In Her Own Words x Every Avenue @ HQ
In Her Own Words x Every Avenue x Felicity x Summer Stars
10.13.26
Summer Stars
It's always a treat to have a local band on a lineup you were already excited for, and if you weren't told, you'd never even know they were a local. Summer Stars has a polished sound reflecting all the members' many collective years of experience in the music scene. With heavy driven guitars and lush vocal harmonies their sound really encapsulates the name of the band itself, feeling like a soaring star on a clear summer night. They bring the texture of their music to life on the stage, bringing the confidence of a headliner and the fun familiarity of a friend to every audience member. Kind, funny and musically engaging on a stage is a hard trio to master but they've got it down to a science.
Felicity
Did I join a cult during this set? Maybe! Am I upset about it? Nope! You feel less like an audience member and more like part of the production during a Felicity set. First came the awards, complete with custom sashes, the band chose a Mosh Pit Monster, a Merch Master, an Honorary Band Member(awarded to the legend: Yvette the PopPunkGrandma), and a Dancing Queen out of the crowd, which I have never seen in my decade plus of show going, and I LOVED it! Next they brought out the banner, which was only to unroll if we reached an appropriately loud volume, which of course, we did. They had us repeat the words, agreeing to learn a song and follow them online and various other sweet and silly tasks, but honestly not the most a cult has ever asked of me anyway! Of course amongst this they performed their many-genre, incredibly catchy collections of songs.Their style and sound have truly every alt music influence you can think of from the last few decades, light pop punk, and satirical commentary all the way to post hardcore. Their albums being Mixtape for the End of the World (Vol.1 and 2) are so fitting, they truly are a mixtape that you just cannot stop listening to. As a fully independent band with no label, they have made huge strides and you can absolutely hear and see why. If you ever get the chance to see them live, I highly recommend risking that cult induction!
Every Avenue
Every Avenue to me is the sound of an era, a feeling of nostalgia that somehow never gets old. Very few bands can survive 15 years without releasing new music and still be able to co-headline a national tour. With only 3 albums they have somehow lived up to their name and touch every avenue from (capital P lowercase p) Pop punk to (lowercase p capital P) pop Punk. Their most well known song, Tell Me I'm a Wreck, lives on in my mind as a true classic in the poppunk genre with all the best known songs like Cute Without the ‘E’ (by Taking Back Sunday) or My Own Worst Enemy (by Lit). My true favorite though, is This One's a Cheap Shot, off their first album Shh Just Go With It, sounding like a Fall Out Boy deep cut, it's catchy and has got just a bit of some SOUL voice (iykyk) tossed in. Sometimes when I'm working these shows I forget I’m also there to have fun and Every Avenue reminded me to. I could not stop dancing and singing and was completely absorbed in every moment of their performance. During some tuning after the acoustic songs the singer talked about getting sober and his new addiction to something we can all understand: ice cream. This got the crowd WILD, arguing over the best flavors and places to go and all trying to suggest them. Eventually we got back into the music and he reminded us that he is not used to this elevation, which was news to me because they truly sounded record perfect, and I don't say that lightly. I could probably go on for hours about them being one of my favorite bands, but you're gonna just have to go listen to them yourself.
In Her Own Words
In Her Own Words is really a sleeper band and I think more people need to hop on this train. They've been around since 2013 and I guarantee you've heard at least one of their songs. In that time you can hear them grow with the times, and with themselves, but through it all they maintain a unique sound that cannot be replicated or mistaken. The name of each album and song in-suit really ebbs and flows with the members, and with the culture they're immersed in. The music is catchy but the lyrics are real and we can all connect to something they have to say. I have seen and shot them multiple times now and I can say their stage performance is down to a science, but don't worry, it's never stale. They put on such a consistently good show it's always good to see when they are actually headlining because no matter what, they hit like a headliner. That raw energy and confidence is unmistakable, but they remain some of the kindest, most down to earth, and genuinely funny people I have met in this industry. Andretti (guitar) was even carried out during Felicity's song Emo Trash, in a trash can, with EMO written on it in duct tape, I mean, how much more fun can you even have?
