★★★★☆ (4/5)

THE WONDER YEARS PERFORMING AT GLASGOW’S SWG3
PHOTOCREDIT: **PAUL STORR PHOTOGRAPHY**

By the late 2000s, emo was at a crossroads. Its mainstream peak had passed, leaving space for a new generation of bands to reclaim the genre’s emotional core. Disillusioned with glossy production and radio-friendly angst, artists of the 2010s emo revival leaned into DIY ethics, underground scenes, and brutally personal songwriting. That spirit—rooted in sincerity, nostalgia, and vulnerability—hung heavy in the air for a night that paired two of the era’s most defining bands: Free Throw and The Wonder Years.

Supporting the night were Nashville’s Free Throw, whose set felt like a release valve for the room’s pent-up emotion. Since forming in 2012, the band has become synonymous with the messy, urgent side of modern emo, and their live show only amplifies that reputation. Jagged Midwest emo riffs collided with pop-punk speed as the band tore through songs that turned anxiety, addiction, heartbreak, and self-doubt into communal shout-alongs. Tracks like “Pallet Town,” “My High,” “Tongue Tied,” and “Two Beers In” landed especially hard, swinging between quiet tension and explosive release. The crowd screamed every word back, matching the band’s raw intensity and chest-tearing vocals. It was unpolished, cathartic, and deeply human—exactly what the emo revival has always been about.

The Wonder Years then took the stage and delivered a set that felt both emotionally crushing and euphoric. Performing *No Closer to Heaven* in full, the band commanded the room from the opening notes of the title track. “Brothers &” and “Cardinals” hit with renewed urgency, their themes of loss, faith, and responsibility resonating even more deeply years after the album’s release. “Cigarettes & Saints” stood as the emotional centerpiece, transforming the venue into a shared moment of grief and catharsis, while “The Bluest Things on Earth” and “I Don’t Like Who I Was Then” balanced quiet reflection with explosive release.

A standout moment came during “Stained Glass Ceilings,” which featured a hologram appearance by Jason Butler of letlive. Rather than feeling gimmicky, the visual heightened the song’s chaos and intensity, reinforcing its themes of pressure and identity and earning one of the loudest reactions of the night. Other joys for album, like “A Song for Ernest Hemingway,” “Slow Dancing With San Andreas,” and “Thanks for the Ride,” showcased the band’s lasting confidence in their work, before the closing stretch of “You in January,” “Palm Reader,” and “I Wanted So Badly to Be Brave” left the crowd emotionally drained but in their element.

After a brief pause, the second set exploded into life with “Passing Through a Screen Door,” shifting the mood from introspection to defiant celebration. Fan favourites carried the momentum, and the live debut of “New Lows” hinted at a band still evolving. Ending with “Came Out Swinging,” The Wonder Years turned the venue into a joyful, chaotic and moving experience-proving that emo’s revival isn’t just nostalgia, but something still alive, urgent, and swinging hard.