A Night For The Emos With Cryrs

On Saturday, February 24th the local emo scene came out in force for Cryrs first Pensacola show, leaving an indelible mark on this elder emo's black heart.

Cryrs leading the Black Parade at Vinyl Music Hall (photo: David Longval)

Lafayette, LA based emo tribute band Cryrs played their first Pensacola show Saturday, February 24th at Vinyl Music Hall, and the local scene showed up in force. With over 700+ in attendance, it was a night to remember for this elder emo and several hundred scene kids.

K-Rox and Burt of Cryrs (photo: David Longval)

With a set comprised of over 40 emo, pop-punk and post-hardcore bangers, it was like watching your favorite playlist come to life, on stage, surrounded by your people who also knew every single word to every single song.

Opening their set with My Chemical Romance's Famous Last Words set the vibe for the evening, before tearing into The Anthem by Good Charlotte, Dirty Little Secret by All American Rejects and In Too Deep by Sum 41.

Elder emos, baby emos, and everything in between — Elder emos, scene kids, and everything in between (photo: David Longval)

Thirteen songs in, they pulled out I'm Not Okay (I Promise) by My Chemical Romance. Back in 2004, this was the song that introduced me to My Chem, long before The Black Parade was a thing, and is still hands down my favorite by them.

Cryrs performing I'm Not Okay (I Promise) at Vinyl Music Hall (Feb 24 2024)

Another song that seemed to really get the crowd going was Last Resort from Papa Roach. While I don't consider them an emo band, it was definitely a banger from the same era and the audience ate it up, screaming the lyrics with fists in the air.

Burt and K-Rox of Cryrs (photo: David Longval)

Prior to the show, we got the opportunity to meet up with the band and ask them a few questions, including the ultimate question: "Taking Back Sunday or Brand New?" with the caveat "Scandal aside of course." Taking Back Sunday was the consensus, and during the show they pulled out their rendition of TBS's hit MakeDamnSure, with a twist, inserting Taylor Swift's You Belong With Me out of nowhere, which the crowd loved. No Brand New songs in the set tonight, and maybe that's still a touchy subject, but they did mention they may include one of their most well known tracks The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows in a future set if the fans want it.

Quick chat with the band outside Vinyl Music Hall before the show (video: Tim Schaffer)

Hey There Delilah, the acoustic ballad from The Plain White T's gave the crowd a break from the vigorous energy the band had been putting into their performance up to this point. Almost immediately a sea of smartphones emerged across the room, their flash lights beaming, swaying to the melody.

And the hits kept on coming. Sugar We're Going Down by Fall Out Boy, Ohio Is For Lovers by Hawthorne Heights, Smile In Your Sleep by Silverstein, I Write Sins Not Tragedies by Panic! At The Disco. The setlist thus far was the thing of dreams. All killer. No filler.

T-Bang, B. Rad, Burt and K-Rox of Cryrs (photo: David Longval)

The Black Parade brought the night to an end. And even after enduring a blistering three hour set, the crowd clearly could have gone much longer with several shouts of "One more song!" emanating from the floor as the house lights came on and brought this evenings performance to a close.

On behalf of Pensacola, thx fr th mmrs.