a little unexpected. All I know is that we all knew the words to every song and were belting them out along with the band. In fact, there was a girl standing beside me and my friend who during the first song of the encore was belting out the lyrics as loud as she could, and when it was over we heard her say to herself, “Okay, my fourteen year old self is very happy. I can go home now.”
Truly, I think all of our fourteen year old selves were very satisfied. Even more satisfying is the prospect of new music in the future! They didn’t make any hard promises, but I think it’s going to happen. Regardless, the band seemed just as amped to be playing to all of us that they all popped down after the show to talk with the fans. Naturally, I took advantage of this grace. Lead singer Ben Jorgensen was extremely nice and I truly hope I get the chance to see them again in the near future. Highlights for the evening included some of my favorite songs off the record, “A Quick Little Flight,” “Remember to Feel Real,” and “The Truth About Heaven” (obviously). The five-song encore is where they got to spread the love a little bit more, playing the title track off of their first record, “Dream to Make Believe” and lead single off of their third and final record, “Williamsburg.”
It was a great evening at a cool venue I’d never been to before. Mr. Smalls Theatre in Pittsburgh offered a really neat setting at an old church that sort of resembled a small castle from the outside. Inside though was plenty spacious for the decent sized crowd that made an appearance. I think that venue made the evening even more nostalgic for the band since they had played there before back in the day. I look forward to more from Armor for Sleep in the future, hopefully!
