Halloween is basically the Emo kid Super Bowl. It’s the one time of year when the rest of the world catches up to our normal aesthetic: black eyeliner, tragic love stories, songs about death, and maybe some light grave-digging. So if it really was never a phase, here are ten movies that hit the perfect mix of spooky, sad, stylish, and scene.

On Sunday, October 26, I had the good fortune of finally seeing the act live and in person. Daisy Grenade came to The Roxy, one half of my favorite Cleveland, Ohio, venue Mahall’s, as support for Stand Atlantic. The Sunday crowd proved just a little bit lethargic as the show opened up. Last Night Saved My Life, the first act, did a good job of waking the slumbering crowd, who might have already been dreading their Monday morning alarm clock. But Daisy Grenade wasn’t going to settle for just “awake.” They came to set the room on fire.

As my feet were still blistered and bruised from the weekend, I opted for a seat in one of the lower-level sections, not that I was sitting for most of the show.

HIGHLIGHTS

Panic! At The Disco was stellar! Brendon’s vocals were spectacular, and his joy and gratitude for being back to headline were palpable. The pure nostalgia of hearing A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out played live — and the entire crowd dancing and singing the whole thing at the top of their lungs — is something I’ll never forget. And to finally answer all our speculation, they brought out the original drummer for the first time in 12 years to close out the set!

LOWLIGHTS

VIP was far more crowded than last year. It wasn’t really worth switching areas much throughout the day unless you had a break between back-to-back sets. The lines in and out of the VIP areas were quite the bottleneck.

Freshman 15 isn’t your average bootstrapped band. They’ve got all the makings of a major force in the emo revival scene. THEY HAVE THE talent, chemistry, and an origin story that’s classic punk rock. One spur-of-the-moment entry into a local talent show and a healthy dose of serendipity served to launch the guys of F-15 into a hard and fast ascent, earning them opening spots for the likes of Bowling for Soup and even a run on the legendary Warped Tour.

So last week, Rolling Stone released their list of their top 250 songs of the 21st century, and while the list was offensive and atrocious, it did get me thinking… What ARE the greatest songs? So, I made a list. I even checked it twice like the big guy upstairs taught me!

It’s that time of year again - the air is crisp, the leaves are turning, and the scent of pumpkin spice is wafting through every coffee shop and craft store in your local area. With the changing of the season comes one of the most anticipated music festivals of the year - When We Were Young Fest at Las Vegas Fairgrounds, this year taking place the weekend of October 18-19.

UNDEREXPOSED ARTIST

Look, I know this might not be everyone’s kind of content, but let’s be real. We can’t escape Taylor Swift. There’s no rock big enough to hide under. Since 2019, she’s dropped the most commercially successful album of the year four times (2019, 2022, 2023, 2024) and there’s a good chance she’ll do it again in 2025. On top of that, the Eras Tour became the highest-grossing concert tour of all time, and even the movie version managed to land as the 11th highest-grossing domestic film of 2023.

In short, Taylor Swift is the music industry.

I'm sitting in a Waffle House at 1 a.m. in Washington, PA, trying to collect my thoughts after two days at the Four Chord Music Festival. Back home in the mountain west, we don't have these. Our post-show tradition was always Denny's or IHOP. Tonight it's Waffle House, and I'm equal parts excited and concerned as my arms stick to the table. Will I regret this on the flight home? Maybe. But it feels like a rite of passage.

Hi guys. I’m Robb, and I am one of you and I’m here to help. Look, I’m 36 and I have two kids and a general lack of excitement for anything the way I used to. I know most of us have had trouble latching on to new bands this side of the Obama administration, so I’m gonna do the best I can to suggest some bands that I think you will love. Partly to keep the scene alive, partly to stop gen z from clowning on us because I don’t like it!

In the spirit of the days of youth groups gone by, I present to you now, my Top 10 youth group bangers to listen to today when you (and everybody else) are Left Behind!

As a 30-something millennial, attending two shows in one week is a whirlwind experience. Being a y’allternative member of the scene means recalibrating your brain from event to event to avoid the effects of acute genre whiplash. Sunday night was Sierra Ferrell in DC, and by Thursday, I was prepping to see Deftones for the first time. More than the music itself, I was curious: how would the crowd energy compare between two completely different audiences?

Kismet is the word I would use to describe how I ended up going to the Motion City Soundtrack show to celebrate the upcoming release of their new album, The Same Old Wasted Wonderful World. I was heading to Chicago for several days for a work event, and since I was going to be there, I was endlessly searching for a show to go to on one of the nights I’d be in the city. However, with Riot Fest just a couple days after I leave, I realized that many bands I would want to see would be planning to be there.

And then about two weeks ago, my friend Shar sent me a post on Instagram and asked me, “Did you know about this?”

Your favorite artist, at one point in their career, was an opener for someone else. You do not know who around you is fully tuned in, fully entranced with the artist on stage, falling in love with something new. As a fellow audience member, it will not kill you to hold onto your opinions and wait to run your mouth until after the set has finished. By the way, if someone is actively pouring their heart out to the crowd onstage, I guarantee nobody around you gives a shit about your $20 meat patty. Save it for the Uber home, Debra.

Hit the Lights: “What should we do tomorrow in Indy while we stay in our Airbnb?”

Crowd: “Eat shit!” “Eat hot dogs!” “Drive away from here!”

Classic Indiana responses.

This wasn’t just any scoop of ice cream. The Charmery, a Baltimore-based ice cream shop, had collaborated with one of my all-time favorite bands—Coheed and Cambria—on a limited-edition special flavor: Father of Cake Believe.

There’s a reason the term “rock star” exists—these dudes used to be larger than life before multiple generations rejected that notion and decided it was better to play the “I’m just like you!” card. Well, why the fuck would I pay top dollar to see some guy just like me yammer on about rubbish on stage? I have a whole podcast I can do that on for free. “You’re the best crowd ever, we love you!”—bro this isn’t Applebee’s. Bands need to stop with the customer service, customer-is-always-right voice. We paid money to be in your presence.

Be a fucking GOD.

The sun lowers beneath the horizon, the countdown clock pops up on the jumbo screens, and the crowd chants begin - “5, 4, 3, 2, 1” - And then the beginning dissonant guitar noise of “Disloyal Order of the Water Buffaloes” pipes out of the sound system, and the camera focuses on a young woman in a nurse’s uniform taking notes before panning to the very bearded and always hatted Fall Out Boy frontman, Patrick Stump, laying in a hospital bed as he sings the opening lines: 

“I’m coming apart at the seams, pitching myself for leads in other people’s dreams…” 

And as he stands up off of the hospital bed and starts to remove the hospital gown he’s wearing to reveal his concert outfit, the crowd erupts in screams.