Silverstein – Varsity Theater – Minneapolis MN – January 19th 2019

The Varsity Theater presents Silverstein.

Silverstein came through Minnesota celebrating the 15th year anniversary tour of their debut album, “When Broken is Easily Fixed”, on a super chilly Saturday, January 19th, supported by Hawthorne Heights, As Cities Burn, and Capstan.

Capstan, far from their sunny Florida, sure got a glimpse of a Minnesota winter with the frigid temps. They certainly got things warmed up by starting off the night. For an early Saturday rock show, they got people excited about the evening and got people coming in the door.

I remember As Cities Burn from the ‘emo’ era as well (since both Hawthorne Heights and Silverstein are too). I saw them a few times a various venues throughout the Minneapolis area and have always loved their sound, as well as their stage performance. Throughout the years they have still maintained getting the crowd filled with amusement with their performance. After forming in 2002, they broke off and went their separate ways a couple of times, but luckily have gotten back together to create beautiful melodies of post-hardcore rock. In December of 2017 they stated that they were writing new music, however we are all still waiting patiently for a new album. If you’ve seen As Cities Burn previously, they are just as amazing as you remember them to be.

Hawthorne Heights, another love of mine from the good ol’ ‘emo’ days and emo stage of my life. I’ve seen them about a handful of times, if not more. Fourteen years later, they are still rocking it and showing everyone that they don’t belong in just the ‘emo’ era. Their debut album, “The Silence in Black and White”, and their second album, “If Only You Were Lonely”, have received gold certifications. Hawthorne Heights is still as remarkable as the first time I saw them. They are and always have been super close with their fans, as they actually don’t have a merch person and sell their merch themselves. This creates an awesome fan base as well as creating new fans after all these years because of their relationships with their fans. They are an act, still to this day, that I wouldn’t want to miss when they come around. That, and the fact that I reminisce about my teenage years singing along with them.
Silverstein brought the heat to a very cold Saturday; the high was about 2 degrees, which at the time they went on was probably in the negatives already. Silverstein is another band that I have seen many times and was involved in my teenage ‘emo’ years. They are on tour celebrating the 15th year anniversary of their debut album, “When Broken is Easily Fixed”. In which I heard about the tour I couldn’t believe that the album was already that old, meaning that I realized how much older I am now too, thanks Silverstein (haha). It’s great to see such a talented band still touring and creating new music after all these years, see how far they’ve come and created different style types of music throughout as well. These guys still create fire when they perform, since the first time I saw them, I was about 13, is a very extraordinary thing to maintain for 17 years. As a fan when I was a teenager, I still remain one since and now after seeing them again after many years I feel like a fan all over again. Silverstein are phenomenal performers and wouldn’t want to miss them when they come through your state, even if you didn’t know them in the ‘emo’ era, you will want to know them now.

Review and photos by Kaila Turck