The smell of cigarette smoke and rain hung heavy in the air on the night of May 4. That evening, California-native pop-punk band Joyce Manor conquered the stage at the Fillmore Auditorium.
I’ve been a fan of Joyce Manor for quite some time. An ex-girlfriend of mine – which is fitting considering how much of Joyce Manor’s material revolves breakups – introduced me to the band a few years ago. Though that relationship didn’t work out, my relationship with Joyce Manor has only grown stronger over the years.
When I heard that Joyce Manor was coming to the Fillmore Auditorium and that I could cover the concert, I jumped at the opportunity.
Denver was one of many stops along Joyce Manor’s tour honoring the release of their new album “I Used To Go To This Bar” with punk-rock label Epitaph Records.
The show started with an opening set from Militarie Gun, an LA-based alt-rock band. Last October, they released an album of their own titled “God Save The Gun.”
When I got to the venue, I was amazed by how many people had already filed in. The place was packed and the atmosphere was electric. Militarie Gun came onstage and jumped into a 45-minute-long set of pure awesomeness, before turning the stage over to Joyce Manor.
Joyce Manor hopped onstage at 9:15 p.m., and played an hour-and-a-half-long set.
What’s interesting about Joyce Manor is that their albums hardly breach 20 minutes and only consist of nine to ten songs. If I did the math correctly on the Uber home after the show, that means they blasted the crowd with 35 to 45 songs, while still having time to fit in an encore.
However, it felt like their set went by too fast. You know what they say, “time flies when you’re having fun.” And it’s safe to say I was having a blast.
Joyce Manor started their set with the title track of their new album. The crowd exploded into applause as they jumped into a more distorted, slightly faster version of “I Used To Go To This Bar.”
As the song came to an end, lead singer Barry Johnson proclaimed, “I want a heart tattoo.” The rest of the band jumped into the next song with him, blasting through “Heart Tattoo.” The crowd, making heart-signs with their hands, showed their love for the song and the band.
Joyce Manor brought a staple of southern-California to Colorado during the song. The crowd started surfing over each other and that continued for the rest of the show.
Soon after came “House Warning Party.” The song, from their 2020 album “Songs From Northern Torrance,” was just over a minute long and was met with a roar of applause from the exhilarated crowd.
Then came their two most popular songs. Back-to-back, they played “Constant Headache” and “Catalina Fight Song.” There’s nothing like the jolt of nearly 3,000 people recognizing their favorite songs and moshing like there’s no tomorrow. To be fair, none of us wanted tomorrow to start, because that would mean the show would be over.
Then came a mellow song to ease the crowd into the beginning half of their encore. “Falling Into It” was the second track on “I Used To Go To This Bar.” The song puts you in a trance that feels like you’re falling into a cloud of splendor and beauty. The pale blue lights reflected off the Fillmore’s four chandeliers and emphasized that feeling.
Even when “Falling Into It” became heavier and more distorted during the last 30 seconds of the song, listening to it live felt like a surreal experience. The song induced head-bopping and arm-waving in the audience, as if the whole crowd were planes falling gently through the sky.
The encore felt informal and, more importantly, extremely intimate. Johnson started taking requests for the next few songs from the crowd, who listed off tracks like “Victoria” and “Derailed.”
Though the band forgot how to play a few of the songs the audience requested, everyone was still pleased to be heard and acknowledged by the frontman. It felt as if Joyce Manor built a friendship with the crowd that night.
Alas, came Joyce Manor’s final song: “Five Beer Plan.” Though nobody there wanted the show to end, Joyce Manor left everyone feeling satisfied. “Five Beer Plan” has that “you don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here” vibe. It’s a slower track, that is until the last 45 seconds of the song, which says “we’ll catch you at the next show.”
I’ve been to thousands of concerts and Joyce Manor was one of my favorites. They came to Denver to melt faces, fix broken hearts and show everyone a good time. The band accomplished all three effortlessly.
