This past Saturday, October 5th, Grayscale found themselves back in their hometown, headlining a sold out show at the Theatre of Living Arts. Supported by Rich People (also Philly natives), Bearings, and Belmont, the show was met with much excitement. The TLA was filled with fans who had seen Grayscale play in basements years prior, and newer fans who had discovered the band recently. Regardless of when they discovered the them, though, it was clear just how happy everyone was to have the band home.
Rich People kicked off the night, and immediately got the crowd pumped. It didn’t take long for people to begin crowdsurfing, singing along, and moving around. I’d seen Rich People a year prior when they opened up for With Confidence and Broadside at their Philadelphia date (they did an amazing job then, and an amazing job now), so I was excited to see them again.
Bearings went on second, and also had no issue hyping up the crowd. During their set, the crowd got more comfortable crowdsurfing; this set up the mood for the rest of the night. Belmont took the stage before Grayscale, and amped up the crowd to the max. Each of the openers for this tour blew me away, and I’m sure the audience would say the same.
Grayscale was met with signs throughout the audience welcoming the band home, and the sentiment didn’t go unnoticed. All throughout the night, the crowd was singing, dancing, and crowdsurfing (including Pat from Movements!).
The show ended on a powerful, emotional note with a performance of “Tommy’s Song”, which included a small choir.
This was by far the loudest show at the TLA that I had ever been to, and it had an amazing sense of community. In all of the shows that I’ve been to at the TLA, none had this much singing, crowdsurfing, and dancing. I’ve been to a few hometown shows in the past, but none had ever been this powerful. I truly cannot imagine a better way for Grayscale to have closed out this tour.
