The Wet Hot All-American Summer Tour Featuring The All-American Rejects, New Found Glory, Motion City Soundtrack and The Get Up Kids Perform at the Fillmore Auditorium in Denver, CO.

Article and photos by Negean Mohi

September 22nd, 2023

The first show of the second leg of the Wet Hot All-American Summer Tour started off with the light stretching of 40-year-olds´ limbs and afternoon espressos (to be regretted later in the evening) within the hallow halls of the Fillmore Auditorium. Macabrely lit from the beloved chandeliers, the venue was aglow in cool tones as the crowd filed in for a wet hot show. The Fillmore on Colfax Ave is known for being the largest indoor venue in Colorado, and the perfect location for this tour’s line up of ageless talent. It must have been a rather easy decision to select this venue for a line up 20 years in the making.

The Get Up Kids, once a Midwest emo scene band, now an ensemble of grey beards adorned in mid 2000s clothing, jean jackets and band shirts over fading punk rock tattoos and we wouldn’t want to watch them in any other way. They have been producing records since 1995 with their latest album, Problems, released in 2019. They were a solid choice to open the show as they are well-known in the elder emo crowd, and their presence guaranteed to bring the crowd in quickly. After a short set, there was little wiggle room left on the floor.

Motion City Soundtrack’s reprisal of their line up slot came down to showtime, as vocalist and guitarist, Justin Pierre, appeared sans instrument. He acknowledged an unfamiliar sixth member sharing the stage and a story of personal struggle. Physical and mental strains are not an uncommon hardship among society today, and Justin’s monologue of embracing resources and asking for help did not land on deaf ears, but rather compassionate and commiserative shoulders. His strength was our reward as an ideal energy settled in between the balcony and dancefloor.

Tonight, was a night of breaking down stigmas and being grateful for the present as New Found Glory made an uncharacteristic appearance outside the headlining position on tour. The two-parted tour and supporting role seemed to be by design for anyone following guitarist, Chad Gilbert’s story for the last couple years. In 2021, Chad was diagnosed with Pheochromocytoma, a rare cancer that had spread from his adrenal glands to his spine. Due to this health crisis, he was absent from last year’s Denver show when his cancer came back after remission, and why he debuted a customized single sofa on stage.

Even though his body forced him to take breaks and play while sitting and use lighter guitars than he’s used to, the whole band brought two years’ worth of vigor to make up for what we missed. A newly minted fan-favorite trope of their shows is to bring on an additional guitarist to play rhythm guitar to recreate the full sound of their studio albums. The western states are blessed to know NFG are sharing the stage with the inimitable Anthony Ranieri of Bayside.

NFG manifests the kind of energy any band would want to play to, and The All-American Rejects took an already elevated crowd and took them higher. There were many fans front row with interesting stories of how they got there. One couple was visiting from Las Vegas and only in town for the night. Another woman attended under the guise of chauffeuring her daughter but disclosed she stayed for her favorite band. Lead singer and bassist, Tyson Ritter, emerged in a provocative sheer black romper and bare feet which quickly elicited an intended response from a full sweaty room. I don’t believe there was a single lull in the evening as the whole night felt like a ride in a time machine, and every year we traveled back, a memory unlocked from an easier time when our angst would not fully be appreciated until we could open our eyes again in the present.