You Blew It! isn’t just another up and coming band whose trademark open wound introspection makes them ripe to teenage susceptibility. They are newfound pillars in the movement that is slowly becoming known as emo revival. Emo music, which became a stigmatized genre consisting of harrowing posterboys like Dashboard Confessional, The Starting Line and Something Corporate, is much more than what I listened to during my high school and early college days.
It became my failsafe–my throaty growl at fake friends and reckless boys. Needless to say, shows naturally became my sanctuary. They were places I could convene with like-minded strangers to let off steam without seeming like a lush. I could howl lyrics at the top of my lungs without coming off as a manic lunatic–I was simply being a fan. I don’t think I would have survived my late teens without it.
I recently got to see some of my favorite artists during this period reunite within the last couple of years (including Taking Back Sunday, The Early November, The Used, and Brand New), but the people next to me in those audiences were my age (or older) who relished in reliving their teenage years. But when You Blew It! took the stage at a sold out Sinclair this past Sunday in Boston, they were just as humbled and pleasantly surprised by the turnout as I was.
These weren’t slightly jaded 20-somethings attempting to drown themselves in lyrical drama watching them perform–they were prepubescent youth exploring their emotional wavelengths. Throughout their set, which was full of heart on sleeve tenderness and wit, You Blew It! gave us the righteous manifesto that is Keep Doing What You’re Doing the only way they knew how: unapologetically. Between songs, youngsters would try their hand at moshing, seemingly rotate who got to scream out certain lyrics, and basked in the glory of an all ages afternoon show. And while I may have been the oldest person looking on, I was probably the one most in awe: music that celebrates intense emotional awareness, when properly excavated from its manicured guitar heft, still means something and has the power to change people.