Show Review: Sad Summer Fest 2021 (All Time Low, The Story So Far and more) - Sacramento, CA
Sad Summer Fest 2021
w/ All Time Low, The Story So Far, Movements, The Maine, Grayscale, Destroy Boys
Heart Health Park
Sacramento, CA
Friday, August 6th, 2021
By Jared Stossel
I’m someone that has always had horrible anxiety. The thought of going back to a concert after eighteen months of not being around people, while a variant of a virus continues to rage throughout the world didn’t exactly give me that warm and fuzzy feeling. I’m vaccinated and take care of myself, yes, but the thought of automatically returning back to normal, or whatever “normal” is considered now, was a bit of a scary thought.
So when I woke up and realized that not only would Sad Summer Fest be the first concert I’d be returning to after a year and a half of not going to shows, but that the air would also be brimming with smoke drifting over from the raging Dixie Fire, my confidence wasn’t exactly stellar. Part of me was convinced that this show wasn’t even going to happen. I remember a few years back when NOFX’s Punk in Drublic Festival was rescheduled for a later date because the air outside was classified as unsafe for the general public, and I thought that the beginnings of Sad Summer Fest would meet the same fate. Fortunately, it didn’t.
With my N95 mask in hand, a plastic water bottle to make sure I was staying fully hydrated throughout the day, and cautious optimism, I headed out to the second annual Sad Summer Fest, a touring music festival created by critically acclaimed rock act The Maine as their response to the end of traveling music festivals like the Vans Warped Tour. The lineup is far smaller than something like Warped Tour, with one stage instead of seven, but the music shares the same appeal and heart as veterans of the festival that came before it (pretty much every band on the lineup has participated in summer-long runs on Warped Tour in years prior).
The first note of the day was played by Destroy Boys, an up-and-coming punk act from the San Francisco Bay Area, followed by a set from emerging alt-rockers Grayscale. While people were excited, it took a little bit of time for the energy to warm up throughout the venue. It felt surreal to see live music after so long. There was an excitement in the air during these first two acts, but it felt a bit tempered, almost as if those in attendance were asking, “Shit, is this actually happening?”
Surprisingly, The Maine took the stage next for an exemplary set, launching into tracks from their most recent album XOXO: From Love and Anxiety In Real Time, as well as a helping of tracks from albums like Can’t Stop Won’t Stop (“Everything I Ask For”) and the eponymous “Black Butterflies and Déjà vu”. Vocalist John O’Callaghan could barely contain his excitement, as he called out people sitting up in the bleachers, encouraging them to dance throughout their tightly packed thirty-minute set (I do wish we could have seen more of them at this show).
As smoke covered the upper atmosphere and caked the sun in a blood red sheen, Movements took the stage for an eerily transcendent set. Their music, which harkens back to the olden days of emo and bands like American Football, fit the scene rather well. I can’t explain it anymore than that; sometimes, things just work. Movements’ set was followed by one of the day’s most highly anticipated sets from The Story So Far, a pop-punk band that has taken the scene by storm since the release of their album Under Soil and Dirt back in 2011. To be completely honest, I found this set incredibly underwhelming. I’ve found myself frustrated with watching The Story So Far over the years; they write very good music, they always sound good, but their stage presence is utterly lacking, a far cry from the band I once saw pack out 924 Gilman Street a few years prior.
All Time Low closed the night out (other than The Maine, my most anticipated band of the day). The band dove headfirst into “Some Kind Of Disaster”, the opening track to their 2020 album Wake Up, Sunshine and preceded to play the best set of the day. With the exception of their Put Up Or Shut Up EP, the Baltimore-MD based quartet powered through an extensive run of tracks that covered their entire career. All Time Low continues to be a band that gets better with each performance they take on, and you could tell that at this show (along with almost every band on the tour) that they had been wanting to let loose like this for quite some time.
As I stated earlier, there seemed to be a buzz throughout the crowd, a renewed sense of excitement, but one that was met with a cautiousness, as no one could truly comprehend whether we were all here together, finally, after months of solitude. At times, Sad Summer Fest felt a bit like a fever dream. But by the time All Time Low took the stage, the fever was gone, reality set in: live music had returned.
For the first time in quite a while, I had a smile on my face for well over an hour. Granted, it was hidden by a mask, but I knew that it was there and that’s all that mattered to me. With news of the Delta Variant raging across the country right now, I’m not sure if we’re going to see this spectacular return to live music continue or if some shows will meet the dreaded “postponed” status that they received in 2020 (please get vaccinated and stay as safe as you possibly can). Whether this is the beginning of the return to live music, or a slight detour in the road as the pandemic continues to rage on, Sad Summer Fest was a welcome moment in an otherwise apocalyptic-like eighteen months. But hey, everyone knows there’s a party at the end of the world.
Sad Summer Fest 2021 with All Time Low, The Story So Far, Movements, The Maine, Grayscale, and Destroy Boys is currently on the road until September 11th, 2021 when the tour wraps up in Pontiac, MI. The tour continues on August 20th in Orlando, FL.
For more information on tickets and details for each show, click here.
For more information on getting vaccinated, you can click here. Stay safe, everyone.
Sad Summer Fest
www.sadsummerfest.com
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Twitter: @sadsummerfest
Instagram: @sadsummerfest
