A Night of Nostalgia: Boys Like Girls Take Over Salt Lake City
Article written by and Photos by Morgan Newbold
Fans flooded the Union Event Center for the sold-out Boys Like Girls show! It was the “Soundtrack of Your Life Tour”, and the band was set to play the entirety of their 2009 album “Love Drunk” and 2006’s “Boys Like Girls” album, which made for quite a stacked setlist. Fans honed in on the nostalgia, dressed in their 2000’s attire or wearing BLG merch. I saw some people come dressed in the opener’s merch, as well! The show was opened by Salt Lake City’s own I Don’t Know How, But They Found Me, and pop-rock band Arrows in Action. So basically, we were fed with dozens of pop-rock hits for 3 hours. Can’t get much better than that!
Boys Like Girls is a Rock group from Massachusetts that joined together in 2005! They found a lot of success with their self-titled debut album and their follow-up, Love Drunk! They went on to do world tours and received widespread recognition from the likes of MTV and Billboard. They’ve been a Pop-Rock staple for 20 years! At its start, the band consisted of frontman Martin Johnson, bassist Bryan Donahue, guitarist Paul DiGiovanni, and drummer John Keefe! Bryan departed in 2011 and was replaced by Morgan Dorr. Their third album was released in 2012, and they continued to tour the world, headlining and supporting artists like The Maine, All-American Rejects, and The Jonas Brothers! In the making of their fourth album, their guitarist and bassist were replaced by Jamel Hawke and Gregory James. They’re still going strong, doing anniversary tours for each of their albums as the years go by!
The show opened with Arrows in Action, a newer rock group from Nashville that formed at the University of Florida in 2017! They had a pristine sound and great energy. They effortlessly hyped up the crowd with their pop-punk bangers!
Find Arrows in Action at their individual links here: Apple Music and Instagram
Next up was I Don’t Know How, But They Found Me! I personally love watching this band; they have great on-stage chemistry and have so many high-energy songs that the crowd loved. Much of the audience was already fans of this group, and were dancing and singing their hits like “Choke”, “Downside”, and “Do It All The Time”. Dallon is especially skilled at interacting with a crowd and hyping them up, as well! And Isaac Paul is, in my opinion, one of the best guitarists in Utah. They ripped and put on a wonderful performance!
Find I Don’t Know How, But They Found Me at their individual links here: Apple Music and Instagram
Very soon after IDKHOW, Boys Like Girls made their way onto the stage; they had an early set and a lot of songs to play! The crowd was ecstatic, while haze and flashing lights filled the dim room. This band always has such an iconic look, dressed in full leather and sunglasses; the vibes never miss with them. They opened the show with “Heart Heart Heartbreak” from the album “Love Drunk” and played it all the way through, and finished with “Go”. A lot of those songs hadn’t been played in over 10 years, and they played “Real Thing” for the first time! The crowd was jumping and singing along so loudly! Everyone on the balcony and by the bar was fully immersed in this performance. Then, they opened the self-titled album with one of their biggest hits, “The Great Escape” This one was clearly the fan favorite and people around the room were fully encapsulated by the nostalgia.
They played through the album, which just turned 20 years old. Fan favorites like “Thunder” and “Hero/Heroine” had the crowd belting and in their feels. For many, these songs shaped their adolescence and soundtracked their life. I could feel the energy and passion echoing in the big room. Finishing off with “Holiday” from the “Girls Like Boys” album, the band threw their hands up to the crowd, and they went wild, not wanting the show to end. The group came back on, of course, to play their greatest hits one more time, “The Great Escape” and “Love Drunk”. It was quite a memorable night for everyone in attendance and definitely not one to miss out on.
Find BOYS LIKE GIRLS at their individual links here: Apple Music and Instagram
