On May 3 at 924 Gilman St., one thing was proven \u2014 emo is alive and flourishing, proven by bands Everyone Asked About You and First Day Back, both crafting music that fits seamlessly within the emo scene. Originally scheduled for just one night, they added a second date for fans \u2014 this particular reporter included \u2014 who couldn\u2019t secure tickets to the quickly sold out first date. Like most of their spring tour, both shows instantly sold out. For those hoping to snag a front-row spot, the venue did an excellent job of safely ushering fans inside, and upon entrance the excitement postsoundcheck was already palpable. Moments later, lines of pressed-up fans quickly formed at the merch tables in search of a keepsake that doubles as something warm to walk out of the venue in.<\/p>\n
As audience members waited on the edge of the stage in anticipation, the lights finally dimmed and the doors closed, First Day Back taking the stage for the opening set. Hailing from Santa Cruz, the five-member band \u2014 lead singer and violinist Maggie; drummer Spencer; guitarists Nathan and Zion; and bassist Luke \u2014 are helping lead a revival in the scene. Despite having only one album out, after the band\u2019s exceptional performance, fans were already eager for more. From engaging directly with the crowd to bringing members of Everyone Asked About You onstage for a song, First Day Back\u2019s set felt personal and communal. It was that sense of community that pointed to the intimacy that drives the emo scene\u2019s greater success \u2014 shows where you feel every push, every stage dive and every shared lyric. There was no judgment for singing along too loudly or getting too rowdy with excitement, just a sense of collective belonging. It\u2019s the safest you\u2019ll feel at a show, where more than half the crowd knows each other, and everyone knows the bands\u2019 music. And if anything goes missing \u2014 a phone, keys, even a shoe \u2014 someone will hold it up until it finds its owner.<\/p>\n
Soon after, Everyone Asked About You took the stage. If you\u2019ve ever been to 924 Gilman St., you know the routine between sets, lights come on and the doors open for people to step outside to chat. However this time, hardly anyone left as the audience was all too excited for the rest of the night\u2019s entertainment. Coming from Little Rock, Arkansas, the group \u2014 Hannah Vogan on vocals and tambourine; Chris Sheppard on (guitar, vocals and keyboard; John Beachboard on keyboard; Collins Kilgore on guitar and keyboard; Lee Buford on drums and Matt Bradley on bass \u2014 continue to brighten the scene with its signature tweemo sound. While its self-titled EP debuted in 1997, its most recent release, Never Leave, published in 2024, revisited remastered favorites that still resonated almost 30 years later. When \u201cTaxi\u201d began to play and the crowd sang along \u2014\u201c\u2018Goodbye,\u2019 I said \/ \u2018I love you,\u2019 she said\u201d \u2014 the moment felt transcendent. It was a reminder of why we come to shows like this in the first place. In this, Everyone Asked About You captured something utterly timeless \u2014 the feeling of youth, of first experiences and of friendships built through music.<\/p>\n
In the band\u2019s closing remarks, the group thanked everyone who made the tour possible and expressed gratitude to the crowd for staying so lively. In a way, they passed the torch back to First Day Back. As the final night of the tour, the moment carried more emotion than perhaps anyone expected.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, the night was a beautiful convergence of music and bittersweet connection, the essence of tweemo and a testament to why small venues and tight-knit communities matter. In a scene filled with passionate people who simply love the music, you\u2019re never alone, whether you fall or just want to feel something real.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On May 3 at 924 Gilman St., one thing was proven \u2014 emo is alive and flourishing, proven…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306492,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[128951,128950,330,143,145,144,128949],"class_list":["post-306491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-924-gilman-st","tag-emo-revival","tag-music","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-tweemo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}