Emo Nite LA NYC Takeover

Yes, I’ve written about Emo Nite a handful of times, and yes I love it, but no, I did not fly to New York just for Emo Nite LA’s NYC Takeover. I flew to New York for Coheed and Cambria, okay? Okay. Now that that’s straightened out.

I was really happy it fell in perfectly with my schedule. I landed at Newark on Wednesday and Coheed was on Friday, so Emo Nite on Thursday sounded just like what I needed.

Two friends had told me they’d be there, but I guess they bailed and forgot to tell me, so I wound up alone for the first part of the night. I had tried convincing my friend Biz to join me, but he took a nap and woke up too late to leave in time, so he told me to be extra emo for him.

“I’m not gonna cry.”

There’s already an Emo Nite in the New York area, Emo Nite Brooklyn, which I still want to attend eventually. But LA decided they wanted to see the big city on the other coast I guess, and this is the party I’m used to, so I was looking forward to seeing how New York would hold up comparatively.

I got to Webster Hall around 10pm. There are three rooms in the venue of various sizes, and apparently I’d only seen the middle room before tonight. The main floor held the DJ stage, the party I’m most accustomed to in San Francisco, while the smallest room (the Studio) held live bands and the middle room (the Marlin Room) played more party-type music.

I didn’t want to pay for coatcheck right off the bat, so I ventured my way into the pit of the main floor wearing my jacket. The Used comes on the speakers, and lo and behold, guess who’s wearing a Used shirt under her jacket. I unzip and a guy onstage sees me. He points at me and then reaches his hand out to pull me up so I can sing and party with them. Let’s be real, it’s so much more fun onstage.

I stayed up there for quite some time. There was a guy dressed as Black Parade Gerard Way up there too and he was a lot of fun. I later learned his name is Rocky and he is actually a part of the Emo Nite crew. I shoulda known, based on his dedication to his outfit. Although I have all the respect for people who go all out just for the hell of it. (I mean… prom was a thing.)

Eventually I decide I’m too hot in my jacket, so it’s time for coatcheck. I hop off stage and try to make my way through the (now fuller) crowd, and all of a sudden I’m being hugged. I didn’t realize what was happening at first, my brain just went “Why can’t I move?!”

It’s Corey!

Corey was one of the first friends I made through I the Mighty. I can’t even remember when the last time I saw him was, but I was really happy to see him there. I was not expecting that at all, but again, I shouldn’t be surprised.

He was with a friend from high school who no longer lives in NYC, Stephy, and he introduced me to her as “one of his OG I the Mighty friends.” I love it.

Corey: “Has the Coheed tour started yet?”
Me: “Is that a question? Are we Facebook friends?”
Corey: “How many have you been to so far?”
Me: “Five. I’ve got three more.”
Corey: “That’s my Lindsay.”

The three of us headed downstairs to coatcheck, where the reunions continued. Of course who else but I the Mighty’s tour manager, Bear, was there. I don’t know what band he was currently touring with, but timing is a cool thing sometimes. He told me he saw me onstage.

“I heard the Used and there you were.”

Our little I the Mighty-related party was catching up when all of a sudden Coheed was playing in the Marlin Room. I couldn’t exactly hear it, but I sensed it. (Is that weird? To have a sixth sense for your favorite bands? Just me? Okay.) Then Bear goes “They’re playing something special for you,” and that solidified it. I ran in the room to catch the latter half of “Devil in Jersey City.” I’ve requested that song almost every single Emo Nite I’ve gone to in San Francisco and I’m finally hearing it. Thank you, New York.

We’d lost Bear by this point, so it was just Corey, Stephy, and I the rest of the night. We seemed to do more drinking than dancing (a lot of standing on the sidelines I guess), but that was okay because we still had a ton of fun. There was free champagne for “ladies 21+” so obviously, Stephy and I appreciated that. I don’t understand it, but I didn’t question it either.

I didn’t particularly care about any of the live acts of the night, but Stephy wanted to see the solo acoustic set by Nick Thomas of The Spill Canvas on the main floor, so we made our way back up. It was a little unfortunate that he only played two songs, but I guess there were too many guests to play much more than that.

There was also an acoustic performance by Geoff Rickly of Thursday.

Then something I found super cool happened. The Black Parade Marching Band emerged, with Rocky leading the way. I love that they got an actual marching band to play My Chemical Romance right in the middle of the night. Amazing.

I spent pretty much the entire night playing “Where’s Waldo?” with Rocky every time My Chemical Romance came on.

“Where’s that Black Parade guy? This is his song!”

We took pictures with him at the merch table, because how could we not. He told me he loves me and thinks I’m a lot of fun. Aww. I think the same of you, dude. Hope to cross paths again, maybe in another city next time.

My little crew went downstairs to the Studio for just one full live band, Juiceboxxx. The band was awesome, but the circumstances maybe not so much. There was this older awful creepy drunk guy who would not keep his hands (or anything else) off a girl with Xs on her hands, and the lead singer looked like he wanted to literally kill him. He actually physically kicked him away from the stage at one point, told him to shut the fuck up, and when their set was finished and he left the stage, he shoved him as he walked by.

There’s something I’ve never seen before. The guy totally had it all coming, though. He was obnoxious and gross. Why.

But I really enjoyed their music. And the singer kept joining us on the floor (the “pit” if you will) and having fun. It was great.

Then we went back upstairs for the rest of the night to party with the main DJ, whoever that happened to be at the moment, as they were all guests. Machine Gun Kelly definitely played a DJ set, but I think he might’ve been the only name I actually heard announced. Whoops.

There were a few repeat songs throughout the night such as The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside” and a lot of The Used and Taking Back Sunday. I adore all of those though, so I was totally fine with the repeats.

Corey: “That feel when you don’t know the song.”
Me: “Me neither.”
Corey: “We’re not emo enough.”
Me: “Biz told me to be extra emo for him. I told him I’m not gonna cry.”

It seemed like the venue cleared out a lot faster than it did in LA, but I think that might be because Webster Hall is a lot bigger so it just seemed emptier by the end of the night. Or maybe everyone in New York had work in the morning. Who knows.

Just like in LA, the night ended with some remixes. I had trouble with them in LA, but with Corey and Stephy, I enjoyed them a lot more this time around simply because they were into it. When a Green Day remix came on, Corey stopped and looked right at me. He knows.

Overall it was a lot of fun, but I think I might have preferred the actual Emo Nite LA in LA at the Echo/Echoplex just a little bit. I think they had more energy there. But I’d also like to see how Brooklyn does, so I won’t be too hard on the city as a whole just yet.