Home Is Where, Glass Beach, and Proper. are some of the coolest bands in today’s fifth wave emo scene, and they were in DC on November 21. Here are our impressions of the show: 

Home Is Where

Tory: Right off the bat, the Home Is Where set was incredible, and the vocals were amazing. The frontwoman, Brandon MacDonald’s, voice is so wonderfully odd; you know I hate to be that guy, but she really reminds me of Jeff Magnum.

Anna: You’re absolutely right, I have nothing but respect for all the bands who performed and Brandon’s voice is incredible. Really added to the power and emotion of the Home is Where lyrics.

Tory: Totally! And the energy was insane. My favorite part was when Home Is Where said “trans rights.”

Anna: Screaming about trans rights… so powerful… I was also so impressed by the instruments Brandon played. This concert was the first time I saw a professional play the harmonica and the saw, and it was amazing.

Proper.

Tory: Proper. was amazing. The energy was off the walls, and it was just a crazy experience overall.

Anna: I didn’t know much about Proper. until we came to the show and I expected their music to be a lot more gloomy, but the amount of energy they came through with was incredible. The whole crowd was super into it too. We even got moshed.

Tory: Yeah, it was literally surreal. And lemme just give a big shout out to the drummer of Proper. He was incredible, but all of them brought so much heart to the set. We actually were able to say hi to them after, and they were so chill.

Anna: Yeah, mad respect to the entire band. Songs like “Curtain’s Down! Throw in the Towel” feel like they have to be heard live at least once, and I’m lucky I got to.

Glass Beach

Tory: They opened with “cold weather” and both of us went wild. I felt like the crowd energy was craziest with Glass Beach, with everyone screaming along. 

Anna: “cold weather” was the only song I knew all the words of, so I found myself joining in on screaming the lyrics. Personally, “classic j dies and goes to hell” was my favorite song played. It was on the longer side, but changed pace and tone a bunch, which gave me a chance to dance my heart out in 50 different ways. It’s also a really sweet song, and sharing that experience with a bunch of other Glass Beach fans was awesome.

Tory: I think the most heartwarming moment of the entire set for me was all of the hands reaching towards the stage during the lyrics “take my hand…” in “classic j dies and goes to hell.” I felt more connected to all the people there at that point than any other time during the set. It was the first song I ever heard by them, and hearing it live ran the full circle. One of the coolest things about the tune is how it splices and samples cultural staples to create something new, but also achingly familiar. 

Anna: Yeah, I wanted to hold back on thrashing about and head-banging once I got to Glass Beach since my head was starting to hurt…but they were just too funky. Just shows that you don’t even have to be that big of a Glass Beach fan to enjoy the live music.

Tory: Uh-huh! I mean, I’ve heard so many people go on about how powerful and awesome live shows are, but I never really got it until this show. 

Anna: I hope these bands stop by again as I would highly recommend seeing them live. So next time these bands are nearby, join us and grab our hand because we can’t enjoy these bands alone!