This past weekend, Emo Nite Day took over Hollywood Palladium to ring in a decade’s long anniversary extravaganza filled with music, food, booze, games, magic, and a little bit of mayhem. I spoke with co-founder Morgan Freed about the history of Emo-Nite and what it means to the community that has fuelled its success over the years.
Ten years ago, Freed and his partner T.J. Petracca had a humble vision to bring their friends together and celebrate a genre of music that had yet to find its place in mainstream society. What started out as “Taking Back Tuesdays” at Echo Park’s Shortstop Bar in the heart of Los Angeles has evolved into a notorious event that now tours all over the country and even made it on Coachella’s lineup back in 2022. Emo Nite has become infamous in the LA scene, with their events showcasing an impressive catalog of notable musicians and celebrities hosting or DJing over the years.
Freed told me how they hadn’t been prepared for the response they received right from the get go. “Emo music wasn’t as accepted when we first started and nobody would give us a night at a bar or anywhere. We finally got a bar to let us do a Tuesday night, so we took it and had zero expectations, just wanted to play the music we liked with friends. But word of mouth spread, and that very first night, there was a line around the block.”
Looking back to the very first Taking Back Tuesday in 2014, the duo behind 3OH!3, Sean Foreman and Nathaniel Motte, helped kick it off with immediate success and have remained an integral piece of the puzzle ever since. In fact, 3OH!3 even brought the Emo Nite boys on tour with them in 2018. So, it was only fitting that Foreman and Motte be featured as a headliner for the 10-year anniversary fest at Hollywood Palladium in order to make it a truly full-circle moment. But back when they were just getting started, everyone was just winging it.
Morgan admitted that neither he or T.J. knew how to DJ for the first couple years they were throwing Emo Nite, opting to put together playlists on their IPad. Despite their initial amateur approach, they were determined to continue growing the event and make it the real deal. Some of their friends within the music industry, including Mark Hoppus of Blink-182, joined in and offered to learn how to DJ in order to take part in the camaraderie. Now they have some of the best DJ’s in the business working their events and giving a platform to lesser-known entertainers.
“Emo Nite gives a built in platform for up and coming artists, local artists, and broke bands, to which everyone is so grateful for each other. People have come to me and told me that our night helped to revive their band, which is really amazing. But even the big established artists who play and end up praising us for what we do, we always tell them that we wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for what they do”, says Morgan.
It’s that kind of symbiotic relationship which helps something like Emo Nite continue to flourish over time. Freed explained how a year and a half ago they entered into a partnership with Insomniac Events, which has allowed them to take the Emo Nite brand to the next level. For those unfamiliar, Insomniac Events produces the country’s largest-scale electronic music festivals in the country such as Electric Forest, EDC, Electric Daisy Carnival, and many more. With Insomniac behind the wheel, Emo Nite Day was able to turn the grounds at Hollywood Palladium into much more than just a show. After stepping through the gates, you were transported into a lively music carnival where everyone in attendance was very proud to be a part of the freak show.
The festivities started at two in the afternoon, and there was not even one second left unaccounted for in their busy schedule from the moment it started until the crowd paraded down Hollywood Boulevard towards the afterparty. When you weren’t watching the lineup of bands, you could traverse through myriad activities including a kissing booth photo op, a giant inflatable slide, carnival games, magic shows, marionette performances, a huge DJ booth, and, of course, local LA street food delicacies (including the famed bacon-wrapped hotdogs with sautéed veg).
Emo Nite Day was just one event that took place this past weekend (December 7 – 8), along with a dual show that took over The Echo // EchoPlex on Saturday night and an Emo Nite Day afterparty at Academy Nightclub. The jam-packed weekend hosted a lineup with nonstop music featuring tons of artists, DJs, and bands. The first night saw bands including Billy and The Kidz, Grave Secrets, Dead American, and Jutes. Anyone with a ticket to Sunday at the Palladium was able to get into the shows on Saturday free of charge, making it an even more worthwhile occasion.
The lineup for Sunday was as eclectic as it was nostalgic, incorporating some rare performances. Tigers Jaw made the trek all the way from Scranton, Pennsylvania and are what some might call the kind of soft rock that sits on the precipice of emo and sprinkles in a little unbeknownst cheer. They set a warm tone for the day with their mid-afternoon set and gave us a taste of songs from their albums spanning the last 15 years including their lasting hit “Plane Vs. Tank Vs. Submarine” off their 2008 self-titled album and “June” from 2017’s Spin.
Royal and The Serpent followed suit, turning her set into a theatrical, five-act production fit with recorded narration, theme appropriate wardrobes, and emotive video projections. Her lyrics incorporate themes of anxiety, substance use, and heartache, which is an emo kids bread and butter. Despite what appeared to be some minor technical difficulties, this was the show stopping performance of the night. Saosin took the stage thereafter and you could tell from the waiting crowd that many had come to see these hometown heroes, based out of Orange County. With 2024 being their reunion tour circuit after not releasing an album for nearly a decade now, it was a real treat to hear so many beloved titles. However, it really got emotional when they ended their set with “You’re Not Alone,” a song that spoke volumes to this crowd in particular.
By the time it got to the headliners, it was clear that a majority of people’s nights had already been made and then 3OH!3 came out to really bring the party to life. Prizes won from all the carnival games were flying through the air and no one’s feet wanted to touch the floor. Last but not least, Cobra Starship took the stage to bring Emo Nite Day at Palladium to a close … but we all know the night didn’t end there. Suffice to say, Freed and Petracca have done it again, and they’re hell-bent on making sure emo never dies.
Photos courtesy of Acacia Evans (@acaciaevans)/Emo Nite
Link to Story below: