Anberlin Band • Page 224

Yep. Go get that cash grab, see y'all for the Stephen reunion tour in a few years.

All this makes me so glad I got to see them at Furnace Fest 2023. Played a really great "greatest hits" setlist, and looking back on it, if that's the last time I saw them with Stephen, then they went out on a great note.

 

Two years ago I would jump at this tour, now I'm not even considering

 

If you’d have told me x years ago that Anberlin was doing a 20 year NTFP tour with Copeland opening and I would have no interest in going…

 

Yeah, I just remembered I saw NTFP, Cities, and New Surrender 3 nights in a row WITH Stephen and it was incredible.

 

on one hand, i'd love for them (with Stephen and not Matty) to play more of their post-New Surrender material, but even before Stephen quit touring, they've never really played newer material to the extent they've played anything off of NTFP or Cities. so in an ideal world, i'd love to hear more material from the latter half of their catalog, but they've really cemented themselves as being more of a nostalgia act, which was amplified once they got back together.

on the other hand, we're currently stuck with Matty, which not only makes me not want to see them, but puts them in a position where any new material they could play is probably not gonna be as well-received, so it's like all they can rely on is nostalgia. and even then, i just have no interest in hearing Matty sing those songs.

 

Yeah I'm really truly bummed we never got an official tour of the EP's because I'm still blown away with how they sound (thank you JJ).

One day we'll get a proper Stephen Anberlin LP and it'll be great.

 

I saw Anberlin and Copeland co-headlining in 2005 when both of those albums were new ... Paramore opening. So I'd be good here regardless, I think.

 

They aren’t who they were then
Could’ve been legends but I guess they’re just a legacy band
THEY AREN’T WHO, THEY AREN’T WHO THEY WERE THEN

 

Matty go the hell away challenge

tempted to go just for Copeland tho

 

Copeland is one of my favorite bands ever and they will likely never come to my city again, but man, I just wish it was a normal show instead of what is one of their weaker albums (it’s still good!).

 

Ok but let's all go and leave after Copeland, I really need them to feel supported and to get a new album out ASAP

 

bunch of butthurt anberlin "fans" in here... my god. Stephen didn't want to tour, so he could spend the time with his girls. He picked someone to fill in for him, who is a big name in the scene and who was going to help them stay relevant.

Ive been listening to anberlin since blueprints. I get that its a hard pill to swallow. But can you just be happy that some form of this band still exists? I would take this over them being gone any day.

 

Damn we're still using butthurt huh

 

Pretty sure the majority of us agree that we are happy the band is still touring and able to be around.

 

I'm glad they can still tour and make money.

Won't be my money, but I'm happy they'll get someone's money.

 

God forbid we don't want to listen to a singer we don't like

 

the problem isn't Stephen taking time off of touring. we're all aware that despite how much it sucks that he's not currently touring, he needs to do what's best for him and his family. it's a commendable step.

i'll also agree with you here that i don't want the band to call it quits again, and believe they're free to do what they want with the Anberlin name. even if it's Matty singing with them and i have mixed opinions on the three new songs he sings on, at the end of the day it's still Anberlin. maybe not the Anberlin people know and love, but some form of the band.

the frustration boils down to the fact that some people just don't really care for Matty's vocals and just have no interest in seeing him tour or record with the band. add to this the fact that their stated plan for the lineup (Stephen recording with the band and Matty only doing live vocals) seems to be shifting and that they've provided no clarity on the matter, and you'll find that people have just lost interest. not everyone, but at least a good number of listeners. the band is aware of this and knows that some fans won't be on board with this version of the band. that doesn't mean that all fans suddenly want Anberlin to disappear. people have just lost interest.

for the record, i wanted to be optimistic about the future of this band. i held out hope that if nothing else, Matty would be used sparingly on new material and that we'd at least get some good new music with Stephen's vocals, and maybe that could still happen one day. but as time goes on, the plan seemingly shifts, the touring setlist leans more nostalgia-heavy, and the recorded music begins to sound more derivative of older music (theirs included) sung by someone with less-impressive lyrical and vocal abilities, it's not difficult to see why some listeners just don't care as much as they used to.

 

Damn I hadn’t realized you’d been listening to them since blueprints. Any other tips and tricks for how to be a real fan?

 

Wonder how many casuals don’t even realize Stephen left. I’d be bullshit if I went and got Matty instead.

 

I have to think that a TON of people are going to go to this tour, not knowing they have a new singer, and be pretty confused / upset

 

That means they have the opportunity to do the funniest thing to confuse them more




Open the set with a Memphis May Fire song, the one about being the voice of a generation or something

 

I get the sentiments about Matty/Marty/whatever. It just seems that every time I come in this thread someone is bitching about Marty this/that.... its just depressing

 

you can go fuck off...

 

i mean it's been expressed before, but i think this whole thing would be less of a problem if they were just upfront about their plans (which they probably won't be). they've cemented their current identity as being in a state of flux, just doing whatever feels good in the moment. that opens up the possibility that we could get either positive or negative news every time they have something to announce.

aside from Stephen showing up for WWWY, everything else the band has done this year has involved Matty. so unless they explicitly say "hey, here's a new song/tour date with Stephen", every new announcement is probably gonna be about Matty, and i'd agree that after a while the frustration becomes a bit monotonous. but again, there's no guarantee when we'd get Stephen-related news compared to Matty-related news. maybe more folks would tap out if they just said "as of right now, everything we do is gonna be with Matty".

 

I mean, until Marty is gone, it’s going to keep happening. Especially since Stephen has popped up a handful of times already. And the whole being petty to fans who don’t like Marty. And saying Stephen is still doing studio and there’s no indication that is true (yet).