Photos by: Abigail McNatt
Review by: Chris “Oberrated” Ober
Twenty years of the self-titled album Boys Like Girls? Seventeen years of Love Drunk?! Are you kidding? “The Soundtrack of Your Life” is quite the perfect name for a tour that contains songs that quite literally define the beginnings of relationships, the endings of them, significant life events, and life as it is. Two timeless albums played front to back in their entirety. Boys Like Girls brought this tour to one of their favorite cities to play, Pittsburgh, and along with them, the roar of adoring fans waiting to pack the Roxian Theatre from wall to wall.
Before the audience recounted the albums that defined their younger years, there were two bands set to take over the stage before the main attraction. These two bands, by the way, could not have been a better fit for the night. April 2nd was a celebration of pop rock music at this venue tucked into McKees Rocks just outside of Pittsburgh.
First up, Arrows in Action, and just like an arrow—once unleashed, it was full speed ahead. The band from Gainesville, Florida led their set with an absolute jam in “Light Like You.” Seriously though, I haven’t been able to stop humming the song to myself since seeing them, including right now as I type these words. The jams did not stop after “Light Like You.” It seemed to me that Arrows in Action understood the assignment for the night and practically crafted the perfect setlist to keep the energy up, the vibes right, and transition the show into the right flow for IDKHOW.
With IDKHOW up next—or as others know them, I DON’T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME—this band, fronted by Dallon Weekes, quite literally pumped rhythm into the crowd as they took the stage. Preceded by thumping kick drums for what felt like a minute or two, it was the perfect way to transition the crowd from idly waiting as the stage was being set to eagerly anticipating IDKHOW. What came next got a good giggle out of me—and I’m sure many others who were paying attention—as they performed their song “Nobody Likes The Opening Band.” A song that shares a handful of common testimonials people have about opening bands: no one knows who they are, they’re often unenthusiastic, and their sets are far too early. Whether some think these thoughts are true or not is always up for debate, but in my opinion, I can’t share those thoughts when it comes to Arrows in Action and IDKHOW. Dallon is a hell of a frontman, the band kicks ass, and their sound has a way of earworming its way into your brain.
Speaking of earworms, let’s talk about some eternal ones. With Boys Like Girls now set to take the stage, emotion and energy were at an all-time high as some of the longest-tenured BLG fanatics from Pittsburgh and the surrounding areas packed the Roxian, ready to see their favorite band for the umpteenth time. In no time at all, the monitor-lined backdrop began to light up, the fog started rolling, and the screams uncontrollably projected from the raucous crowd. The time capsule trip was about to begin as BLG struck the first notes to kick off their 2009 album, Love Drunk.
Between the deep cuts of the album like “The Shot Heard ‘Round the World” and “Real Thing,” to the eternal melodies like “Love Drunk” and “Two Is Better Than One,” sometimes you may not have been able to tell the difference between the two. Just about every voice in attendance was singing along with Martin, not missing a single lyric. Of course, some songs may have been louder—like the album-titled “Love Drunk,” as one could expect, but nonetheless, it was apparent that it didn’t matter if it was 2009 or 2026. This was a crowd of diehards who had been to a Boys Like Girls show once, twice or thirteen times.
After a brief, necessary intermission between the two albums, Boys Like Girls returned to the stage to kick off the next chapter—twenty years of their self-titled album. Twenty years of everyone’s favorite songs. Twenty years of “The Great Escape,” “Hero/Heroine,” “Thunder,” and “Dance Hall Drug.” Songs that are quite literally part of the soundtrack to people’s lives. As a brief introduction video began the next album, the lead-in to the first song—and quite possibly BLG’s most popular track—“The Great Escape,” was met with the loudest moment of the night. The Roxian was absolutely deafening for the next three minutes as everyone sang along with the band, word-for-word and breath-for-breath. Now, just because “The Great Escape” elicited the loudest response of the night, doesn’t mean any of the other songs off this illustrious album received anything less than a grand reaction. This run through Boys Like Girls had everyone moving as if they were celebrating a brand-new hit album all over again.
Some bands release albums and songs and are lucky to stick around for a couple of years. Lucky bands release music that cements them in history. Then the really good ones drop timeless albums and music that keep them relevant for 20 years and beyond. They become people’s favorite band of all time. Their music is played an immeasurable number of times. They become the soundtrack of lives. Boys Like Girls falls into the latter category, and there is no debate. On this immaculate Thursday night in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, whether you were a diehard or a new fan, you participated in the celebration of two albums cemented not only in pop rock history, but in music history as a whole.
