_{Review by Kayla Hamilton (@kaylazomboid)}

^{Silverstein w/ REAL FRIENDS and Wayside
The Gov, Adelaide, Australia
August 5th 2025}

With all these anniversary tours, the elder emos of the world have been eating very well. The latest band to head out on an anniversary one was Canada’s most-beloved Silverstein.

Lining up at iconic Adelaide venue The Gov on a Tuesday night, what struck me the most was the age range of the crowd. In front of me was a young teen wearing what was most likely their parent’s Soundwave 2008 t-shirt, who was soon joined by more as equally young looking friends, it made me realise just how much this music is now transcending eras.

Anyway, on to the show.

The show sold out the day of, but as it was a Tuesday night, punters did take a minute to roll in. This did not dampen the spirits of Aussie openers Wayside. Lead by a frontman in a Silverchair Frogstomp t-shirt, the band wasted no time pulling the curious souls into their orbit. Delivering a set of alternative rock, post-grunge, shoegaze fusion, their sound was hypnotic. Leaving the crowd nodding along almost in a trance, the maturity in their songwriting and performance was at odds with their young appearance. There weren’t many breaks to talk to audience, which was almost preferable as I was under their spell from start to finish.

In contrast to the openers, Chicago’s Real Friends instead chose to cause a ruckus from the second they hit the stage. The room had begun to fill out and frontman Cody Muraro demanded a pit from the start. The diehards in the centre front were happy to oblige and the energy in the room went from 30 to 155. Muraro was crowdsurfing in the first song and thus, the level of expectation of fan participation was set high.

As somebody new to this band, I was impressed from the jump. I won’t lie, their pop-punk vibes felt a little generic initially to me on record but I was won over instantly. Tearing through their setlist, Muraro was chatty and encouraging. Calling out to the ‘elder emos on the edge of the room’, Real Friends was able to engage the entire venue in one fell swoop. A highlight for me was when they asked anybody who had never crowd surfed before to break that cycle, which led to some brave souls obliging.

Perhaps the most intimate moment though was when Muraro got into the pit as they performed ‘I’ve Given Up On You’. It was a beautiful moment that even as somebody not familiar with their music could appreciate, so I can only imagine how it felt for those fans.

After Real Friends pushed the level up, it was then time for Silverstein. Opening with ‘Skin & Bones’, it was soon evident that the Canadian emo legends were taking us on a journey from recent years back to the beginning. It may have been almost two decades since I last saw the band, but to me, they sounded as good as polished as ever.

Frontman Shane Told, decked out in a denim jacket with a tally of 25 years on the back, immediately connected with the Adelaide audience. Reiterating that they “never skip Adelaide”, he knew exactly how to bring the best energy out of the often overlooked and skipped crowd. Paying respects as well to the venue, it was clear that we were not just another date on a tour calendar.

They then pushed the atmosphere through the stratosphere by ripping into ‘The Altar’, proving to any kids in the audience that had likely been introduced to the band by the parents that us elder emos still go hard in the paint.

In the almost hour and a half set, Silverstein dipped into every single album in their discography. Perhaps the most beautiful part was the band was no phoning it in. They seemed to be enjoying playing every single song and ensured that the Adelaide fans were along for the ride. The set flew by and by the time we got to 2005, it appeared we were close to the end. Confirmed by an absolutely stellar performance of ‘Smile In Your Sleep’ that tore the roof off.

In a classic of act of heavy music peek-a-boo, aka getting everybody to demand an encore, it was then time for the band to come back on and finish this ride back in time. With acoustic guitar in hand, Told returned and asked everybody if they wanted to join in on an ’emo sing-a-long’. He was met with an enthusiastic response and the sing-a-long kicked off as he started to play ‘My Heroine’. In a wave of nostalgia, it was a moment of just a bunch of adults who once felt seen by their music, reliving that teen angst. A pure act of joy that makes you think that maybe there is hope for the world.

The acoustic performances did not last long though, as the band sent us off into the night with two more songs- ‘Smashed Into Pieces‘ and ‘Bleeds No More’.

Sometimes it is easy to brush off these tours as a bit of a nostalgia act, but with Silverstein’s illustrious career being on full display, it really shows that this music will stand the test of time. Bands are often stuck in this battle between the success of their early albums, the constant demand for ‘play your old stuff’ and fans wanting them still be relevant, but Silverstein have proven that if you keep just being true to yourselves as musicians, you can progress and still preserve your legacy.

Congratulations on 25 years Silverstein. Here is to many more.