Back in April, Spitalfield announced their reunion tour for the ten year anniversary of Remember Right Now. Last Friday, I attended the biggest nostalgia trip of all time the NYC date of the tour.
As I stepped inside the venue, I stepped into 2003. I glanced to my left to see a guy wearing a cadet hat, a long sleeve shirt under his short sleeve band tee, and loose fitting jeans leading down to Converse Chuck Taylors. I wondered for five minutes or so whether the outfit had been a planned homage to the old scene as opener Jon Walker played through a cover of Saves The Day’s “Freakish” from 2001’s Stay What You Are. Shane Henderson and The Future Perfect continued the show with a decent set from what sounded like a watered down Valencia (even when he threw a Valencia cover in). The crowd gathered toward the stage and every ball of energy ever exerted from a pop punk jump in the early 2000’s buzzed around our heads as we discussed which songs we were the most excited to hear live from the headliner, and what we thought they would sound like after so many years.
Spitalfield took the stage and both the band and fans became fully immersed in the past as it became our present. With the opening riff of album opener, “Those Days You Felt Alive,” we remembered a time when pop punk wasn’t all about violent finger pointing and emo wasn’t only about crying (not that both aren’t fully appreciated in modern music). Everyone smiled and sang along with/to friends and strangers, bouncing around and dancing (extra intensely when fan favorite “I Loved The Way She Said L.A.” was played).
The members of Spitalfield expressed their appreciation for the long-time fans and ensured us how much they were enjoying themselves with old stories and perma-plastered grins. The momentary doubts I shared with a friend about the possibility of a sloppy set or an outwardly apathetic audience were long-erased with the decade old songs sounding as tight as ever and no reservations in sight.
The band finished their main set with the bouncy “Make My Heart Attack,” left the stage, and returned after the inevitable “one more song” chants. They played through a few extras, including “Gold Dust Vs. State of Illinois,” a Texas Is The Reason cover, and their closer, “Texa$ With a Dollar Sign.”
I can honestly say that the show was the most fun I’ve had in a while, and I’ve had the album on repeat since. If I needed a reminder to “remember right now,” that was it, and I won’t forget.
