Pvris, Hot Mulligan & more play Sad Summer Festival in Indianapolis

Sad Summer Fest; the closest thing to Warped Tour but with a little extra pink. For the 4th time, Sad Summer brought out some of our favorite pop punk bands all to one stage. With Saddington the Bear, a tailgate party before the show, and bands hanging out all around, it truly makes our emo hearts happy. 

The day started out with Sincere Engineer playing their final show of the tour, before another band joined for the rest of it. Next up was Stand Atlantic. They came out strong with Saddington singing the first song (which was actually Bonnie and the bear was just lip syncing).  After a small mishap during a circle pit, Bonnie did a shoey from a fans van and the show continued. Next up was Mom Jeans who has become a staple in the rotation of pop punk festivals. With high kicks flying and crowd surfers surfing, the hot summer day at TCU has been filled with joy.

Halfway through the day, Hot Mulligan took the stage with the second longest hair at the festival. Playing some old and new music, the audience was loving every minute of it. Also, Nathan (lead singer), verified he does not have a foot fetish just so everyone was aware. Next up was PVRIS who honestly blew me away. Her vocals are so powerful, and their synth style rock was an awesome in between of heavy and pop that fit perfectly in the middle of the festival. After completely killing their set, the most yeehaw band of the night took the stage, The Maine. I of course wore my pink cowboy hat that John tilted his imaginary one at me and said “giddy up”. While not only putting on an incredible set, John also ran to the lawn and danced with fans back there so that everyone was included in all their antics. For the end of their set, they brought up a fan to sing with them and completely rock out. It is so awesome to see bands interact with the crowd and security guards. It makes the sets feel much more personable. Jared, bass guitarist, looked absolutely majestic with the longest and curliest hair of the tour proudly standing in front his fan and letting his locks flow.

The final two bands closed out the night and solidified that it was never a phase. Motion City Soundtrack and Taking Back Sunday brought out all the classics that we listed to in middle and high school as well as some new music that’s in the works. Although Justin Pierre, lead singer, just had spinal surgery he still put on such a good show. Walking with a cane and STILL singing your heart out, is truly inspiring to see. With his mad scientist hair and a crazy energetic piano player, Motion City put on a beautiful show. To close out Sad Summer for Indianapolis, Taking Back Sunday swung their microphone all around the stage and danced like no one was watching. But trust me, you couldn’t take your eyes off that stage.

I truly am so happy that pop punk festivals have not faded away. With having photo opps all around, the cutest merch possible, and friendly bands that truly care about the audience it a very enjoyable festival to attend. I can’t wait to see next year’s line up and what Sad Summer thinks of next.