Sad Summer Festival Engages Emo & Punk Hearts at Michigan Lottery Ampetheatre
Sad Summer Festival kicked off at around 2:30 PM on a Tuesday at Michigan Lottery Ampetheatre. Despite it being a weekday, it was a grand attendance to all who love Emo and Punk genres.
While this is a traveling festival, there were still activations including what was called “Saddington Smash” where attendees could toss at some stuffed aliens in order to win free prizes. They also had backdrops that had lyrics from the bands on the lineup, as well as an Emo Kid Barbie box (perfectly timed with ‘Barbie’ releasing that week in theatres). They also had killer merch, including a pop up from Journeys x Converse, and meet and greets with some of the bands.
SINCERE ENGINEER
Sincere Engineer was a great opening act and primer for kicking off Sad Summer Festival. While we didn’t get to catch their entire set as we were entering the festival, we did catch the track “Bottle Lightning Twice” as our first song of the day, and it was fabulous. Check out the rest of their setlist here:
STAND ATLANTIC
Stand Atlantic came with the energy and made it count. Kicking off their set with “doomsday,” “Jurassic Park,” and “Wavelength,” they more than likely made more than a few fans that day. Check out their full setlist here:
MOM JEANS.
This was our first time catching a set from Mom Jeans, and it was awesome overall. They kicked off their set with “What’s Up?” They followed that up with “Something Sweet” and “Hippo In The Water” to round out their first 3 songs. Check out their full setlist here:
PVRIS
PVRIS was celebrating their most recent album release called ‘EVERGREEN’ which dropped July 14, so a couple of the songs on their setlist, including “ANIMAL” and “GOOD ENEMY” are key tracks to check out. In addition to those songs, the band played 6 others spanning their catalog, ending the set with “GODDESS.”
THE MAINE
The Maine was a coveted set to catch. They kicked off their performance playing tracks “blame,” “Bad Behavior,” and the Taking Back Sunday x Charlotte Sands collaboration of “Loved You A Little.” Their energy and jolly demeanor made them extremely entertaining to watch, on top of their coordinated dressing. Check out the full setlist here:
HOT MULLIGAN
Hot Mulligan graced the stage later in the set due to their affiliation with Michigan, making it a homecoming show of sorts. They were a lot of fun to watch and put on a spectacular set that included fan favorites “*Equip Sunglasses*,” “Shhhh! Golf Is On,” and “BCKYRD.” They also joked that because they were moved up in the lineup, did not mean that they’d “matured” over the years. Check out their setlist here:
MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK
Motion City Soundtrack is one of our favorites over at ACRONYM ZINE. Kicking off their set with some of their most loved songs like “L.G. FUAD” and “My Favorite Accident.” Toward the end of the set, the fans were singing at the top of their lungs, especially when “The Future Freaks Me Out” and “Everything Is Alright” rounded out the performance. Check out the full setlist here:
TAKING BACK SUNDAY
And finally, the kings of 2000’s Emo/Screamo/Pop Punk culture arrived on stage. Taking Back Sunday, who headlined this fest, appeared in a red-suited ensemble, very different than the other sets we’ve seen in the past.
The band also debuted a new song at the 2nd to last song of the set, titled “S’Old” which you can see a fan-recorded clip of here (Clip from Philadelphia):
According to frontman Adam Lazzara in the clip, this song will be out in about 6 months, so we have some time to wait. Until then, check out their previous releases on their setlist here: