This past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending Your Renaissance Fest in LA. The trip was a whirlwind of emotions and constant movement, but now that I've had some time to process the experience, I wanted to write a little about it.
The lineup was incredibly stacked with great bands ranging from new to old, and emo to screamo to metalcore. It was incredible to see the new generation of kids play, followed up by 90s legends Portraits of Past, In Loving Memory and The Spirit of Versailles. The mash-up of current-day emo and 90s emo was an interesting comparison with how the genre has shifted over time. I wasn't around back in the 90s, but since getting into emo, people who care about it have been few and far between in my experience, so seeing the number of people and specifically kids who showed up for this fest and who are playing in these new bands was surreal. After years of desperately wanting to find more people who care about this music, I couldn't believe how it felt to be surrounded by hundreds of them. Seeing a crowd of 20 people get on stage and scream along with Febuary gave me chills.
At times, I do find it hard not to wish the scene could be more like it was back in the 90s, more true to its roots, but time only moves forward and regardless, it is absolutely surreal to experience this massive resurgence of emo. I honestly never expected it to get this attention, at least any time soon. I'm so grateful that this scene is actually thriving again.
Seeing Portraits of Past was the highlight for me, no doubt, they have always been one of my favourite bands, whom I never imagined I'd get to see live. They absolutely blew me away last weekend. It is hard to give the experience justice with just words. I felt an overwhelming sense of emotion, some mixture of excitement, awe, and sadness that completely took me over. My friend and I cried and embraced while Portraits of Past played and I was reminded that this is exactly why emo is so special to me. The catharsis in experiencing such emotional and intense music alongside the audience and the band itself, and letting it take you over, that is something I've never felt with any other type of music. It is truly a unique experience. There is some kind of unspoken connection that becomes present in those moments between everyone experiencing it. For a brief period, you can feel exactly what the band is feeling and what they felt when they wrote the music. It's a feeling that transfers and applies itself to whatever you are going through, whatever each person needs in that moment. It is both an individual and personal feeling, as well as a connection to the whole community. An experience that will stay with me for life.
Highlights of the fest are hard to even pick because there were so many amazing bands, but the ones that stand out to me the most are Portraits of Past, The Spirit of Versailles, Febuary, Herlovebeheadsdaisies, Journal, Habak, Knumears and Train Breaks Down. In Loving Memory is an honourable mention, but I unfortunately missed a big chunk of their set due to being kicked so hard in the nose that it bled for hours.
I have to say, Febuary really struck a chord in me with how intense and emotional their set was. I could feel the pain exuding from the vocalist's raw, gutwrenching screams. It makes me very happy to see a band of mostly femme-presenting individuals in this scene, something that is unfortunately pretty hard to come by.
It was also such an amazing experience to get to meet up with my "internet" emo friends who live all across the US and get to meet some of them for the first time, along with meeting a bunch of new great people. The unspoken connection is instantaneous when all gathered from across the US and Canada for a shared love of emo. Huge special thank you to Elias from LA for hosting us all in your lovely home and cooking us a delicious meal while listening to your emo records. That memory will be forever cherished.
So grateful to have been lucky enough to attend this festival. Huge thank you to all of the bands and to Christian from Your Renaissance for organizing such an amazing event.
