Boys Like Girls

Taken and written by Mali Lares

As I slowly creep towards 30, with only four months of my twenties left, there are pieces of me, versions of me, that I sometimes forget still exist. This past year, I’ve attended my fair share of “nostalgia bait” concerts, but nothing, and I mean nothing, could have prepared me for the night I had at Boys Like Girls.
Talk about feeling cracky and poppy. I stood there, knees locking, feet popping, and with every song I felt more and more like myself. My true self, the one who first discovered why she liked music and what kind of music she liked. The band played their first two albums, self-titled and Love Drunk, back to back, front to back, for their 20th reunion show. My memory feels like an endless conveyor belt of information; once it retains something new, the old is basically nonexistent. So when I tell you my shock when I knew every song word for word, I mean it. I felt nine again. This show really had me feeling introspective, and I think that is why I will always support the bands from those years coming back, because it helps us feel again. Maybe old feelings we forgot we had, old memories, just a vibe we do not really feel anymore, while we get caught up in the mundanity of work and bills.
I would love to spotlight The Great Escape, which they played twice, and Hero/Heroine. San Antonio brought so much love and energy that it almost completed the experience. Getting to scream those words at the top of your lungs with other people who maybe had the same childhood, experiences, perhaps the loneliness and yearning that comes with the preteen experience. It was so evident that this feeling crept its way back into all of us, and the energy filled the room and had everyone possessed by it, in the best way. Boys Like Girls exceeded any expectations I had, and I hope they come back because I will be there front and center.