#Live Anberlin at The Filmore with Hawthorne Heights and Friends (+Interview w/ Christian McAlhaney)
“I’m so excited for people to see this version of Anberlin”
Twenty Years of Tears is the titled tour for one of the biggest reunions of emo rock music and fans. With acts like Hawthorne Heights, I See Stars, Saosin, Thursday, Armour for Sleep, and more. One of those bands on the bill is Anberlin, who had been on and off as a band for nearly twenty-four years. This time, they are back, and we have to say, more vital than ever. With Matty Mullin from the Memphis May Fire group taking center stage while Stephen plays a supporting role, it brings fans new hope in their daydreams.
We enjoyed catching up with guitarist Christian McAlhaney while he was preparing for their Chicago show. Before Matty showed up, we discussed the beginning of what would have been the end of Anberlin.
It was just hard for us to Get back on the road, which is such an important part of this. You can't really Be an active fan without touring. So, you know everything hinges on everything else so you release a records to then the tour to support the records, you know.
Stephen didn’t want to do that because of his circumstance were a lot more constraining than ours. So he called me well over a year ago basically said, Hey I think you should tour with another singer, you know I was diffently hesitant, It's just, I wanted him to want to be here, but I understand why he couldn't be here. Moving forward with some of you who don't know that well, I mean, it's like a, a Herculean, you know, effort to, you know, get people on board with, Hey, we're still Anberlin, but we've got a new singer.
It took a lot of time and a lot of conversations, I mean, a lot of planning and a lot of just meditating on it. It Discussing it with Steven, with Matty, with the band, and it just started to feel like, Hey, this could, this will really work, and in fact, I think it's gonna be great. So, we're, that's the, that's the new era.
It's just, Steven's still here. He's still involved. Like, he's like, just kind of in the periphery, you know, at the moment. Like, he's, you know, gonna record when we can, and be involved when he can. We might have some surprises up our sleeves, but, you know, this is where we're at right now, and to be here.
How did you come across him as Stephen transitioned away from the stage?
We'd known him, I mean, not well, but you know, just in passing, warp tours and festivals. You know, I knew he liked Amberlynn, but I don't know if I knew the scope of how much he liked Anberlin.he shared with us a picture of his like, 10th grade high school photo and it's him with like, swoopy emo hair and he's wearing an Anberlin shirt and he was like, you guys were like my favorite band and like a really big part of his, path into the music industry. So, you know, we've become great friends now and over the past couple of years because this its has been a couple of years in the making, truly.
So, yeah, we just casually knew him and now he's, now he's a heavy homie and just, you know, we're out here crushing.
We love how you transitioned him into the fandom with the release of the Walk Alone and it’s companion music video.
Having a new single drop and and having the video all dialed in and having it be just this fun kind of like hyper self aware music video of us You know auditioning lead singers and you know Matty comes in and we all It's just like jobs are jobs, right?
I think to feel this, organized and just prepared for the ultimate, you know, curtain drop and reveal of Matty and to have everything kind of in place just feels so great and so vindicated because like I said, it's been a couple of years looking forward to this moment.
Of course, we had to find out where the name Vega comes from in their new album (Out August 2nd).
It's in the lyrics of a song called Seven, which is the second single we're releasing. Slowly enter the Vega era now. I think it was just this like word for kind of what's going on, you know, it's a made up concept that I thought, you know, was pretty ambiguous so we liked that lyric a lot and we liked the idea of it being a little cryptic.
He did tell us when Seven would be released, but we will make you wait for it in anticipation instead. Maybe attend the show, they could be playing it…. live. With that, the band is back and rolling on this mega tour with artists like Hawthorne Heights and I See Stars. How is the atmosphere so far?
These are just a bunch of homies, it's just like, that's what was so, that was what was so appealing about this tour when it really started getting set up, and looking at it, it was like, it felt like, you know, Warped Tour used to be that same way, it was just like, you toured all summer, you knew you were gonna have a ton of friends there, you knew you would just be hanging out with your, you know, homies and other bands, so that's what was such, you know, very appealing about this tour, was like, yo, it's just gonna be heavy hangs all summer.
More about Anberlin
A formidable force in alternative rock for more than two decades, Anberlin just announced their upcoming full length album, Vega, due August 2 via Equal Vision Records. This highly anticipated release is the first proper record since announcing the touring departure of vocalist Stephen Christian and the addition of Memphis May Fire’s Matty Mullins. The twelve-tracks, deliberately free-flowing, represent the diverse nature of Anberlin; with a handful of much heavier tracks, a dabble into industrial exploration, as well as the quintessential mellow vibes Anberlin fans have come to love over the band’s expansive career.
Constantly evolving, the members of Anberlin did not have any future plans to release new music after taking a five year hiatus, before reuniting in 2019. The pandemic was the ultimate catalyst for the writing process which resulted in two explosive EPs released in 2022 and 2023, before officially passing the torch to Mullins and finalizing Vega.
To coincide with the album announcement, Anberlin debuted their first single off the record, “Walk Alone”, with an accompanying music video, which details the journey of a spouse or partner battling with depression. Often struggling in silence, the lyrics document how painful it can be to watch someone you love dealing with such intense emotions. Ensuring that you are never alone, the song demonstrates the compassion and care of a genuine partnership and commitment.
Anberlin will be hitting the road this summer on the 20 Years of Tears amphitheater tour, their most expansive tour in a decade, hosted by emo icons Hawthorne Heights. The 56-date run includes a stacked line-up that also includes performances by Thursday, Saosin, Cartel, Armor For Sleep and more. For more information on tickets + VIP opportunities HERE.
