“Welcome to a trip back in time, but fancier.” Escape The Fate with Emo Orchestra hit emo and pop-punk fans with a nostalgic-filled tour!
As fans come piling into their seats, the lights go dark, and the show opens with a news segment on emo kids and emotional hardcore music. Going into a deep dive into fashion and what the genre meant to fans in the early 2000s, even including some funny and cringy clips making the crowd laugh and being able to relate to those times. As the news segment plays, the orchestra starts to take their place on stage, followed by Escape The Fate themselves by the end of the intro.
The band opens up with their song “Not Good Enough For Truth In Cliché”. After this, lead singer, Craig Mabbitt, talks to the crowd and explains the purpose of the tour, and being able to cover these iconic songs with a touch of something different. Emo Orchestra first did their round of this tour in the fall of 2023 with rock band Hawthorne Heights.
The band and orchestra covered iconic hits like ‘Thnks Fr Th Mmrs’ by Fall Out Boy, ‘The Anthem’ by Good Charlotte, ‘Ohio is For Lovers’ by Hawthorne Heights, and even some by My Chemical Romance, All Time Low, The Used, and many more.
He gave shoutouts to bands like The Used and AFI, explaining that they were bands he looked up to growing up and is even friends with. The band even performed ‘Dearly Departed’, which features Bert McCracken from The Used.
Besides iconic emo covers, the band played 4 of their own songs, including ending with their most iconic, ‘One For The Money’. Of course, an encore followed with the most iconic cover of them all, ‘Welcome To The Black Parade’ by My Chemical Romance.
Throughout the night, the crowd, band, and orchestra’s energy just kept getting better. Fans were standing in their seats, jumping, and even filling up the aisles to dance and move closer to the stage. The orchestra’s energy was also amazing. Some members were even playing along next to Escape the Fate members or introducing the next song. Craig Mabbitt went through the crowd and to higher seats in the venue throughout the show, which excited fans who were able to get a closer look. All factors of this concert played into having an amazing show that was awesome to witness.
Hearing these iconic pop-punk/rock songs with an orchestral background was a whole new experience, and both parties did a beautiful job at its execution. Hoping for a soon-to-be next tour with Emo Orchestra and the next Emo band of their choosing!
I am a photographer, musician, and cosplayer, based in Austin! I spend a lot of time traveling around for events, and am constantly creating things, listening to music, playing bass guitar, or finding new hobbies to indulge in. I love being surrounded by music, and you can almost always catch me listening to some emo or pop-punk music.
