Anberlin Band • Page 102

On the other hand, this being a one-off is perhaps the only way it's congruent with their 2014 statement. Underoath getting back together (they were inactive when Anberlin broke up) and offering to play with the band for the first time ever could constitute "something that’s just overwhelming that we couldn’t say no to." That said, I've never wanted a band to go back on their word more intensely. The fact that their 2002-2014 arc was near-perfect doesn't take away from the fact that I know in my bones they have more quality music in them, and literally no other band that I know of sounds close enough to make up for their absence.

 

Personally I’m fine with it. If they’re back and make new music, great I’ll listen and see them live if they come to Atlanta and I’m not busy that night. If not, I got my farewell experience on their last tour and am ok with that being the last time I see them and that was good too.

 

Could be a false memory but I thought I recalled someone in the band (Stephen?) saying they could maybe see getting back together to play the occasional show here and there. If that's true, this makes sense...but I could be wrong. Stephen said a lot of things as they were ending.

 

I feel like a hack promoting my own work on here, but yeah, he said something kinda like that, but the time frame was "in like ten years" and the hypothetical show was an acoustic show.

And Nate said this, in an AP.net interview:

“I’m sure everyone in a couple years will be like, ‘Ah, I want to play again,’ and all this stuff, but I think for the sake of what Anberlin is, we will probably refrain from doing that.”

 

Man, did they only finish in 2014? I thought it was a bit further in the past! Four years is hardly any time!

I have the same feelings because I really liked how they ended and it felt good and significant and there was closure. It was so different to other bands and i liked the finality.

But then I think about the fact that I might get the chance to see them again or to hear another new album and I kind of forgive them and get excited. Very excited.

 

I wouldn't be shocked if they came back in an Alexisonfire-type capacity, where they play a few shows every now and then at their convenience/leisure without the pressure of having to make new music or anything

 

They can do whatever they want, but this seems like the worst case scenario to me. It puts a damper on the legacy they left without giving fans much to make up for it. I agree with others that I hope we don’t just get a bunch of teases without anything substantial. I get coming back for this one-off with UO, but let that be it.

Btw, I’m not big on fans expecting things from bands who have already given so much. I just don’t like the build up. It feels more honest if they just suddenly said, “Hey guys, so this is happening!” and made it clear. I’d feel differently if there wasn’t a new picture and web design that’s specifically geared to make fans think, “Anberlin is back!!!!”

Love these guys no matter what though.

 

This exactly. Being upfront to curb expectations is fair to ask when their fan base is as thirsty as us

 

Oh hey I remember reading this a while ago- good stuff!

 

I just find it funny how they’re opening for them when they’re so sonically different. Talk about whiplash, lol. The only thing they have in common is Florida bands that couldn’t stay broken up.

 

Not really, though. They come from the same small scene in Florida, they got big more or less around the same time in the same scene, they were both at times pigeonholed into the Christian rock genre... and honestly they're not all that sonically different. It's not like Dashboard Confessional or Paramore is opening up for Underoath. Anberlin can get heavy, and Underoath can get poppy.

 

Pretty sure they both got signed by John Frazier at T&N too, but I may be wrong on that.

 

Honestly a dream tour for me. UØ, anberlin, and DGD are my top favorite bands aside from Blink

 

If you wanna get really sonically off but origin close, throw Copeland in the mix. HA

But seriously I’d go to that show.

 

Just start with Copeland, then an Anberlin set that gets progressively heavier, then Underoath beginning with their Erase Me stuff building into their heaviest work and you’ve got a perfectly cohesive tour.

 

OR just do Copeland and Anberlin and then an Anchor and Braille set and don’t worry about adding Underoath :)

 

UH GUYSSSSSS

(I thought the announcement was full tour, am slightly less hype but glad they’re back)

 

Anberlin and new Underoath are not that far removed from each other at all.

 

Don't know how i feel about this. Obviously it's great that they're playing together again but they literally rode off into the sunset in a near perfect manner, so would feel like all of 2014/the final tour was a complete waste. In saying that, i really didn't like lowborn (especially when you consider how good Vital was), so the potential of hearing the true follow up to that record kind of excites me.

 

Dang, y’all are right. DITW is full of bangers. Haven’t seen people mention impossible in a hot minute.

 

Shit. Listening to Vital for the first time in at least a couple of years. I forgot how much this album shreds.

 

It’s even crazier when you listen with the bonus songs. How did they pump out so many good songs at one time?

 

Fantastic song, one of their very best singles

Take Me As You Found Me is also criminally underrated

 

Matt, just want to say that I love your work on Anberlin. I couldn’t stop reading it when it was first published. I’d love to know your thoughts/feelings about this show & what it could mean. How would you feel about them coming back?

 

Thanks for the kind words! I would be thrilled, of course. Stephen’s voice is by far my favorite voice of all time, but I just can’t get down with his worship material, so new Anberlin material would be a dream come true. That said, I think I would only want them back if they are willing to be direct about why they’re back... as in, I don’t want any cynicism or dodginess from them about the fact that they’re totally going against all of the things they said when they broke up, and I don’t want them to act cryptic and get a big kick out of stringing their fans along, considering how firm they were about *not* reuniting so soon.

Stephen is a great guy, and is so kind and welcoming, and that has always been one of the factors that drew me to their music the most, all the way back to when he used to write back to commenters on his blog and engage with his fans on that platform so openly. When I gave him a draft of the first few chapters of my biography for the band, he was immediately willing to talk to me on the phone and give me the best, most honest answers he could about the history of the band, and he set up an in-person interview for me with Joey, too, and Joey was super kind and honest with me and seemed happy to chat. The rest of the band didn’t want to talk to me. It was a real bummer at the time, but I made the most of what Stephen and Joey gave me, which was already a lot. I felt like I made it pretty clear that I wasn’t trying to dig up any dirt on anybody or market my work and try to profit off of them or anything salacious like that, and I tried to reach out several times, but the rest of the band just wouldn’t respond to me, except for one of them suggesting that they/we should consult with the band’s lawyer before moving forward and that I needed to make sure that I was in no way representing myself as being affiliated with Anberlin, LLC.

I know that’s a big tangent but basically I have loved this band for a long time and I tried to put a lot of heart and effort and work into making something cool that captured their legacy, and when the majority of the band gave me the cold shoulder for it, it made me feel hesitant about how much truth there really was to the image they sometimes projected for themselves, of being so open and humble and down to earth and anti-rockstar, so to speak. So, if they really and truly “come back” now, or soon, I just hope that they are doing it for the right reasons, and that they make an effort to be transparent and open about their plans. And obviously, I hope that they have resolved the interpersonal issues that were clearly bubbling under the surface before they called it quits, as in, whatever it was that made Stephen say that all five of them would never be in the same room again.

*steps down from soapbox*