The biggest names in Alternative Rock came together at the Honda Center in Anaheim on Jan. 13, 2024, to celebrate the excitement and thrill of good, old-fashioned live alternative rock performances in front of a sold-out arena.

Thanks for the memories, Anaheim.

From beginning to end, fans unleashed their inner “Machinehead” and “Everything Zen” was a vibe to enjoy.

Headbanging was mandatory.

The star-studded lineup included The 1975, The Black Keys, Thirty Seconds to Mars, BUSH, Sum 41, Yellowcard, lovelytheband and The Last Dinner Party. Originally, Paramore was slated to headline but unfortunately could not make it due to an undisclosed illness.

Nevertheless, the stadium rocked out and fans were delighted to have the seven-time Grammy award-winning band Fall Out Boy fill in at the last minute. Although a one-week fill-in, the certified double platinum-selling group performed for nearly two hours.
Festivities kicked off at 7 p.m. and continued throughout the night. Special attendees like Mike Shinoda from Linkin Park and Luke Hemmings from 5 Seconds of Summer came on stage to greet the fans and shout out their upcoming tour dates and album releases.

Those unable to attend the festival could stream the concert live through the iHeart app, Veeps.com, or the Veeps App on Apple TV, Roku, iOS, and Android. Fans in the Los Angeles area could tune into ALT 98.7 and hear the live performances in real time.

Opening the concert was The Black Keys, who performed their new single “Beautiful People (Stay High)” off of their new album, “Ohio Players” for the very first time, in addition to classic tracks including “Gold On The Ceiling,” “Lo/Hi,” “Tighten Up,” “Howling For You,” “Little Black Submarines,” “Lonely Boy” and ending their set with “Wild Child.”

The Black Keys set the tone early on at the Honda Center.

Next on stage was Yellowcard, whose subpar performance deserved a yellow card for having their equalization out of sync and volume levels for the instruments being too high at certain points. It made it harder to enjoy their set which included iconic hits like “Way Away,” “Only One” and “Ocean Avenue.” Several fans were seen leaving because of the displeasing distortion of the audio.

Looking to bring the crowd engagement back was the Los Angeles-based alternative group, lovelytheband. Although several fans were not too familiar with the group, the first-time invites gained several new fans thanks to their unique blend of live instruments and soundboard mixing performing songs like “these are my friends,” “make you feel pretty,” “nice to know you” and “broken.”

Before their last song, guitarist Jordan Greenwald advocated for showing love and checking in with friends and family, saying, “Mental health is so important. Check on your loved ones.”

Embarking on their final year of live events, Sum 41 started their farewell tour off with an old-fashioned headbanger of a set. Before taking the stage, Mike Shinoda from Linkin Park introduced the rock legends and expressed how lucky they were to see them on one of their last performances.

Their performance had no pyrotechnics, strobe lights, fog machines or fireworks, just shredding metal like they always have.

Although lead singer Deryck Whibley did not perform his signature stage dive due to the large media section in front of the floor seats, Sum 41 captivated their audience with all of their nostalgic hits like “In Too Deep,” “Landmines,” “Fat Lip” and closed it out with “Still Waiting.”

The Canadian rock gods previewed fans to two songs off “Heaven :X: Hell” which will be their last studio-released album later in March 2024 before bowing to the crowd and posing for their final photo and performance at ALTer EGO.

Following Sum 41 was The 1975. The band had fans dancing and in their feels during their set which included “It’s Not Living,” “Somebody Else,” “Robbers,” “I’m in Love With You” and “About You.” During the performance, lead singer Matt Healy would take a puff of his cigarette or sip from his flask. If that doesn’t scream rock’n’roll, you’re in the wrong concert.

Fans needed to breathe in and breathe out during Bush’s set. One of the more anticipated performances was a dud due to the volume levels for the instruments overpowering the audio microphones and too much speaker feedback made it difficult to enjoy hits like “Machinehead,” “Swallowed” and “Comedown.”

Not even a guest performance from Alice In Chains’ Jerry Cantrell could make up for the technical shortcomings. Several fans were spotted leaving at the beginning of the set because of the technical issues experienced.

Shortly after the botched set, a new and upcoming British female rock group called The Last Dinner Party took the stage to bring the fans back. Although most of the audience was unfamiliar with the group, the crowd was engaged and rocking out with the sisters from across the pond as they performed one of their new singles called “Catholic Guilt.”

Their stage presence and imagery to accompany their set was captivating and had obvious “feminine rage” elements that wove their way through the entire performance, a signature style utilized in each of their performances.

With one more performance to go before Fall Out Boy closed out the night, Thirty Seconds to Mars took the stage with their signature 30-second countdown. Lead singer Jared Leto entered on stage by walking through the floor-level seats shaking hands and taking photos with fans as he performed. Accompanying him and his bandmates was a local Anaheim choir group as they incorporated their live background singing with the band’s EDM soundboard and live instruments.

A true melting pot of genres of music. Leto asked the crowd a simple question before playing their throwback hits, “Were you guys emo in middle school?” As the crowd roared, the bass kick from the speaker began playing their 2005 hit “ATTACK.” What made their performance even better was when they introduced My Chemical Romance’s Mikey Way to come out and help them perform the song.

Admittedly, Leto was sick and had lost his voice in the car ride from the airport but told the audience “There’s no fucking way I’m missing out on this” as the crowd erupted. Leto was moved almost to tears and his spirit and voice were reenergized. “Don’t make me cry, goddamnit!”

Before the group performed one of their newest singles, “Stuck,” Leto taught the crowd a part of the song he wanted them to sing along to. During their closing song, Leto invited several fans on stage including a fan in a chicken costume as they performed “The Kill.”

Finally, the last-minute headliner made the city of Anaheim “Dance, Dance” throughout the night – Fall Out Boy.

Pete Wentz, the bass guitarist, spoke to the crowd after performing their first song off of their set expressing his gratitude and appreciation for the chance to perform in Anaheim, where the group already has a scheduled sold-out March 4 stop for their So Much for (Tour) Dust tour. “I want to give a special thanks to Lisa Worden for calling us first to fill in and perform for you (guys). You fucking rock, Anaheim,” said Wentz.

Opening with two songs from their new album “So Much (For) Stardust,” the crowd was in a frenzy for them to perform their classic songs to which they obliged happily. Although they did not have much time for rehearsal or to properly curate a set list, they catered to the audience’s desires by performing songs like “Thnks for the Memories,” “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race,” “Sugar We’re Goin Down” and “A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More ‘Touch Me’.”

To the delight and surprise of the crowd, Mike Shinoda performed “Dance, Dance” with Fall Out Boy. Afterward, Wentz shared a hilarious story that involved Mike Shinoda. “We were at a diner in Oklahoma somewhere and fans approached me and asked if I was the guy from Fall Out Boy. I smiled and said yes but as soon as I got ready to sign an autograph for them, they pushed me out of the way to get to Mike (Shinoda).”

After the anecdote, the band continued to play more of their greatest hits such as “Centuries,” “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light ‘em Up)” and “Uma Thurman.”
A final bow to the crowd concluded the night of emo nostalgia and reliving those moments signing your favorite tune in the shower.

Truly a performance to remember for “Centuries.”