April 17th, 2025 (CPS, Sophie's Body, Calicuzns, and Everybody That Loves You @ The Madison, Albany, NY)

Haven't done a show review in a while, and this is one that really deserves one!

To start, the venue was actually awesome. The Madison is actually a movie theater, and I don't think they've ever done a show at this place, but it was so cool. It was a movie theater with a bar, which is not something I've ever seen before. There were some games there, which were quite fun!

The opening band was an Albany band with a fair amount of hype around them. Everyone I knew were kind of tired of their set, since they had seen them many times, and apparently they have a bad case of having the same set every show. The band was CPS, which I had not seen before, but I knew that people really enjoy them, especially their first time seeing them. I am one of those people! I really liked what they had to offer. Their set was quite interesting, and not something I've really heard much of in this area. I see why a friend of mine called GoLeM, who I saw a bit ago, CPS from an alternate universe, because they are both duos that play really intruiging instrumentally focused music. Their set was pretty memorable, and their backdrop was very based (it was a shirt design that was "If this flag offends you, I'll help you pack" with the trans flag).

Next up was Sophie's Body, which was a band I had not heard of before. They were pretty good. The vocalist gave me Hayley Williams vibes at times, which is cool, since I love Hayley Williams. The band played pretty standard indie rock with alt rock influences. I like the vocals quite a bit, but I can't really remember too much from the show. The frontwoman was also quite nice too!

In between this set and the next, a friend of mine played a very competitive game of Connect 4 with some older guy. They were competing because both my friend and the older guy hadn't lost a game of Connect 4 in over a decade! Unfortunately, he lost, but it was still fun to see a very competitive game of large Connect 4 (I mean very large, like it wasn't the board game, no, it was like a life-sized version of Connect 4).

Calicuzns were up next, and they played some really cool emo music. Like very reminiscent of 2nd wave, which always gets a warm welcome from me. They had some really good riffs, and the energy was definitely there. I don't remember their set too well, but I do remember liking it quite a bit. I did go through a mood swing by the end of their set, so I kinda can't recount my exact thoughts at that moment, but I did like their sound quite a bit as a 2nd wave emo fangirl.

Between this and the main act, someone I know said something that upset me, but I won't get into that. I think it's important for context for the main act though!

I was a bit sad and pissed off before Everybody That Loves You played, which meant I needed them to be really fucking good. Good thing they even exceeded my expectations and might be an all-time contender for best band I've seen live. Holy shit, they really rocked!!! Everybody That Loves You are a newer emo band, and they have some really great riffs. Like it's so good. They mix time signatures up very well, and gives a lot of dynamic listening. I went all out for them, moshing out all my frustrations, and I had a wonderful time. In fact, I went too hard because I felt nauseous after they were done playing! I HAD to buy a shirt from them, and I am definitely going to check their music out after that! They were so good and I definitely see the hype. I wanna see them even more now!

Overall, this was a really good show, and this venue NEEDS to host more shows. It was awesome, and might even be my favorite venue that I've been at, just cause it was so awesome. I get that they're a movie theater, but I would LOVE to see more shows at The Madison, and I would strongly recommend this venue to anyone reading this in the area!

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