On the last weekend of July, iMatter Festival finally made its triumphant return to the Southern Tier, albeit in an indoor edition at The L in Horseheads, NY. There were scores of bands playing, both regional and nationally touring, and with merch set up outside, it reminded me of the golden days of Warped Tour. But for me, the festival was all about Anberlin headlining at the end of the day. Because, for my entire career, it’s always been about Anberlin.
As I told head organizer and promoter, Adam Bunce, my entire career of live music photography could be contributed to a single Anberlin one-off show that took place in 2009. Not to mention, that doesn’t even include the sheer fact that I had been a fan of Anberlin for more than half my life, having first heard them on my 16th birthday, and I’m now 34. I hadn’t had a chance to see Anberlin live since 2014 when they played Warped Tour shortly before the band broke up and, outside the context of Warped Tour, I had never had the opportunity to photograph them live. Sixteen years later, I finally got a chance to have that opportunity.
Playing iMatter came amid their residency tour as they were playing their albums in full across two dates at each city on the tour. So their set list at iMatter was essentially a consolidated version of songs from across their lengthy discography. They opened their set with what could only be described as the dream first three for any diehard, long-time Anberlin fan with “Godspeed,” “Never Take Friendship Personal,” and “Paper Thin Hymn.” Interspersed with a few new songs from their recently released EP, the rest of the setlist was full of iconic singalongs such as “Day Late Friend,” “Dismantle. Repair,” and “Feel Good Drag.” I nearly thought I was going to lose my voice solely from singing along to the whole set. It was everything I could’ve hoped for as an Anberlin fan, especially as a fan who had been waiting for eight years to see them live again and 12 years, aka my entire photography career, to take photos of them.
Anberlin
The Devil Wears Prada
18 Visions
seeyouspacecowboy
Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
Attack Attack!
RVLS
