Posted: by The Editor
It wouldn’t feel right to be having all of these anniversary tours lately without Say Anything getting together for an anniversary tour of their own. On top of releasing their first album since disbanding, Say Anything are celebrating 20 years of their debut album, “…Is A Real Boy”.
Say Anything has been known for their unique anniversary tours, like playing half of an album one night and half the next night, but for this tour it was right to the point. Maybe Max Bemis (who joked about enjoying a shorter setlist due to being 40) knows his audience is also wearing Dr. Scholl’s inserts inside their Vans? Kicking off their set with the infamous tape recording of Max uttering “and the record begins with a song of rebellion”, the band jumped right into the album. The whole band kept up their energy and interacted with the crowd to get them to start moving as well. By the time they kicked off the intro to “Alive With the Glory of Love”, the packed audience was forming a circle pit while sending endless crowd surfers over the barricade.
The night was filled with special crowd interactions that made everyone feel involved in the celebration. Most memorable was bassist Alexander Kent asking if everyone knew the first word to “Futile” and counted them off to scream “SHIT” collectively. Hopefully we’re all old enough now that our parents won’t get mad about swearing.
The band powered through the majority of the album and left the stage for a break while Max Bemis held it down for “I Want to Know Your Plans”. Accompanying him onstage was his wife Sherri DuPree and two of his kids to help with backing vocals. After the endearing quartet, Max performed “Wow, I Can Get Sexual Too” alone before the rest of the band came back out ready for the final song. “Admit It!” was last and the crowd chanted the opening monologue in unison before getting a few last crowd surfs in.
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Kyle Musser//