Emo Nite Brooklyn recently celebrated nine years of touring across the country, injecting the pop punk, emo, and alternative scene with a vibrant space for its community. It’s also an anniversary for DJ Joshua Douglas, who has been amping up crowds and curating the perfect playlist for five years.
“As fun as it is, it’s more than that,” Douglas said before a show in Maryland on the weekend of his anniversary. “It’s genuinely a calling to be able to create an environment for people to be their authentic selves.”
The alternative scene thrives on live music. But apart from the occasionally remixed version of “Mr. Brightside” (if that even qualifies) this kind of music rarely provides ambience at clubs or bars. Emo Nite Brooklyn, and its friendly rivals at Emo Nite LA, fill the void.
“We all grew up on this music because we all align with it through our personal struggles, grief, woes, whatever it is,” Douglas continued. “A lot of us didn’t have the opportunity to grow past it or develop past it. This thing that we do, Emo Nite Brooklyn is therapeutic …We can nostalgically live the lives that we had while also making peace move forward. But also just living in the moment and actually enjoying the things that we do.”
And at Towson, Maryland’s The Recher, a crowd of 20-somethings, many of whom were likely toddlers when Taking Back Sunday grinded in the New Jersey scene, watched Douglas dance and leap on stage as My Chemical Romance belted out the speakers. An hour into the show, fans were invited to join Douglas, a unique staple of Emo Nite. It was a wonderful moment of acceptance and unity.
“It’s about everybody in the room. And to have that it is a remarkable thing, and I am so grateful to provide this,” Douglas concluded.
Douglas and the team of DJs at Emo Nite Brooklyn are always on the move. Check out where they will be next here.
Photo courtesy of Emo Nite Brooklyn
