By: Sarah Swetz
On July 10th the Franklin Music Hall in Philadelphia was abuzz with midwest emo lovers young and old to take part in the emotional experience that is American Football. The band, from Illinois, was first active from 1997 to 2000, reforming in 2014, and are often credited with being one of the reasons people associate the midwest and emo together. They have developed a unique sound that has been an inspiration to other artist and will outlive them to be sure. This summer they have headed out on tour after the release of American Football LP4.
First was an opening set from IAN SWEET aka Jilian Medford from Los Angeles, California. The indie rock artist started the night off strong with both some of her old songs and playing the crowd some new songs that have yet to be released. She showed emotional vulnerability and a pop/synth style to her music that was hypnotizing. Her bandmates were killer as well and all in all put on a great set that got the crowd ready for an emotional night.
American Football started their set with a staggered entrance to the song Man Overboard starting with bassist Nate Kinsella followed by drummer Steve Lamos and then the rest of the band with guitarist Steve Holmes and frontman Mike Kinsella. The band guided the audience through a sampling of their discography – self titled albums 1-4. They have an energy that really meshes well mixed with amazing visual backdrops. The combination creates a trippy, dreamlike state for the audience as they moved from song to song. When they played Never Meant the audience gained some energy and I did see some what I’ll call “light moshing” as the audience sang along to their most popular song. They took a short break before an encore that was emotionally heavy and musically intricate. The whole night was like a trance.
Alt Adjacent Music 
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