CRYRS: Emo Halloween Takes Over Vinyl Music Hall

CRYRS came back to Pensacola and this time they threw the area's ultimate emo Halloween extravaganza!

CRYRS: Emo Halloween Takes Over Vinyl Music Hall
CRYRS at Vinyl Music Hall (Photo by Brian Butler)

CRYRS brought the ultimate Emo experience to Vinyl Music Hall and because it was late October, they took that experience to the next spooky level. The band came out dressed in costumes, there was a 10 foot tall skeleton on stage, and a spectacular audience costume contest made one creative fan $500 richer.

But with all of that going on, the best part of the night was of course the music. I’d heard a lot about how good this band was and couldn’t wait to see my first CRYRS show. I wouldn’t call myself Emo but I know and love songs in this genre whose boundaries are pretty fluid. ‘Is it emo or not’ has started many a debate. But CRYRS’s definition of Emo is extremely inclusive, stretching into pop-punk and post hardcore, and I love that about them! This is a celebration of an era, not a debate. (There may or may not have been a Taylor Swift song in the set:) Bottom line is, after that night I’m thinking, maybe I’m Emo after all.

The first half of the show was about singing along and having a great time. Fans knew almost every lyric from My Chemical Romance, to Fall Out Boy, to All Time Low and the energy and talent of the band made for an excellent party. I spend the early part of most shows focused on photographing the band but there were a couple of times during this one that I got caught up in the music and forgot to shoot. I managed to snap out of it and get a few pics though. 🙂

There was an “intermission” about half way through for the audience costume contest hosted by Andy and Richard from Scene Pensacola. Contestants selected by the Scene Pensacola crew were brought up on stage so the audience could take a look and cast their vote. And by cast their vote I mean scream as loud as they could for their favorite because the high tech judging was done with a decibel meter. The costumes were pretty incredible but there was a clear, although seemingly shocked winner that night.

Okay. Breaks over. Now things get intense. For the second part of the show, lead singer K-Rox made an announcement that, and I’m paraphrasing here because as I’ve mentioned before I’m a terrible reporter, but was something along the lines of, “This is the part of the show where the music gets a little harder and you guys get a little wilder. What do we do if someone falls?” The crowd yells back, “Pick them up!”. They went back and forth with “What do we do?” “Pick them up!” a few times, then the band kicked into high gear and the moshing began.

The energy and musical joy of CRYRS is infectious. You can’t help but have a good time. They played over 30 songs that night and if you were alive during the early 2000s, I’m sure they played something you knew and could sing. But if your hair had a nice swoop, you wore black t-shirts with skinny jeans and went heavy on the eyeliner during that time, I would bet you knew every song they played. If you’re even a little bit Emo, go see this band when you have the chance.