Album anniversaries and milestones are always worth celebrating and this week’s fare was a co-headlining run from The Early November and Hellogoodbye at Crescent Ballroom. The two beloved bands sold out the intimate Phoenix room at the tail end of a sweeping spring tour recognizing two iconic albums- The Mother, The Mechanic, and The Path and Zombie! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs!
Hellogoodbye singer Forrest Kline and other founding member Jesse Kurvink were joined by their friends to bring their debut album to life on Crescent’s stage. Twenty years have passed since “Here (In Your Arms)” exploded onto the scene and propelled the band to huge heights that they are proud to recognize today. The fans packed in tight to sing along to favorites from the album and cheered loudly at the inclusion of “Shimmy Shimmy Quarter Turn” in the middle of the set. More than anything, the band was just having a blast onstage, being goofy and lighthearted with each other and the fans and breathing new meaning into decades of well-loved music. The performance ended on a high note with “Touchdown Turnaround (Don’t Give Up On Me)”, as the full house danced with carefree abandon alongside a band that is still so thrilled to be here.
The energy shifted as The Early November made their entrance but the anticipation for their performance was no less palpable. The Mother, The Mechanic, and The Path is one of the band’s most ambitious works with three intertwining records in one massive triple disc configuration. Singer Ace Enders reassured the room that they would not be performing all two-plus hours of the album, instead paying homage to the record on “Money In His Hand” and the beautifully cathartic chorus of “Decoration”.
Between songs, Enders reminisced about the creation of such an aspirational project in his early 20s, expressing his deep sense of pride for what the band put together. The audience echoed that love for these songs but certainly cheered with enthusiasm at the setlist of hits that the band put together around the album’s celebration. The acoustic kickoff of “Ever So Sweet” put Enders’ powerful vocals on full display, while “Baby Blue” and “I Want to Hear You Sad” won the fan request portions of the night. The Early November’s performance was a true journey through over 20 years of creative success, ending with the pandemic callback to “Outside” and “Every Night’s Another Story”. There was plenty of nostalgia fueling this tour but it’s the look to the future from both bands that inspired the joy in this journey into the past. Neither act shows any signs of stopping so Arizona will undoubtedly be seeing a return appearance as soon as the teased new songs materialize to delight fans for another two decades and beyond.
