There aren’t many crowds I would trust to not drop me while crowdsurfing in my wheelchair, much less with my camera in tow, but on March 18, 2026, the Hawthorne Heights crowd at their show in Portland, Oregon, became the first I entrusted with both chair and camera in the air. In true photographer fashion, I was admittedly more worried about my camera than the rest of me, but after watching several bodies successfully surf over the dense, elder-emo crowd, I decided it was time to try my luck. I had a vision for the perspective I wanted to capture of the evening, and I decided that “Niki FM,” the third encore song, would be the perfect time to capture it.

As Hawthorne Heights played “Dandelions,” I left my spot in the accessible seating section and ventured out into the crowd. I made it into the middle of the crowd just in time as the band went into “Niki FM.” After rounding up a few neighbors to help lift me, I was hoisted into the air as vocalist JT Woodruff sang the refrain, “I’m outside of your window with my radio.” As I neared the barricade, Woodruff lifted his arms, pointing toward me as he let out the final verse, “you are the song I know.” “This is fucking badass,” Woodruff commented as the final note of “Niki FM” faded out. As security sat me down and I rolled back to the ADA section, I heard Woodruff say, “I don’t know if we’re going to be able to top Portland. We might just head north instead of going south to California.” I grinned, feeling successful after my adventure in the air. 12-year-old me certainly would have been proud that not only did I finally work up the courage to crowd surf, but I did it in my wheelchair while holding my camera and shooting the whole time. And of course, at a Hawthorne Heights show during my favorite song, nonetheless.

Successfully crowdsurfing with my camera, however, was really just the cherry on top of an already perfect evening. From the beginning notes of “This Is Who We Are,” the first track from Hawthorne Heights’ sophomore album If Only You Were Lonely, I felt transported back to 2006. Faces lined the barricade that mirrored my age, alongside youth that appeared close to the age I was 20 years ago when If Only You Were Lonely was released. It made me happy to see that the music that was so influential in my adolescence still resonates with the youth of today.

Celebrating the album’s 20-year anniversary, Hawthorne Heights played through If Only You Were Lonely in its entirety. Admittedly, I was a bit worried about how the album, which was the last one to feature the late Casey Calvert on unclean vocals, might sound without Calvert’s iconic voice, but lead guitarist Mark McMillon did a good job filling in and kept the harsh, angsty sound that If Only You Were Lonely is known for.

After playing through the album, Hawthorne Heights ended their main set with “Spray Paint It Black” from their 2021 album The Rain Just Follows Me before returning for a five-song encore. With a tribute tape to Calvert playing on the screens on stage, the band started their encore with “Bring You Back” from Skeletons. The band also debuted a new song, “Like A Cardinal,” during their encore, sandwiched between their two hits from their debut album, The Silence In Black and White: “Niki FM” and “Ohio Is For Lovers”.

Preceding Hawthorne Heights, letlive., the recently reformed post-hardcore outfit from Los Angeles, brought even more angst to the stage. The band, led by frontman Jason Aalon Butler, brought all the stage antics they are known for and did not disappoint. Fans in the middle of the mosh pit screamed out lyrics to hits from their albums, 2013’s The Blackest Beautiful and 2011’s Fake History. While I would have liked to hear some tracks from other albums as well, letlive. did choose a powerful set for a supporting performance. Even those in the crowd who weren’t familiar with the post-hardcore band were still thoroughly entertained. letlive. got the mosh pit going and the crowd off their feet, and Butler checked off each of his legendary stage antics: dancing maniacally, spitting water across the stage, tossing a steel trash can, and finally ending the set with climbing the stage truss to the balcony, where he wrapped himself in the microphone cord and precariously leaned over the railing as the audience below watched in awe.

Creeper, the first opening act of the night from Southampton, England, also saw a dedicated following. Fans in the crowd painted their faces and dressed up like vampires in cult-like fashion – their catchphrase, of course, is Creeper Is a Cult, and the art rock band performs as vampires themselves. The band played six songs total from their latest two albums: Sanguivore and Sanguivore II: Mistress of Death. Despite only totaling six songs, the band spanned many genres in their set, with some songs feeling ’80s glam rock and others incorporating elements of metal, post-hardcore, and post-punk.

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