The Academy Is… has (finally) announced an ‘Almost Here’ 10 year anniversary tour.

In August, The Academy Is… celebrated a decade anniversary for their most prominent record (though, not featuring their most popular track- which came later in 2008- ‘About A Girl’ off ‘Fast Times at Barrington High’). In honor of the occasion, they shared a celebratory version of the original album artwork on social media, which was hyped by fans as a possible hint towards an anniversary tour flyer.

On Thursday, the 10th September, the band reunited for the first time since their 2008 breakup and Chicago came together for a sold-out 10 Year Anniversary Show at Live! At Double Door. They had previously referred to their weekend reunion as a “farewell,” but Saturday, on stage at Riot Fest 2015, they surprised their hometown audience with an ‘Almost Here’ 10 Year Anniversary Tour announcement.

Since disbanding, vocalist William Beckett was working on a solo career that seems to have stalled since his debut release through Equal Vision Records in 2013. He shared kind words after the show Thursday night, via Twitter, that radiate with his excitement for being back on stage with the band:

“Tonight’s show was impossible to describe. It could only be felt. Thank you. THANK YOU. #AH10 @TheAcademyIs”

The Academy Is… will be performing ‘Almost Here’ in its entirety on their tour in December. Dates and routing TBA.

Tonight’s ‘Sold Out’ show, admittedly, may not have been possible for The Academy Is… if it weren’t for the publicity gained by fellow Chicagoans and Fueled By Ramen label mates, Fall Out Boy. With the addition of a new guitarist and new album ‘Santi’ (apparently meaning their version of ‘Cheers!’) finally hitting the shelves, tonight will determine whether or not they are worthy of the hype they’ve received and consequently what the future may hold for them.

First band on this evening is the emoliciously titled ‘Young Love’, who are virtually unheard of- even by the hippest scene kids tonight. However, this is the perfect opportunity for them to showcase their upbeat Indie/Pop sound to just the audience who are likely to love them. Opening song ‘Discoteque’ goes down a storm. It’s ridiculously catchy and actually manages to create a bit of a stir before receiving cheers and a very warm, welcoming round of applause. The singer has a fantastic voice and heaps of charisma, combine that with a curious combination of bling, suit jacket and hat, he helps distract from the bands visible lack of confidence in playing to such a tightly packed room, who tend to look at anything but the crowd. Regardless, they sound immaculate and manage to make some of the ‘cooler’ types forget who they were trying to be and actually dance, sweat and start having fun. In response to the announcement of their last song, the crowd, in unison, give a pantomime style “Awwww!” to which Young Love’s vocalist sincerely responds with “It’s OK, there’s some really cool bands coming on! … We’ll be back!”. Too right they will be! For fans of ‘Panic! At The Disco‘ and ‘Cobra Starship‘. *8.5*

“Let’s fucking do this!” shouts The Audition‘s frontman before launching into ‘You’ve Made Us Conscious’. Even though the crowd sing along and create a mini slampit, ‘Young Love’ in comparison make them sound untidy. This is partially due to it being so loud which makes it harder for the instruments to be appreciated and forces the vocals to struggle over the music. They sound far more ‘Rock’ tonight than on the record, which is greatly appreciated by the crowd, even though when the microphone is held out into the crowd no one’s really sure of the words. The show does get better as they own the crowd and the HUGE pit for ‘Dance Halls…’. They finish on ‘Don’t Be So Hard…’ and at least end the show on a high, but showing only part of what they’re capable of. *7*

The lights are low as The Academy Is… enter one by one onto the stage. The crowd goes insane as William Beckett completes the line-up and the band start to play. By second song ‘Classifieds’ the ceiling is already starting to drip with the enthusiasm and the crowd love it. Beckett somehow manages to remain sincere and grounded through the performance as he smiles and holds hands with members in the audience. TAI are giving it everything they have and it doesn’t appear that they’d ever rather be anywhere else. The atmosphere is immense as everyone dances and sings along. Even when one of the unfamiliar songs off ‘Santi’ is played it receives a hugely positive response. As for the new guitarist, he fits in perfectly as the band play energetically through all of the greatest tracks from ‘Almost Here’, such as ‘Checkmarks’ and ‘Attention‘, much to the audiences approval. TAI’s forthcoming single ‘Big, Big Mess’ is absolutely awesome and gets a surprisingly great response, indicating good things for ‘Santi’. One of the doors is opened to cool everyone down, yet I still managed to end up with a girl passing out next to me. Fortunately for her it was at the end of the 13 song set. Fantastic performance. *10*

Carolyn

But there’s one thing a promoter cannot legislate for – and that’s the weather. And although a dark, cold day can be compensated for by bringing the rock, if the wind is a-gusting you’ve no chance – as this gig proved. As soon as any music eminated from the PA system, the wind took it away from the back of the venue and closer to Bradford than Leeds, spoiling the sound for anyone who wasn’t stood less than 10 rows back in front of the stage. As a result, many of the bands sounded worse than they probably should have done, leading to the immense feeling of boredom as muffled band followed muffled band.

I only caught the last two songs of hellogoodbye, but their synth-pop sound suffered in the wind, leaving the vocals about the only thing you could hear. The dressed-up characters at the end proved one of the day’s highlights though. (6) The Hush Sound are pretty fun on record, using Greta’s sweet vocals as a secret weapon. But sadly they come across as a bit lost on a big stage and, following the days recurring theme, their sound simply gets lost as soon as they start playing. The older tracks get a warmer response than the newer ones, but on the day THS are boring and insepid. I have a feeling they’d be better in a smaller venue. (4)

Capdown, for me, were the biggest disappointment of the day. I’ve never been a huge fan, but over the years my respect for them has grown a lot. However, for some reason the band have slowed down all their older songs, losing the urgency that originally set them apart from the pack. And the new songs? Well they just don’t sound like Capdown at all, which again comes across as a bit pointless because the band are themselves and sound like no-one else. However, just two songs in and I’m left wondering if Hundred Reasons have come on early because the sound is very generic indeed. Again the band suffer from the wind carrying the sound, but after five songs I’ve had enough and queue for some food. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt as I didn’t know the new songs, but in my eyes the new version of ‘Ska Wars’ was a disappointment. (4)

Ditto Hundred Reasons. Again I’ve never been a huge fan, but they may have been a little out of place on a bill like this. The older songs inspire the days first singalong, but the newer tracks don’t stand out at all. Another band that came across as boring, again I think I managed to stomach a few songs before the ice-cream van became more appealing. (4)

Thursday are the days first great performance. Mixing new songs with a greatest hits selection, Geoff Rickley’s boys are the first band to really get to grips with the sound issues and the size of the stage. ‘Understanding In A Car Crash’ sounds immense, while new single ‘5, 4, 3…’ also gets a warm reception. It says a lot when the fifth band of the day are the first to get the juices flowing…(8)

I like The Academy Is… on record. I quite liked them when I saw them in a smaller venue earlier this year too. But their enthusiasm and energy isn’t transformed on the bigger stage and I’m not sure why. William Beckett is the campest frontman around, looking like a cross between Gerard Way and Russell Brand, but even his hip-shaking and pelvic thrusting cannot inspre a rather quiet and cold crowd into life. ‘Attention’ and ‘Checkmarks’ sound better than the rest, but having seen the band before I know they’re capable of better. And if ‘The Fever’ is what we can expect from full-length number two, then The Academy Is… are on the verge of a break through…(6)

Everyone loves Fall Out Boy. There are kids, students and even parents in the crowd and all are singing along by the time FOB bounce onto the stage. Patrick’s voice is ropey during the first few songs, but it sorts itself out by song four. All the ‘hits’ are included and there are more spin kicks and stage jumps than at a Kiss concert. To be honest, it’s typical Fall Out Boy fare with the biggest drum riser you’ve ever seen. The problem is, with the bass non-existant in the mix the sound is even weaker than most bands on the day, so not even Pete Wentz’s constant backing screams can beef up proceedings. Unsurprisingly ‘Dance, Dance’ and ‘Sugar We’re Going Down’ get the best responses, but although you cannot fault the band’s energy, Pete’s scripted comments between songs are cringeworthy and the band seem no more than a collection of musicians playing songs – not once does Patrick speak to the crowd, other than to sing. I’m not suggesting there are problems in camp FOB, but they look less like a band and more like a set of travelling entertainers. I like this band, don’t get me wrong, but even a fan like me was bored by the end of the set…(5)

paul

Which is a shame because both of the other bands on this tour are better live. THE JUNIOR VARSITY are on Victory and while their CD is good but not great, live they take things up a notch. While their song structures are quite like The Get Up Kids, live they add in a dose of Moneen and a pinch of Armor For Sleep. The band are not only heavier on stage, but more ‘alive’ too; keyboardist Nick bangs his head in time to the music and vocalist Asa is a bundle of (drunken) energy. TJV will certainly win lots of new friends on this tour if they carry on performing like this (8).

As JV end, the throngs of young girls forcefully make their way to the front. The bar is pretty much empty, mainly because the number of over 18s in the audience is in the minority. Let’s get this straight; I love ‘A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out’. It’s not even a guilty pleasure, it’s a real life pleasure. It has everything I want to listen to in a pop-punk CD – who cares if they rip off a tonne of bands and have the production knobs turned up to the max? PANIC! AT THE DISCO are fun, fun, fun, but I half expected to be let down by their live performance – and I wasn’t wholly wrong. ‘ The Only Difference Between Martydom and Suicide is Press Coverage’ sounds weak – the guitars are too low and the samples just don’t sound powerful enough. Brandon, maybe a little surprisingly, is actually a very good vocalist, but something is missing – the power the band have on record just isn’t matched on stage. Needless to say, the kids lap it up. They sing every single word. P!ATD are still good fun, but early on they don’t justify their new found God-like status. However, they get better as soon as Brendan picks up a guitar and they play as a full band. ‘Camisado’ and ‘I Write Sins Not Tragedies’ spark near hysteria, but are performed with the energy you;d expect of a pop-punk band. ‘Lying is The Most Fun A Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off’ isn’t too bad, but with technical problems blighting them – covered up by Brendan playing KC and JoJo songs – they finish with ‘Build God, Then We’ll Talk’ and that’s it – no ‘Time To Dance’ or a host of others. Far too short, but P!ATD prove they may well be able to win over the doubters in the long-term…(7.5)

THE ACADEMY IS… have the campest frontman I have ever seen. But to be fair to William Beckett, he’s actually very good. Very, very good infact. He throws himself around the stage with a swagger and confidence Panic! need to grab hold of. The band run through the vast majority of their ‘Almost Here’ album over the course of an entertaining 50-minute set. ‘Season’ and ‘Classifieds’ are well received, while new song ‘The Fever’ is given its first ever airing. TAI are a good band, but I think they lack a certain something to take them to the next level. Live, Mr Beckett prowls and dances like his life depends on it, making them a hell of a lot more interesting. ‘The Phrase That Pays’ and ‘Black Mamba’ spark singalongs too, proving TAI are another band that seem to have cracked the UK without any official releases or promotion. Somebody, somewhere, is doing something right… (8)

paul