2025 Idobi summer school
taylor acorn x rain city drive x charlotte sands x If Not for Me x beauty school dropout x arrows in action x huddy
07.19.25
Summer School 2025
2025 was the second year in a row I got to attend Idobi Radio’s Summer School, and it did not disappoint. 2024’s year had my all-time favorite bands on the bill, so I didn’t think there was any chance that it would’ve gotten better, but I have to say I think they’re a tie for how incredible the show was. For those who don’t know, Idobi Radio puts on a mini festival-style tour every year showcasing some of the best upcoming bands in the pop-punk, pop-rock, and hardcore scenes. As an emo girlie myself, I obviously look forward to this every single year. Let’s go ahead and dive into the acts that smashed 2025’s Sophomore Class.
huddy x aIa x BSD x INFM
As I said, 2025’s lineup announcement had me FROTHING to see this show. Every single band on this list is an artist in regular rotation on my daily playlists. You had Huddy opening the show with a ripper 20min set where he was running around, jumping higher than I thought was possible for a person, and left the crowd immediately wanting more, which opened the door for Arrows In Action.
They came out on stage playing basketball and KEPT that energy throughout their entire set. AIA is one of my faves (shout-out to their collabs with The Home Team and Magnolia Park, two Freshman Year Summer School artists), so I was having the absolute best time.
I’ve never seen Beauty School Dropout before, but I’ve always loved their music. Their entire album “WHERE DID ALL THE BUTTERFLIES GO?” is stunning. After seeing them live, I feel like I owe them an apology for not being familiar with their game. I will not be missing a single show that they put on any time they come through Denver, that’s for sure.
If Not For Me is a band I’ve seen COUNTLESS times, and I still won’t ever miss a show if I can help it. I’ve had the honor of working with the boys in INFM before, and they are always such a joy to photograph and see live. They have so much energy, and they, if possible, sound even better live than their tracks. I’m so stoked for their upcoming album “Where The Light Begins To Fade.” I am literally counting down the days (27 at the time of this article posting, to be specific)
Charlotte Sands x RCD x Taylor Acorn
Let’s get into our headliners, shall we? One of the amazing things about Summer School is that they do a rotating show order every single night. This gives all of the artists a chance to have the “prime” slot time every single night, and so every artist gets a chance for their music to be heard by the highest number of people. (This is why it is SO IMPORTANT to always come early and stay late for bands.)
The last time I saw Charlotte Sands was a year prior, while I watched her rip several acoustic songs and blow away a sold-out Denver show. I was there with a couple of friends (shout-out Alex and Zach, in the band Capture This, WHO’S AN OPENER FOR THIS YEAR’S SUMMER SCHOOL. Crazy how these things go full circle.) Needless to say, she killed it. All of her music is incredible, but I was extra stoked to see her debut my new favorite of hers at this show, “neckdeep”. Catch me crying in the car to this song anytime I’m having sad girl hours.
Rain City Drive I think I knew the least about on this bill, but I’ll be damned if now they’re not going to be one of my top artists on Spotify this year. “Talk to a Friend” is another heavy hitter in my heart. Again, their energy was incredible; they sounded amazing live, and I’m so glad I got properly introduced to them at this show.
TAYLOR ACORN, what an icon. I would’ve been happy with any of these bands being the “headliner” for the night, but I’m honestly glad it was her for us! She was such a nice, refreshing set to settle the night down with, being one of the softer artists of the evening with her country-rock background. I couldn’t have hoped for a better lineup for the night and the way each artist played into the next.
Summer School 2026
Honey Revenge x South Arcade x Winona Fighter x Games We Play x Chase Petra x Capture This
SO NOW LET’S GET TO THE POINT OF THIS ARTICLE (besides obviously talking about how incredible last year was.) This year, Junior Class is NUTS. I’m obsessed with the focus this year being female-fronted artists, and not only that, but every single show ALSO showcases a local band for each city. Idobi was already killing it by introducing some up-and-coming bands on these tours every year, but by introducing small artists at every show, it just made it even better. XPSR has the honor this year where all four of the main contributors (Morgan, Moose, Cody, Lex) are all going to be at this show! We got together to talk about which bands we’re most excited to see, and it was a HARD CALL, but this is where we’re at:
Morgan: Games We Play
Moose: Chase Petra
Cody: Capture This
Lex: Honey Revenge
We’ll have a more in-depth review of this show after this weekend, but for now, enjoy some photos of the full lineup from previous shows Moose and Morgan have covered!
