Silverstein headlined The Sherman Theater Sunday, April 2, and started off a season of metal and post-hardcore revival for Northeastern Pennsylvania. The quintessential emo band was welcomed to Stroudsburg with a sold-out show, alongside Dayseeker, SeeYouSpaceCowboy, and One Step Closer.
I’m telling ya, the scene is making a comeback. How do I know? Well, an enthusiastic drunk guy stumbled up to my friend and complimented his “Camp Crystal Lake” horror T-shirt, saying “Yooo, respect man, that band is dope! I saw them last month at the HMAC, they were wicked!”
We politely hooted and hollered until he walked away, and my buddy whispered to me, “I didn’t even realize this was a band.”
And suddenly, I was transported back to my scene teen years, blowing out my eardrums beside the speaker to be up front for a band I’ve never even heard of. Bands millennials adored in the 90s and 2000s are stepping back into the spotlight, and in doing so, they’re paving the way for new, unique acts to secure their big breaks too.
Impressive performances from newcomers SeeYouSpaceCowboy, Dayseeker, and One Step Closer at Silverstein’s Sherman Theater show proved new bands have the opportunity to show fans something they’ve never heard before in the multi-faceted hardcore scene.
The vocal performance from Dayseeker’s lead singer, Rory Rodriguez, could bring a tear to the eye of any metalhead. The voice of an angel wrapped in a lovely post-hardcore package. Goosebumps. They opened for Silverstein with poise.
Hardcore punk band, SeeYouSpaceCowboy put on one heck of a performance ahead of Dayseeker too. Connie Sgarbossa brought down the house with her signature wide range of metalcore vocals. She and her bandmates used every part of the stage to amp up the audience.
Silverstein put on an high-energy show as the headliner. The band came into emo royalty in the 2000s and continued putting out new albums over the years. They mixed their old classics with their new tracks, honoring fans both old and new while making it known that yep, they still got it.
The show, presenting bands across the various subgenres of the “emo music” genre, left me feeling nostalgic, but also excited for the future of all music with an dark side.
When the When We Were Young festival was announced in 2022, the line-up of bands popular in the 2000s broke the internet. Now in 2023, seasoned band after seasoned band announce tours for the summer and spring.
April 10, Shinedown and Three Days Grace arrive at Mohegan Sun Arena. Then, Falling in Reverse comes to The Sherman Theater April 27 with The Spill Canvas there a week later May 5. After that, there’s Breaking Benjamin in May, and The Used and Pierce the Veil in June. And, who knows if we’ve seen the last concert announcements yet. When’s the last time NEPA has seen a summer metalcore lineup like this? Warped Tour?!
Does 2023 mark the revival of NEPA’s music scene? Perhaps it’s not even just happening here but happening everywhere.
Everyone is coming out of the woodworks, and it’s not just classic rock acts back for their 50th reunion anymore. It’s not just big arenas and major cities. The small to mid-sized venues are back in full force.
The past three years have been in and out of quarantine and now, in summer 2023, we’re finally coming out of the darkness — to listen to dark music together. At a time when money can be tight, the American people deserve the uniting social space of concerts more than ever.
All these show announcements come at a time when Ticketmaster finds itself in the center of controversy, coming into the public eye with Taylor Swift. Another pain point among artists and attendees alike is some venues taking cuts in merchandise sales of small to mid-sized bands. The people and the artists seem to be banding together and taking back entertainment for themselves — and there’s nothing more metal than that.
All these headlines beg the question; Are we on the precipice of another music revolution in Spring/Summer 2023?
