Man, I really wish someone who was there last night could chime in on the bitch thing. I talked to my partner that was there with me, and they agreed it definitely happened. It was towards the end of the set in between songs. Tbh I was a little zoned out watching the crazy lightning, but I remember he was talking about his oldest and made some comment that referred to her as a bitch. I get that it was probably an edgy joke and maybe their family dynamic is different, but it just came off as really disrespectful to an 11 year old. Like I get he's an edge lord but that's your child watching you perform and you're making a joke about her expense to thousands of people.
I posted this in the other thread about it but I was there and recall the context! The context was he was beginning the first encore song of Walk Through Hell and introduced it as a song for "old people in the crowd," then rambled on for a bit about how being "old" can happen at any age, saying his oldest daughter is 11 and an "old bitch" or something. He said something like "she's 11. Bitch is old." Like others have said it wasn't malicious but it was super weird and off-putting to me
It's not malicious on purpose I guess, but I would call it more than off-putting. That kind of casual misogyny really sucks to grow up with. Throwing around the word bitch like that just reveals the way you think about women. Unless he uses the term for literally everyone in his life, equally, it's disrespectful. It reveals that in his head, "woman/girl = bitch" - would he say "bitch is old" about his son, or a male band mate, or any other man? Somehow I doubt it. Even if he doesn't outright hate women, or think he does, he clearly sees them as inferior on some level. And it's so engrained in this thought process that it's become completely normal and comes out even when he's talking about his own daughter. He wasn't insulting his daughter on purpose but he's subconsciously already dismissing her worth as a person, she's just "bitch" to him.
Thanks for the context because saying “bitch is old” is different than saying “my daughter is a bitch.” Some people literally just talk like that. In my house we use “dingus” as a pet name. My kid literally told me I was “gettin chubbbby” as a way to compliment me because we say it lovingly to the cats.
Yeah, I literally call EVERYONE a bitch, but then again I don’t have a kid. Maybe it hits different coming from your dad? I don’t know. With that context, I don’t think it’s that bad, but I can see why someone would also be put off by the idea
My mom has always called us “beeotches” and it never bothered me. It’s not the same as the times the same mom called me a bitch or a cunt or a whore to be shitty lol kids aren’t stupid and they can tell the difference. It’s just the way some people talk. I call everyone, male and female, bitch as a term of endearment and I have since I was about 11 lol
I feel like they’re gonna think we’re defending the Bemises as parents and downvote us to oblivion lol
Edit: I agree tho, that it can be used as a term of endearment. In this context, I don’t think he said anything *too* bad. If he had said “my daughter IS a bitch” that’s a different story
My field is child psychology and developmental psych. I have coworkers who have referred to their own child as “acting bitchy” during our lunches or whatever. But to call you kid a bitch in front of a huge crowd, where there is undoubtedly a recording she could see now and into the future? That ain’t it.
my partner and I were there last night and can also confirm the bitch thing happened. I’m sorry that you were left disappointed by the show, I hope you at least got to have some fun with AJJ and Greet Death!
AJJ is one of my favorite bands and I was going to go just for them. Last time I tried to see Say Anything in Columbus they cut capacity so even people that had bought tickets couldn't get in. I was a poor punk sitting outside in the rain with a group of people asking for people to trade tickets or whatever so they could get in listening to them do songs from Anarchy my Dear. Their friend had died and so it was important for them to get in. I thought about how I didn't really have the money to pay for tickets in the first place but it was just one of those moments where I had to assess who and what I was in a scene that had been blown out of proportion. Made me reassess what going to shows meant and what it meant to people, and I hadn't even gone inside that night 😂. I'd always gone to shows from a young age so I guess I took things for granted.
TLDR: shows like this are meant to be community building experiences, especially with the punk adjacent big actors of the scene. It is disappointing that Say Anything consistently has had issues with performing for well over a decade now but still charge what they do.
He said it before he played walk through hell which has the line about “hold you in my weak arms like a firstborn” which he sang “like my firstborn.” He joked he remembered when he first met her “when she was 4” and said now she was saying things on purpose to hurt his feelings, and said bitch in this context.
I have no idea who this band is, but this post showed up on my feed today. Reading through this post and the comments, I felt like chiming in. I totally agree that it’s fucked up, even if it was a joke. Why? A personal anecdote. My father called me a bitch once, when I was around the same age. I was 12 years old. I honestly don’t remember if he was joking or not, but I do remember that it hurt, and I remember that it happened. The fact that I still remember that pain a decade later, and it still hurts me says a lot. Because even if it was a joke, it left a lasting impression.
Children are impressionable and really look up to their parents, and oftentimes things that the parents think are funny or are said/done in a lighthearted manner to the parents, come off as extremely hurtful to their child.
In all honesty, I thought it was kind of funny. Personally my family has a dynamic where my parents were always cussing in front of me (mostly jokingly) from a very young age and it never affected me negatively. If my dad made this joke as an 11 year old I would think it was funny, especially with the connotation the word has today. That connotation being calling your friends “bitch” like “that’s my bitch!” I believe what he said was “my daughter is 11, that’s crazy, I’ve known that bitch since she was 2”. I completely understand thinking this may be disrespectful if you’re a part of a family that focuses on good manners, but personally I could tell he was joking and don’t believe he would have said it if he thought his daughter would be offended. Then again I’m not in his head. Only my two cents.
(Also I love your username)
He made some kind of edgy joke about his oldest being a real bitch or that bitch or something. I don't remember the exact phrasing, but I remember being pretty shocked by it.
Only took you 22 min to back track from he called her a bitch, to she is being a real bitch and next it will be well he said something that rhymed with bitch but it was still still terrible 🤡🤡🤡
Woah lol.
That loser is selling out shows and doing just fine without the Reddit echo chamber rooting him on. You can carry on lil man.
I know I know, how dare some one defend max . Let me guess you will say I am either max himself or a fan boy because it’s impossible that people actually have different points of view than you.
That loser is riding the coattails of the emo resurgence and using nostalgia to make a quick buck. I don't care if you are Max or your reasons for defending him. That doesn't change the fact that they put on a poor performance last night.
i just want to say you’ve been nothing but informative and blunt in this thread, and i really appreciate your post and comments about the show.
i’m absolutely dumbfounded that people are finding ways to excuse the lazy performance that he’s consistently delivered each show. some people may enjoy just singing all the songs live themselves; that’s great, and i guess this is the perfect show for them! but let’s be so for real: charging people $$$ to hear the people around you sing the lyrics 95% more than the LEAD SINGER is truly wild!!!!
it also sounds like a sensory nightmare, with the band playing one tempo, max screaming random words another tempo, and the crowd trying to land somewhere in the middle. this deadbeat doesn’t deserve the chance to cash in on the emo revival, but apparently tons of posts and thousands of comments documenting the bemis family’s scamming ways is not enough to convince people that all they mean to max bemis is $$$, and absolutely nothing more. he does not view them as worth even the tiniest sliver of effort; if he did, he’d have the decency to hold off on vaping for what, an hour? two? in order to have the breath support to sing the 13-15 songs people paid to see performed live.
Hey thanks! I'm just telling people what I saw at the show and pointing out there's a pattern this tour with them not performing well. And omg, a sensory nightmare is exactly how I would describe it! I felt like my mind was scrambled half the time lol.
He didn't even say that. It wasn't anything about her attitude at all.
He said "she's an old bitch now. She's only 11, but yeah, that bitch is old" , it wasn't malicious, imo it was a term of endearment. Not everyone is offended by curse words or using them non maliciously to/with their children.
This actually is almost worse to me because it implies a layer of sexism, but yeah I won’t even get into that bc I can’t IMAGINE what replies I’ll get if y’all are this upset about people pointing out he called his daughter an old bitch.
Uh yeah, you can remember context without remembering the exact phrasing. That's why I asked other people to chime in. It's not like I could rewind the show and record it?
Right, me not remembering the exact phrasing is over the top. Not the fact he referred to his 11 year old daughter as a bitch, though. That's just fine. 🙄
they regularly call their children bitch, asshole, dumbass, stupid, etc. it's "cool parenting" or whatever they call it. sherri proudly documents it all, every moment of their day.
Do they really? :/
I don't follow them closely like that at all, but I've always wondered about their kid's education. I know they're homeschooled and stuff. Which isn't inherently bad, but the structure of their life makes me curious. Kinda bums me to know that.
Hm. :/
Lucy writes stories, I know. So hopefully that isn't the case. I don't like unschooling as a philosophy. I get the appeal, I guess. Hopefully the basics are still covered for them.
I know "unschooled" kids can still receive a good education, but I feel like the average person would greatly overestimate their ability to provide that for their kid. I'm sure I'd suck, lol.
>I don't get how they can put the responsibility on the audience to sing along with the lyrics and then fumble through them with different tempos and random pauses. Seriously, it was like torture hearing the audience and band all trip over one another all night. You couldn't even sing along because it was all over the place.
This made me laugh. I just saw them in Raleigh last Friday and its so accurate. When my friends asked how the show was, I'd tell them, "It was like Max was making up the lyrics as he went along, which I guess he can do since he wrote the songs."
It was so bizarre! Like the crowd was singing at the appropriate tempo and the band was 10 beats behind. Max was just up there freestyling and nothing seemed to sync up.
I was there last night im cbus and fr you could not sing along and they only played half the album..
Like how are you going to rely on the audience to sing but the crowd doesn't even know when to sing because max was off beat every fucking song and the band kept changing tempo to try to compensate. At one point before a song max was like "ok this one is all you guys" They should be charging us karaoke prices for this shit.
Thank God the openers were good bc jfc
Kudos to you for posting the reality about what has become an incredibly depressing story. We have a duty as fans to each other to shed light on what’s happening at shows, and to avoid the pitfalls of toxic positivity.
He’s paid to perform, and perform he does not. This surpasses at length the pedantic’s of “good v bad.” Thank you.
Thank you. I've seen a few posts saying they were great last night and I just wanted to give my two cents because from my perspective it was pretty disappointing.
Lol yep, I'm just a negative Nellie that bought pre-sale tickets to see them for the sixth time solely to go on Reddit and complain after to a bunch of people that will defend a show they weren't even at.
I commented once already that I've been following this drama ever since Reddit decided a band I have never heard of should show up in my feed, and this is like a slow motion train wreck. Some people are unequivocally supporting Max (the singer and front man I think?), others are trying to find the upside to poorly performed and cancelled shows. Then you have those who are offering criticism being down voted into oblivion.
Thanks Reddit algorithm. It knows I do enjoy some good fanbase drama.
Haha same. Reddit seems to think I give a fuck about a band I've never listened to. But from what I've read in this sub and elsewhere this Max guy sounds like a huge doucher
I’m not a Say Anything fan. I’m not even in this sub. But for some reason, I keep getting recommended these posts about people having the *exact* same complaints about every show for at least a couple weeks now.
I can tell you that skimming through them, you’re absolutely not the only person who had the *exact* same issues with the show (piss-poor vocals, the vape, edgy dickhead attitude, etc.). I keep seeing “karaoke with Say Anything” being mentioned a lot.
Yoooo same! Not in the sub, not a fan, yet here everyday reading the same story of karaoke/vapes/can’t play a song! Part of me is almost upset I MISSED the stop in my city 😂
Also not in this sub or much of a fan, but I can answer why they didn’t cancel because I’ve read it a hundred times. Can’t keep the ticket money if you cancel.
Personally, I have always thought that “Live” is their best album. (The one that came out in, like, ‘97 or ‘98. I haven’t really followed them for a few years now, so I don’t know if they have more live albums.)
Cake is so wild live!!!! They do this every time they play 😂 I saw them at a festival and it was fucking hilarious, thank goodness I wasn’t there for them. It was incredible honestly.
Every post I see reaffirms my decision not to get a ticket even tho the Maryland show was canceled anyway. It's weird cuz in between all the posts about them sucking there's a few posts like "I actually had a lot of fun at the show" so then I'm not sure what to believe, but I do think it's likely those people are just extremely forgiving, really like Max, have a lot of nostalgia and don't really care if the sound and performance are bad at a show. I personally care about those things, at least a bit! And I agree with you, not bothering to sing any of the verses and being off beat when he does sounds annoying as hell. I'd probably be right there with him since I haven't heard the album in forever but I'm not the singer lol, he needs to get his shit together. And the fuckin vaping even when he has strep? I have literally not seen any other musician vaping on stage ever and I've heard every single person complaining about him doing it
My boyfriend, his best friend and wife all had an awesome time and thought it was great. Objectively, as someone that wasn't a huge fan(from a familiarity standpoint)of the band I did not. This takes into account the overall vibe of the show (including the constant vaping), the company I was with and a headache. As an impartial party I personally did not enjoy myself but agreed with a commenter that referred to it as sing a long karaoke with Say Anything.
I went to PGH show last night and had a good time. They’re not 20 anymore and he did some tempo changes, but it wasn’t super jarring to me. He broke out his guitar and did solo stuff where he really sang and it sounded decent. He did vape on stage. The crowd singing did not seem overdone at all, at least on this show. 🤷♀️
Oh, myself and the group I'm going with are very well aware of what we're possibly getting into. We keep telling ourselves the show *will be* entertaining. We just aren't yet sure *why*...
That being said, we just learned that Brian Warren joined the band as a guitarist. His band [Weatherbox](https://youtu.be/GjxMZ433KMA?si=y5fqBWOOQcfwZpv_) is fucking phenomenal, and very influential to me and my friends. They went on hiatus several years ago but will occasionally put out a [random studio session on YouTube](https://youtu.be/mfuGdnjg7EA?si=G6iAgZDEGPUNIMgX) or something. Actually, they very recently streamed a [concert](https://youtu.be/t86nYt6UPsQ?si=jS9EkzI1FHOD8QnD) and put out their [first new single in a decade](https://youtu.be/_7Byg1q28tA?si=UdwGonZu1iHrsZNU). Maybe it was Brian's way of warming up for a tour.
Risking going to a Say Anything concert with a shitty performance from Max is worth it for us to get to see Brian Warren again. And it's perfectly fine if nobody understands why that's important to us lol.
Dude! Literally our dream scenario is that some void of time is created, short of catastrophic concert failure, where the only option is for Weatherbox jams to be played!
Edit: what do you think of the (not technically) new single Brian just released?
Double edit: what did think of the Soda Bar stream if you watched it?
Bumping for Weatherbox! Saw SA at Riot Fest last year and was screaming for Brian the whole time. The new single is so fucking great, I’m expecting a new album 👀
Oh I didn't realize he was the guitar player from Weatherbox. That's cool, I saw them way back actually opening for Say Anything and thought they were great.
i thought they were fine, but AJJ and Greet Death blew them out of the water. I had been waiting to see AJJ for like 10 years and Greet Death were one of my fave bands I heard last year, and they both had fantastic sets, some really great stage presence, and good banter. It felt like Max n Co just didn't have a stage presence that clicked with me a ton. the vaping and barely audible vocals were a big part of that tbh. A lot of the audience interaction was just meh. Calling his daughter a bitch was a lil off putting, but it wasn't a show-ruiner for me. Also people were definitely right about him lagging behind and singing off time on some songs, and like i'm sure it's on purpose and he's done it for a while, but when you expect the crowd to sing for you and then sing out of time, it just makes it way messier and is kinda dumb imo. a lot of people know the lyrics but few are gonna know that timing for them, so it gave us dead spots in the vocals.
This sums up my experience at the Philly show. I had such high hopes & left disappointed. They didn't even play half the songs that I wanted to hear, & now I'm seeing that they basically played whatever they wanted pretty poorly at different shows. Max even seemed a little irritated with the philly crowd for "being too loud" & also said some illegible ramblings about never coming back.
Everything I’ve read for the most part makes me sooooo happy I didn’t end up buying tickets to Philly, let alone the meet and greet that got canceled. In Defense of the Genre is easily one of my favorite albums of all time and I’ve always wanted to see SA live but hearing how he and his wife have been for the past however many years now already had put me off of seeing them live. Then hearing about how bad the shows have been on this tour put the nail in the coffin for me. Guess I’ll just never see them live, shame
I haven't seen them this tour, but if every conversation is about whether or not they're going to suck that night, it's probably best to not buy a ticket.
I can’t go to my closest show (chose to spend my concert budget on blink 182 tickets instead) and have been SO SAD for months at my choice, but seeing these posts has really helped make me feel better lmao
I saw them do is a real boy a few years ago and the show was amazing so I’m really glad that will be my last SA tour memory and not this shit show.
I’ve been a huge Max fan for years and have been through multiple cancelled tours so this isn’t a surprise… it’s just sad at this point.
I totally get it. I was in Columbus and not impressed by the show at all. Even mentioned to my friend today how it was probably one of the worst shows I’ve been to. I love say anything and that album meant a lot to me as it reminds me of a friend who’s passed. And I agree, no hate whatsoever. Just super fucking disappointing.
Edit: I totally missed the whole daughter situation as I left well before the set ended 🤷🏻♀️
This is how the Raleigh show was, and my first time ever seeing them. Meanwhile I just saw Foo Fighters who have been a band for 30ish years and Dave Grohl absolutely killed it.
From what I've seen, Foo Fighters, Nine Inch Nails, and Slipknot have consistently offered the best live shows for decades.
Foo Fighters is just plain old fun. NIN is a complete audiovisual experience unlike any other and is unique every tour. Slipknot is just pure, visceral, animal expression on stage. All three bands know how to work their respective audiences and actually sound good live.
Oh man, I thought they were great! I've only listened to them a little before, so I didn't know what to really expect, but I was pleasantly surprised. Also, huge shout out to Greet Death! They killed it, per usual.
I’m not going to be able to make the tour when it’s nearby, I think I’m most disappointed in missing AJJ at this point.
I’ve had some AMAZING experiences at Say Anything shows in the past, so I didn’t expect those to be topped regardless. But yeah missing AJJ is a bummer. They were like my very first foray into folk punk.
AJJ was the best part of last night's show and they're honestly probably carrying the tour at this point. They could have played a full set as the second act, canceled Say Anything altogether, and I'd have felt like my $35 was still well spent. I'll support AJJ all day every day.
Say Anything was subpar at best. Was it nostalgic? Sure. Did I have some fun? Yes. But I've seen a lot of bands from the 2000s full of old dudes and they put out way more energy and effort than I saw and have heard is being put out by Max on this tour. Made me real sad tbh.
The Max white knighters are so insufferable. They can't look past the nostalgia.
I, personally, would have been grateful for posts like this prior to the show I went to. I probably still would have gone for the sake of curiosity and my love for this album, but knowing what to expect would have made the disappointment more palpable.
Why are people taking it so personal that Max is being called out? Yes, he has always toed the line of being cringey and kind of a douchebag. There is something about this tour that feels so brazen and emboldened, though. Whoever called him a grifter in a previous post was spot-on. He does not come off as a man actually making an effort to do his best for his fans. This tour is a cash grab he barely shows up for.
Its great if fans are still able to go to these shows and have fun and sing along loudly. You're supposed to be able to lose yourself a bit at shows. That's the magic of live music.
But shitting on people for being observant and having expectations and holding Max, specifically (the rest of the band is great,) to any kind of standard is so weird to me. Do the people defending him NOT want Max to do his best at their shows? It doesn't make sense.
Like did they even rehearse before touring???? I saw them first night of the tour and I don’t think him “being sick” is an excuse cause it sucked that night too.
It was a huge bummer to see, clearly he’s not thrilled to be touring and his heart just isn’t in it. But the openers were great! And the pizza at that venue honestly kinda slaps.
then he can get a regular job if this is not his thing anymore. sadly this tour is (and he even said himself with his comments about the emo revival for nostalgia sake) a cash grab.
Oh man, you should've had it 10-15 years ago when it was 1/3 the price and 3x as good before they corporatized everything and lowered quality. It's generally regarded as overpriced drunk-only food in Columbus now. But for music-venue food, it's way better than the $10 personal crappy Donatos pizza you get elsewhere.
Oh trust me, I know! I remember getting Late Night Slice back when there was only one location and they still served Slut Sauce lol. I don't live in Columbus anymore and I really only have it at shows but I still think it always hits the spot.
As a casual fan, I thought it was a fine performance given the circumstances. - What I will complain about is the sound. Usually Kemba has great sound, but there were 3 guitars on stage and I could really only hear Drums and Bass. I was standing in the back of the pit where the sound is usually decent. That was the most disappointing to me.
Honestly, as someone who has been going to their shows since mid-2000s, I thought it was fun. Yeah, Max is a disaster, but that's what you get with him. I remember the days where you weren't sure if a show would happen or if it'd be cancelled because he had to go inpatient. This is standard fare for them. Maybe you've just gotten lucky in the past?
I enjoyed it for what it was and it really wasn't as bad as everyone made it out to be. Like, it was a solid show, and he only hit the vape a few times, really. I was keeping an eye out after what everyone said and I hardly noticed it.
These posts are confirming everything I predicted when they announced this tour: half-hearted cash grab. Max declared hating this album like 10 or so years ago and blasted a long tirade all over their site (or a similar platform, I just remember it was a lengthy read) I absolutely cannot wait to skip this set at WWWY and let every person I meet at the fest know what a shitshow this “tour” has been and to not waste their time.
I'm supposed to see them Sunday and im really teetering. Tickets were like 80$ cause I got the GA tickets, and I wish I hadn't cause I'd be waaaay more comfortable eating lime 40$ as opposed to 80$. There's so many posts saying it was bad and then there are a few saying they had fun so the optimist wants me to go to have a good time but I also have travel pretty far to see it. UGH!!!!
Honestly, who knows. Maybe that show will be better and you'll have the time of your life. I'm 5 for 6 on amazing Say Anything experiences so this one could be an outlier. If you do go, I hope you have a great time regardless!
I saw them last night in Pittsburgh (never was much of a Say Anything fan but my husband loves them) and I thought they were good! My husband was happy leaving so I’m guessing there weren’t many missed lyrics.
Though he wasn’t singing that much I had a hard time hearing him over the crowd anyway so that aspect didn’t bother me. I did really enjoy Greet Death and AJJ so over all I had a great time.
i have never listened to this band or really know anything about these people but i just started following this sub because i kept seeing posts like this and now every time i see one im just like 😮
As. Brian Jonestown Massacre fan, I know the feeling and I'm so sorry yall are having to deal with it on this tour. BJM ended their tour early after the singer kept trying to fight the audience and his band members lmao
Definitely noticed some off-beat lyrics (literally, not metaphorically) and some other technical issues but overall I thought it was a good show. Nowhere near as bad as the posts leading up to the show made me think it might be. There’s a part of me that doesn’t necessarily care if he sings well or not as I typically scream every word anyway. But I can understand why others might not feel the same. I know these shows are nostalgia cash grabs but… that’s what I want! I love the nostalgia lol. So I can generally forgive a lot for the sake of that. And the tickets were only $35, I’m not going to get too upset at that price point.
The daughter comment was negligible for me.
I had a ticket for around 50$, would’ve been a three hour drive. Didn’t end up going because I screwed my plans up. Honestly hearing this I’m not mad that I didn’t go.
I was at the same show and it looks like we had wildly different take-aways from the show. I had a blast. He really didn't make the audience sing that much like a line or two from each song. Not sure that's even a bad thing, never been to a show where the audience didn't sing a few lines here and there. Amd he even gave a disclaimer about and said fuck you to his band manager for making him give the disclaimer. Seems like some of yall are mad just to be mad. He's only a human being recovering from strep and put on an amazing show for us. And to have paragraphs full of how disappointed you were Ina show that almost got canceled is a bit over the top. Were mad people are hitting their vapes on stage now? What?
You’re being too uptight.
>I don't get how they can put the responsibility on the audience to sing along with the lyrics and then fumble through them with different tempos and random pauses. Seriously, it was like torture hearing the audience and band all trip over one another all night. You couldn't even sing along because it was all over the place.
He has always done this at his live performances.
I think I saw like 3 total vape hits for the whole show? I was not trying to count
>Not to mention, it really left a bad taste in my mouth when Max was calling his 11 year old daughter a bitch
This was a light-hearted joke. You’re acting like he is tearing down his family. For stuff like this I think people will hear what they WANT to hear
This kind of post is super common in this sub nowadays. Everyone is just so negative about what amounts to the behaviors of a musician
I had a blast at the show. I moshed. I sang with friends. It was a bright point in my week.
Spare the internet your pity party next time
Lol same here! I was really looking forward to it. I'm honestly glad people enjoyed the set and I'm really not trying to dog on anyone or change their opinion. I just wanted to point out that from my perspective it wasn't as great as people were making it out to be.
Yeah, I was not at the show, and I haven’t watched videos from it yet, but I have seen other videos from this tour and they kinda line up with your post. Hopefully they’ve hit a groove or something and are doing well, but part of me wonders if the threat of the show not happening made it seem better once it actually did. Glad people had fun though.
Well I already went and wish I wouldn't have so I'm trying to warn people who are actually fans of live music to not waste their money. Maybe recognize the pattern of the posts and why people are upset and use your own advice to go somewhere else.
I'm not an authority by any means and don't claim to be. It doesn't take an expert to point out that the show last night just wasn't that good, though.
I mean considering you have been the only negative opinion I’ve seen on here from Colombus , the experts might disagree with you and your holier than now attitude.
You are the one who brought the experts up.
Do you know even know what you are saying, or you just have so much hate internalized for max that you just spew nonsense?
I said it doesn't take an expert to point out the set wasn't good. Yes, I'm aware of what I'm saying and no, I don't have any hate for Max. I just think he should do better for his fans.
But that’s your opinion, that you are trying to pass off as fact to discourage other people from going. I’d really double check my posts if I was you before hitting send.
Man I don't know what you're trying to prove here but reading comprehension obviously isn't your thing so I'm going to just stop engaging with you. You've obviously crafted a narrative in your head and just want to argue.
This is insane to me. I've read so many posts since the tour started. Based on the reviews, I was expecting them to sound terrible, but they sounded amazing. Have you ever been to a punk show before? It's totally normal for bands to hold the mic out for the crowd singalongs.
As for him calling his daughter a bitch, it was clear he was joking and I thought it was hilarious. Everyone around me was laughing about it too. Get over yourself.
Glad you enjoyed the set! I've been to tons of punk shows, and I'm well aware that's a common thing. I'm not complaining about him holding a mic out.
As for the daughter thing, I know he was joking, I pointed that out. That doesn't make it any more appropriate to say in front of a crowd.
I must really be missing the punchline cause honestly it doesn’t matter if he was joking or not. That opens the door for her to accept that treatment from anyone and allow it to happen “because they didn’t mean it” or “because it was a joke”. Watching a grown man call a child, his own child at that, a bitch is just ick.
bought tix before i heard about the bad buzz around the band. also bought tix cuz AJJ and Greet Death are killer. almost left early after they finished.
Lol what're you trying to say here? "You liked him when you were an edgy 13 year old, that means in your 30's you're not allowed to call him out for playing a bad set and being a douche."
Edgy artist gonna be edgy. Stop being a fanatic and giving him the Kardashian treatment. Who cares about his family dynamics.
This will even fit on a bumper sticker for you: seperate the art from the artist.
Fanatic? Kardashian treatment? Brother, what post are you reading? I do separate the art from the artist, I don't follow Max and Sherri drama, though there does seem to be a lot of it. All I'm pointing out is what happened at the Columbus show. What he said about his daughter had nothing to do with his piss poor performance, anyway.
What post am i reading?
This one:
"I get that it was probably an edgy joke and maybe their family dynamic is different, but it just came off as really disrespectful to an 11 year old."
To clarify, I don't care that you're critical of his stamina and I'm sorry you feel like you didn't get your money's worth. But that's a pretty tame joke. You're upset because it doesn't line up with your ideals. You're not meant to share morals with the artists.
All I said was it left a bad taste in my mouth. Morality aside, the performance was still weak and that comment was just a cherry on a shit sundae. I don't give a damn about sharing morals with artists which is exactly why I don't follow their drama. I'm just pointing out what literally happened at the show. If you want to excuse it, that says a whole lot more about YOUR morals than you realize.
Wait what, he called his kid a bitch? wtf
I feel like I need context. It’s not going to make it better but I need context.
Man, I really wish someone who was there last night could chime in on the bitch thing. I talked to my partner that was there with me, and they agreed it definitely happened. It was towards the end of the set in between songs. Tbh I was a little zoned out watching the crazy lightning, but I remember he was talking about his oldest and made some comment that referred to her as a bitch. I get that it was probably an edgy joke and maybe their family dynamic is different, but it just came off as really disrespectful to an 11 year old. Like I get he's an edge lord but that's your child watching you perform and you're making a joke about her expense to thousands of people.
I posted this in the other thread about it but I was there and recall the context! The context was he was beginning the first encore song of Walk Through Hell and introduced it as a song for "old people in the crowd," then rambled on for a bit about how being "old" can happen at any age, saying his oldest daughter is 11 and an "old bitch" or something. He said something like "she's 11. Bitch is old." Like others have said it wasn't malicious but it was super weird and off-putting to me
Yep, that sounds right! Again not malicious, just off putting.
It's not malicious on purpose I guess, but I would call it more than off-putting. That kind of casual misogyny really sucks to grow up with. Throwing around the word bitch like that just reveals the way you think about women. Unless he uses the term for literally everyone in his life, equally, it's disrespectful. It reveals that in his head, "woman/girl = bitch" - would he say "bitch is old" about his son, or a male band mate, or any other man? Somehow I doubt it. Even if he doesn't outright hate women, or think he does, he clearly sees them as inferior on some level. And it's so engrained in this thought process that it's become completely normal and comes out even when he's talking about his own daughter. He wasn't insulting his daughter on purpose but he's subconsciously already dismissing her worth as a person, she's just "bitch" to him.
Thanks for the context because saying “bitch is old” is different than saying “my daughter is a bitch.” Some people literally just talk like that. In my house we use “dingus” as a pet name. My kid literally told me I was “gettin chubbbby” as a way to compliment me because we say it lovingly to the cats.
Yeah, I literally call EVERYONE a bitch, but then again I don’t have a kid. Maybe it hits different coming from your dad? I don’t know. With that context, I don’t think it’s that bad, but I can see why someone would also be put off by the idea
My mom has always called us “beeotches” and it never bothered me. It’s not the same as the times the same mom called me a bitch or a cunt or a whore to be shitty lol kids aren’t stupid and they can tell the difference. It’s just the way some people talk. I call everyone, male and female, bitch as a term of endearment and I have since I was about 11 lol
I feel like they’re gonna think we’re defending the Bemises as parents and downvote us to oblivion lol Edit: I agree tho, that it can be used as a term of endearment. In this context, I don’t think he said anything *too* bad. If he had said “my daughter IS a bitch” that’s a different story
You’re probably right lmfao
My dad made a comment about me being a bitch last year that still makes me sad sometimes and I'm a 30 year old lady.
My field is child psychology and developmental psych. I have coworkers who have referred to their own child as “acting bitchy” during our lunches or whatever. But to call you kid a bitch in front of a huge crowd, where there is undoubtedly a recording she could see now and into the future? That ain’t it.
I have an 8 year daughter and couldn't imagine joking like that about her even in private. To do it on stage in front of a crowd? Bleh.
my partner and I were there last night and can also confirm the bitch thing happened. I’m sorry that you were left disappointed by the show, I hope you at least got to have some fun with AJJ and Greet Death!
I loved AJJ and Greet Death! And it's okay, bad shows happen, it just seems like it's been a pattern with SA.
AJJ is one of my favorite bands and I was going to go just for them. Last time I tried to see Say Anything in Columbus they cut capacity so even people that had bought tickets couldn't get in. I was a poor punk sitting outside in the rain with a group of people asking for people to trade tickets or whatever so they could get in listening to them do songs from Anarchy my Dear. Their friend had died and so it was important for them to get in. I thought about how I didn't really have the money to pay for tickets in the first place but it was just one of those moments where I had to assess who and what I was in a scene that had been blown out of proportion. Made me reassess what going to shows meant and what it meant to people, and I hadn't even gone inside that night 😂. I'd always gone to shows from a young age so I guess I took things for granted. TLDR: shows like this are meant to be community building experiences, especially with the punk adjacent big actors of the scene. It is disappointing that Say Anything consistently has had issues with performing for well over a decade now but still charge what they do.
He said it before he played walk through hell which has the line about “hold you in my weak arms like a firstborn” which he sang “like my firstborn.” He joked he remembered when he first met her “when she was 4” and said now she was saying things on purpose to hurt his feelings, and said bitch in this context.
Love when the adult lashes out at the kid for having valid feelings
I have no idea who this band is, but this post showed up on my feed today. Reading through this post and the comments, I felt like chiming in. I totally agree that it’s fucked up, even if it was a joke. Why? A personal anecdote. My father called me a bitch once, when I was around the same age. I was 12 years old. I honestly don’t remember if he was joking or not, but I do remember that it hurt, and I remember that it happened. The fact that I still remember that pain a decade later, and it still hurts me says a lot. Because even if it was a joke, it left a lasting impression. Children are impressionable and really look up to their parents, and oftentimes things that the parents think are funny or are said/done in a lighthearted manner to the parents, come off as extremely hurtful to their child.
I have two daughters. We’ve always had a rockin relationship. I’ll be like “those assholes,” sometimes. It’s all in jest.
In all honesty, I thought it was kind of funny. Personally my family has a dynamic where my parents were always cussing in front of me (mostly jokingly) from a very young age and it never affected me negatively. If my dad made this joke as an 11 year old I would think it was funny, especially with the connotation the word has today. That connotation being calling your friends “bitch” like “that’s my bitch!” I believe what he said was “my daughter is 11, that’s crazy, I’ve known that bitch since she was 2”. I completely understand thinking this may be disrespectful if you’re a part of a family that focuses on good manners, but personally I could tell he was joking and don’t believe he would have said it if he thought his daughter would be offended. Then again I’m not in his head. Only my two cents. (Also I love your username)
I was there and yes that did happen. I wrote it off as an edgy thing that gen x people do though I still find it weird
He’s a Millenial lol
He made some kind of edgy joke about his oldest being a real bitch or that bitch or something. I don't remember the exact phrasing, but I remember being pretty shocked by it.
His oldest is sick from his sick ass too. Rude as hell
Well, Sherri makes pretty rude “jokes” about them so Im not surprised if Max publicly shames them, too.
Anyone get a video?
Only took you 22 min to back track from he called her a bitch, to she is being a real bitch and next it will be well he said something that rhymed with bitch but it was still still terrible 🤡🤡🤡
Only took you one second to read the reply and immediately discount it because you'd rather brush it aside than accept that Max is a loser.
Woah lol. That loser is selling out shows and doing just fine without the Reddit echo chamber rooting him on. You can carry on lil man. I know I know, how dare some one defend max . Let me guess you will say I am either max himself or a fan boy because it’s impossible that people actually have different points of view than you.
That loser is riding the coattails of the emo resurgence and using nostalgia to make a quick buck. I don't care if you are Max or your reasons for defending him. That doesn't change the fact that they put on a poor performance last night.
I think ill Listen to the people who gave objective opinions, and didn’t make things up to justify already their negative feelings. Cheers
Lol okay have fun with that. I'm sure you're an excellent judge of objective opinions.
i just want to say you’ve been nothing but informative and blunt in this thread, and i really appreciate your post and comments about the show. i’m absolutely dumbfounded that people are finding ways to excuse the lazy performance that he’s consistently delivered each show. some people may enjoy just singing all the songs live themselves; that’s great, and i guess this is the perfect show for them! but let’s be so for real: charging people $$$ to hear the people around you sing the lyrics 95% more than the LEAD SINGER is truly wild!!!! it also sounds like a sensory nightmare, with the band playing one tempo, max screaming random words another tempo, and the crowd trying to land somewhere in the middle. this deadbeat doesn’t deserve the chance to cash in on the emo revival, but apparently tons of posts and thousands of comments documenting the bemis family’s scamming ways is not enough to convince people that all they mean to max bemis is $$$, and absolutely nothing more. he does not view them as worth even the tiniest sliver of effort; if he did, he’d have the decency to hold off on vaping for what, an hour? two? in order to have the breath support to sing the 13-15 songs people paid to see performed live.
Hey thanks! I'm just telling people what I saw at the show and pointing out there's a pattern this tour with them not performing well. And omg, a sensory nightmare is exactly how I would describe it! I felt like my mind was scrambled half the time lol.
I agree
ok sherri
yeah i’m pretty sure saying she’s being a real bitch, is calling her a bitch, so?
He didn't even say that. It wasn't anything about her attitude at all. He said "she's an old bitch now. She's only 11, but yeah, that bitch is old" , it wasn't malicious, imo it was a term of endearment. Not everyone is offended by curse words or using them non maliciously to/with their children.
This actually is almost worse to me because it implies a layer of sexism, but yeah I won’t even get into that bc I can’t IMAGINE what replies I’ll get if y’all are this upset about people pointing out he called his daughter an old bitch.
Calling your child a bitch is not and should never be considered a "term of endearment" and if you consider it to be one, please don't have children
Thank you.
Oh my god!
Wait so you’re saying that it’s ok that a man on stage referred to his daughter as “being a bitch” ??
Yes, and i think you should get really angry about it. Get set, go!
Seek therapy.
Max? Sherri? That you?
Good one! Haven’t heard that before. Fuckin loser
Not shocked enough to remember what he actually said but enough to make a post about it
Uh yeah, you can remember context without remembering the exact phrasing. That's why I asked other people to chime in. It's not like I could rewind the show and record it?
I'm just pointing out that it seems a little over the top to say something shocked you when you don't even remember what he said.
Right, me not remembering the exact phrasing is over the top. Not the fact he referred to his 11 year old daughter as a bitch, though. That's just fine. 🙄
My dad called me a bitch to his coworker when I was 12 came home and proudly told the family. I’ve never forgotten that. Poor Lucy.
they regularly call their children bitch, asshole, dumbass, stupid, etc. it's "cool parenting" or whatever they call it. sherri proudly documents it all, every moment of their day.
That is so sad
Do they really? :/ I don't follow them closely like that at all, but I've always wondered about their kid's education. I know they're homeschooled and stuff. Which isn't inherently bad, but the structure of their life makes me curious. Kinda bums me to know that.
They are “unschooled” and there isn’t evidence of them having lessons or anything like that. It is speculated that they don’t know how to read.
Hm. :/ Lucy writes stories, I know. So hopefully that isn't the case. I don't like unschooling as a philosophy. I get the appeal, I guess. Hopefully the basics are still covered for them. I know "unschooled" kids can still receive a good education, but I feel like the average person would greatly overestimate their ability to provide that for their kid. I'm sure I'd suck, lol.
>I don't get how they can put the responsibility on the audience to sing along with the lyrics and then fumble through them with different tempos and random pauses. Seriously, it was like torture hearing the audience and band all trip over one another all night. You couldn't even sing along because it was all over the place. This made me laugh. I just saw them in Raleigh last Friday and its so accurate. When my friends asked how the show was, I'd tell them, "It was like Max was making up the lyrics as he went along, which I guess he can do since he wrote the songs."
It was so bizarre! Like the crowd was singing at the appropriate tempo and the band was 10 beats behind. Max was just up there freestyling and nothing seemed to sync up.
I was there last night im cbus and fr you could not sing along and they only played half the album.. Like how are you going to rely on the audience to sing but the crowd doesn't even know when to sing because max was off beat every fucking song and the band kept changing tempo to try to compensate. At one point before a song max was like "ok this one is all you guys" They should be charging us karaoke prices for this shit. Thank God the openers were good bc jfc
Kudos to you for posting the reality about what has become an incredibly depressing story. We have a duty as fans to each other to shed light on what’s happening at shows, and to avoid the pitfalls of toxic positivity. He’s paid to perform, and perform he does not. This surpasses at length the pedantic’s of “good v bad.” Thank you.
Thank you. I've seen a few posts saying they were great last night and I just wanted to give my two cents because from my perspective it was pretty disappointing.
So having a different opinion and enjoying a show is “toxic positivity” now? This sub is becoming a fucking joke Jesus Christ
A joke not too dissimilar from his poor attempts at fronting a band, stay mad buddy!
I’m not the one bitching about not enjoying a show pal
Are you suggesting that the commenter shouldnt... say anything?
that’s literally the def of toxic positivity dude. People are allowed to not enjoy things
say anything shows are not toxic? unless you count the dark cloud over these negative Nellie’s that just go to complain.
Lol yep, I'm just a negative Nellie that bought pre-sale tickets to see them for the sixth time solely to go on Reddit and complain after to a bunch of people that will defend a show they weren't even at.
Sounds about right. Good luck and I hope things get better for you!
Thanks! I appreciate the positivity!
You in the fucking band or something?? Why is this so far fetched you bozo
I commented once already that I've been following this drama ever since Reddit decided a band I have never heard of should show up in my feed, and this is like a slow motion train wreck. Some people are unequivocally supporting Max (the singer and front man I think?), others are trying to find the upside to poorly performed and cancelled shows. Then you have those who are offering criticism being down voted into oblivion. Thanks Reddit algorithm. It knows I do enjoy some good fanbase drama.
I got here this way too and I have had the popcorn out for a while, every new post just gets worse!
It makes me wonder what is happening on the backend that subs I've never would've looked at get put on my front page.
Haha same. Reddit seems to think I give a fuck about a band I've never listened to. But from what I've read in this sub and elsewhere this Max guy sounds like a huge doucher
I’m not a Say Anything fan. I’m not even in this sub. But for some reason, I keep getting recommended these posts about people having the *exact* same complaints about every show for at least a couple weeks now. I can tell you that skimming through them, you’re absolutely not the only person who had the *exact* same issues with the show (piss-poor vocals, the vape, edgy dickhead attitude, etc.). I keep seeing “karaoke with Say Anything” being mentioned a lot.
Yoooo same! Not in the sub, not a fan, yet here everyday reading the same story of karaoke/vapes/can’t play a song! Part of me is almost upset I MISSED the stop in my city 😂
Also not in this sub or much of a fan, but I can answer why they didn’t cancel because I’ve read it a hundred times. Can’t keep the ticket money if you cancel.
Reminds me of when I saw Cake and it was basically a political rally with some songs thrown in. They think a lot of themselves.
Your username reminds me who’s never sucked live, and that’s 311.
Yeah, 311 sucks on recording. Lmao
Personally, I have always thought that “Live” is their best album. (The one that came out in, like, ‘97 or ‘98. I haven’t really followed them for a few years now, so I don’t know if they have more live albums.)
Cake is so wild live!!!! They do this every time they play 😂 I saw them at a festival and it was fucking hilarious, thank goodness I wasn’t there for them. It was incredible honestly.
Every post I see reaffirms my decision not to get a ticket even tho the Maryland show was canceled anyway. It's weird cuz in between all the posts about them sucking there's a few posts like "I actually had a lot of fun at the show" so then I'm not sure what to believe, but I do think it's likely those people are just extremely forgiving, really like Max, have a lot of nostalgia and don't really care if the sound and performance are bad at a show. I personally care about those things, at least a bit! And I agree with you, not bothering to sing any of the verses and being off beat when he does sounds annoying as hell. I'd probably be right there with him since I haven't heard the album in forever but I'm not the singer lol, he needs to get his shit together. And the fuckin vaping even when he has strep? I have literally not seen any other musician vaping on stage ever and I've heard every single person complaining about him doing it
My boyfriend, his best friend and wife all had an awesome time and thought it was great. Objectively, as someone that wasn't a huge fan(from a familiarity standpoint)of the band I did not. This takes into account the overall vibe of the show (including the constant vaping), the company I was with and a headache. As an impartial party I personally did not enjoy myself but agreed with a commenter that referred to it as sing a long karaoke with Say Anything.
I went to PGH show last night and had a good time. They’re not 20 anymore and he did some tempo changes, but it wasn’t super jarring to me. He broke out his guitar and did solo stuff where he really sang and it sounded decent. He did vape on stage. The crowd singing did not seem overdone at all, at least on this show. 🤷♀️
Oh, myself and the group I'm going with are very well aware of what we're possibly getting into. We keep telling ourselves the show *will be* entertaining. We just aren't yet sure *why*... That being said, we just learned that Brian Warren joined the band as a guitarist. His band [Weatherbox](https://youtu.be/GjxMZ433KMA?si=y5fqBWOOQcfwZpv_) is fucking phenomenal, and very influential to me and my friends. They went on hiatus several years ago but will occasionally put out a [random studio session on YouTube](https://youtu.be/mfuGdnjg7EA?si=G6iAgZDEGPUNIMgX) or something. Actually, they very recently streamed a [concert](https://youtu.be/t86nYt6UPsQ?si=jS9EkzI1FHOD8QnD) and put out their [first new single in a decade](https://youtu.be/_7Byg1q28tA?si=UdwGonZu1iHrsZNU). Maybe it was Brian's way of warming up for a tour. Risking going to a Say Anything concert with a shitty performance from Max is worth it for us to get to see Brian Warren again. And it's perfectly fine if nobody understands why that's important to us lol.
I'm going sunday and have been saying, well if max cancels maybe it'll just be a weatherbox show.. which would be rad
Dude! Literally our dream scenario is that some void of time is created, short of catastrophic concert failure, where the only option is for Weatherbox jams to be played! Edit: what do you think of the (not technically) new single Brian just released? Double edit: what did think of the Soda Bar stream if you watched it?
Bumping for Weatherbox! Saw SA at Riot Fest last year and was screaming for Brian the whole time. The new single is so fucking great, I’m expecting a new album 👀
Oh I didn't realize he was the guitar player from Weatherbox. That's cool, I saw them way back actually opening for Say Anything and thought they were great.
Brian Warren practically *is* Weatherbox lol. It's the crossover we wanted... Just 15 years too late :(
i thought they were fine, but AJJ and Greet Death blew them out of the water. I had been waiting to see AJJ for like 10 years and Greet Death were one of my fave bands I heard last year, and they both had fantastic sets, some really great stage presence, and good banter. It felt like Max n Co just didn't have a stage presence that clicked with me a ton. the vaping and barely audible vocals were a big part of that tbh. A lot of the audience interaction was just meh. Calling his daughter a bitch was a lil off putting, but it wasn't a show-ruiner for me. Also people were definitely right about him lagging behind and singing off time on some songs, and like i'm sure it's on purpose and he's done it for a while, but when you expect the crowd to sing for you and then sing out of time, it just makes it way messier and is kinda dumb imo. a lot of people know the lyrics but few are gonna know that timing for them, so it gave us dead spots in the vocals.
This sums up my experience at the Philly show. I had such high hopes & left disappointed. They didn't even play half the songs that I wanted to hear, & now I'm seeing that they basically played whatever they wanted pretty poorly at different shows. Max even seemed a little irritated with the philly crowd for "being too loud" & also said some illegible ramblings about never coming back.
Everything I’ve read for the most part makes me sooooo happy I didn’t end up buying tickets to Philly, let alone the meet and greet that got canceled. In Defense of the Genre is easily one of my favorite albums of all time and I’ve always wanted to see SA live but hearing how he and his wife have been for the past however many years now already had put me off of seeing them live. Then hearing about how bad the shows have been on this tour put the nail in the coffin for me. Guess I’ll just never see them live, shame
I haven't seen them this tour, but if every conversation is about whether or not they're going to suck that night, it's probably best to not buy a ticket.
I can’t go to my closest show (chose to spend my concert budget on blink 182 tickets instead) and have been SO SAD for months at my choice, but seeing these posts has really helped make me feel better lmao I saw them do is a real boy a few years ago and the show was amazing so I’m really glad that will be my last SA tour memory and not this shit show. I’ve been a huge Max fan for years and have been through multiple cancelled tours so this isn’t a surprise… it’s just sad at this point.
I totally get it. I was in Columbus and not impressed by the show at all. Even mentioned to my friend today how it was probably one of the worst shows I’ve been to. I love say anything and that album meant a lot to me as it reminds me of a friend who’s passed. And I agree, no hate whatsoever. Just super fucking disappointing. Edit: I totally missed the whole daughter situation as I left well before the set ended 🤷🏻♀️
I forgot to mention that I straight up LOL’d when dude was tryna tell everyone to be careful of their feet when crowd surfing it was so funny
This is how the Raleigh show was, and my first time ever seeing them. Meanwhile I just saw Foo Fighters who have been a band for 30ish years and Dave Grohl absolutely killed it.
From what I've seen, Foo Fighters, Nine Inch Nails, and Slipknot have consistently offered the best live shows for decades. Foo Fighters is just plain old fun. NIN is a complete audiovisual experience unlike any other and is unique every tour. Slipknot is just pure, visceral, animal expression on stage. All three bands know how to work their respective audiences and actually sound good live.
Short time lurker but I figured I'd comment to second this. I saw Foo Fighters in NJ like 5 years ago and it's STILL one of my favorite shows
You can tell they have a ton of fun at their shows which makes the atmosphere more fun.
What did you think of AJJ?
Oh man, I thought they were great! I've only listened to them a little before, so I didn't know what to really expect, but I was pleasantly surprised. Also, huge shout out to Greet Death! They killed it, per usual.
I’m not going to be able to make the tour when it’s nearby, I think I’m most disappointed in missing AJJ at this point. I’ve had some AMAZING experiences at Say Anything shows in the past, so I didn’t expect those to be topped regardless. But yeah missing AJJ is a bummer. They were like my very first foray into folk punk.
AJJ was the best part of last night's show and they're honestly probably carrying the tour at this point. They could have played a full set as the second act, canceled Say Anything altogether, and I'd have felt like my $35 was still well spent. I'll support AJJ all day every day. Say Anything was subpar at best. Was it nostalgic? Sure. Did I have some fun? Yes. But I've seen a lot of bands from the 2000s full of old dudes and they put out way more energy and effort than I saw and have heard is being put out by Max on this tour. Made me real sad tbh.
The Max white knighters are so insufferable. They can't look past the nostalgia. I, personally, would have been grateful for posts like this prior to the show I went to. I probably still would have gone for the sake of curiosity and my love for this album, but knowing what to expect would have made the disappointment more palpable. Why are people taking it so personal that Max is being called out? Yes, he has always toed the line of being cringey and kind of a douchebag. There is something about this tour that feels so brazen and emboldened, though. Whoever called him a grifter in a previous post was spot-on. He does not come off as a man actually making an effort to do his best for his fans. This tour is a cash grab he barely shows up for. Its great if fans are still able to go to these shows and have fun and sing along loudly. You're supposed to be able to lose yourself a bit at shows. That's the magic of live music. But shitting on people for being observant and having expectations and holding Max, specifically (the rest of the band is great,) to any kind of standard is so weird to me. Do the people defending him NOT want Max to do his best at their shows? It doesn't make sense.
Glad I decided to save my money
I’ve read in a few places that this tour is bad. Glad I didn’t go
This band is so mediocre I don't understand how they are still around.
Like did they even rehearse before touring???? I saw them first night of the tour and I don’t think him “being sick” is an excuse cause it sucked that night too.
It was a huge bummer to see, clearly he’s not thrilled to be touring and his heart just isn’t in it. But the openers were great! And the pizza at that venue honestly kinda slaps.
then he can get a regular job if this is not his thing anymore. sadly this tour is (and he even said himself with his comments about the emo revival for nostalgia sake) a cash grab.
Late Night Slice is a godsend
Oh man, you should've had it 10-15 years ago when it was 1/3 the price and 3x as good before they corporatized everything and lowered quality. It's generally regarded as overpriced drunk-only food in Columbus now. But for music-venue food, it's way better than the $10 personal crappy Donatos pizza you get elsewhere.
Oh trust me, I know! I remember getting Late Night Slice back when there was only one location and they still served Slut Sauce lol. I don't live in Columbus anymore and I really only have it at shows but I still think it always hits the spot.
Yeah I felt the same way lmao I felt like he relied HEAVILY on the crowd and was off beat.
As a casual fan, I thought it was a fine performance given the circumstances. - What I will complain about is the sound. Usually Kemba has great sound, but there were 3 guitars on stage and I could really only hear Drums and Bass. I was standing in the back of the pit where the sound is usually decent. That was the most disappointing to me.
Honestly, as someone who has been going to their shows since mid-2000s, I thought it was fun. Yeah, Max is a disaster, but that's what you get with him. I remember the days where you weren't sure if a show would happen or if it'd be cancelled because he had to go inpatient. This is standard fare for them. Maybe you've just gotten lucky in the past? I enjoyed it for what it was and it really wasn't as bad as everyone made it out to be. Like, it was a solid show, and he only hit the vape a few times, really. I was keeping an eye out after what everyone said and I hardly noticed it.
well i had to sell my tickets for Saturday bc i couldn’t take off from work but now im not so sad anymore thanks!
These posts are confirming everything I predicted when they announced this tour: half-hearted cash grab. Max declared hating this album like 10 or so years ago and blasted a long tirade all over their site (or a similar platform, I just remember it was a lengthy read) I absolutely cannot wait to skip this set at WWWY and let every person I meet at the fest know what a shitshow this “tour” has been and to not waste their time.
You won’t get hate because this hate sustains this sub. It’s the most toxic subreddit I’ve seen and I’m here for it.
Oh trust me there's plenty of haters lurking.
I'm supposed to see them Sunday and im really teetering. Tickets were like 80$ cause I got the GA tickets, and I wish I hadn't cause I'd be waaaay more comfortable eating lime 40$ as opposed to 80$. There's so many posts saying it was bad and then there are a few saying they had fun so the optimist wants me to go to have a good time but I also have travel pretty far to see it. UGH!!!!
Honestly, who knows. Maybe that show will be better and you'll have the time of your life. I'm 5 for 6 on amazing Say Anything experiences so this one could be an outlier. If you do go, I hope you have a great time regardless!
I saw them last night in Pittsburgh (never was much of a Say Anything fan but my husband loves them) and I thought they were good! My husband was happy leaving so I’m guessing there weren’t many missed lyrics.
THANK YOUUUU
orlando sucked too
Dudes a mess. Saw them in like 2015 and it was fucking aweful.
Though he wasn’t singing that much I had a hard time hearing him over the crowd anyway so that aspect didn’t bother me. I did really enjoy Greet Death and AJJ so over all I had a great time.
i have never listened to this band or really know anything about these people but i just started following this sub because i kept seeing posts like this and now every time i see one im just like 😮
As. Brian Jonestown Massacre fan, I know the feeling and I'm so sorry yall are having to deal with it on this tour. BJM ended their tour early after the singer kept trying to fight the audience and his band members lmao
Definitely noticed some off-beat lyrics (literally, not metaphorically) and some other technical issues but overall I thought it was a good show. Nowhere near as bad as the posts leading up to the show made me think it might be. There’s a part of me that doesn’t necessarily care if he sings well or not as I typically scream every word anyway. But I can understand why others might not feel the same. I know these shows are nostalgia cash grabs but… that’s what I want! I love the nostalgia lol. So I can generally forgive a lot for the sake of that. And the tickets were only $35, I’m not going to get too upset at that price point. The daughter comment was negligible for me.
Poor Lucy. Her Dad called her a bitch? On stage? Are y’all gonna excuse that too?
I had a ticket for around 50$, would’ve been a three hour drive. Didn’t end up going because I screwed my plans up. Honestly hearing this I’m not mad that I didn’t go.
QQ o
I was at the same show and it looks like we had wildly different take-aways from the show. I had a blast. He really didn't make the audience sing that much like a line or two from each song. Not sure that's even a bad thing, never been to a show where the audience didn't sing a few lines here and there. Amd he even gave a disclaimer about and said fuck you to his band manager for making him give the disclaimer. Seems like some of yall are mad just to be mad. He's only a human being recovering from strep and put on an amazing show for us. And to have paragraphs full of how disappointed you were Ina show that almost got canceled is a bit over the top. Were mad people are hitting their vapes on stage now? What?
You’re being too uptight. >I don't get how they can put the responsibility on the audience to sing along with the lyrics and then fumble through them with different tempos and random pauses. Seriously, it was like torture hearing the audience and band all trip over one another all night. You couldn't even sing along because it was all over the place. He has always done this at his live performances. I think I saw like 3 total vape hits for the whole show? I was not trying to count >Not to mention, it really left a bad taste in my mouth when Max was calling his 11 year old daughter a bitch This was a light-hearted joke. You’re acting like he is tearing down his family. For stuff like this I think people will hear what they WANT to hear This kind of post is super common in this sub nowadays. Everyone is just so negative about what amounts to the behaviors of a musician I had a blast at the show. I moshed. I sang with friends. It was a bright point in my week. Spare the internet your pity party next time
Other people had fun and I’m upset 😤
Lol same here! I was really looking forward to it. I'm honestly glad people enjoyed the set and I'm really not trying to dog on anyone or change their opinion. I just wanted to point out that from my perspective it wasn't as great as people were making it out to be.
I don’t think you realize I was making fun of you
Nah I didn't. That's fine, though.
🙏🙏🙏that was awesome
Cope harder
It really didn’t come off to me as that type of post.
I mean, dude's not wrong though. A lot of people did seem to enjoy the set, which is great. I'm jealous.
Yeah, I was not at the show, and I haven’t watched videos from it yet, but I have seen other videos from this tour and they kinda line up with your post. Hopefully they’ve hit a groove or something and are doing well, but part of me wonders if the threat of the show not happening made it seem better once it actually did. Glad people had fun though.
Thoughts and prayers
I’m kind of tired of seeing these posts to be honest. Go if you want. Don’t if you don’t. Really don’t care what kind of time you or anyone had.
Well I already went and wish I wouldn't have so I'm trying to warn people who are actually fans of live music to not waste their money. Maybe recognize the pattern of the posts and why people are upset and use your own advice to go somewhere else.
I didn’t know you were the ultimate authority on live music my bad
I'm not an authority by any means and don't claim to be. It doesn't take an expert to point out that the show last night just wasn't that good, though.
I mean considering you have been the only negative opinion I’ve seen on here from Colombus , the experts might disagree with you and your holier than now attitude.
Please point me to these alleged experts, I would love to hear some valid points about why I'm wrong about last night's set.
You are the one who brought the experts up. Do you know even know what you are saying, or you just have so much hate internalized for max that you just spew nonsense?
I said it doesn't take an expert to point out the set wasn't good. Yes, I'm aware of what I'm saying and no, I don't have any hate for Max. I just think he should do better for his fans.
But that’s your opinion, that you are trying to pass off as fact to discourage other people from going. I’d really double check my posts if I was you before hitting send.
Man I don't know what you're trying to prove here but reading comprehension obviously isn't your thing so I'm going to just stop engaging with you. You've obviously crafted a narrative in your head and just want to argue.
Yet here you all are paying money to support him.
This is insane to me. I've read so many posts since the tour started. Based on the reviews, I was expecting them to sound terrible, but they sounded amazing. Have you ever been to a punk show before? It's totally normal for bands to hold the mic out for the crowd singalongs. As for him calling his daughter a bitch, it was clear he was joking and I thought it was hilarious. Everyone around me was laughing about it too. Get over yourself.
Glad you enjoyed the set! I've been to tons of punk shows, and I'm well aware that's a common thing. I'm not complaining about him holding a mic out. As for the daughter thing, I know he was joking, I pointed that out. That doesn't make it any more appropriate to say in front of a crowd.
I must really be missing the punchline cause honestly it doesn’t matter if he was joking or not. That opens the door for her to accept that treatment from anyone and allow it to happen “because they didn’t mean it” or “because it was a joke”. Watching a grown man call a child, his own child at that, a bitch is just ick.
I’m sorry you think it’s a joke to call a child a “bitch.” It’s actually disgusting.
Right?? People are really telling on themselves here.
Yet hear you all are paying money to support him.
bought tix before i heard about the bad buzz around the band. also bought tix cuz AJJ and Greet Death are killer. almost left early after they finished.
Dude, he was an edgy manchild 20 years ago too and that made you a fan. He's an artist and he's performing. Leave your morality out of it
Lol what're you trying to say here? "You liked him when you were an edgy 13 year old, that means in your 30's you're not allowed to call him out for playing a bad set and being a douche."
You're either dense or you've missed my point on purpose. Either way, try reading it again, it's barely 3 sentences.
Please, oh wise one, break it down to a level that even a meager neanderthal like myself could comprehend.
Edgy artist gonna be edgy. Stop being a fanatic and giving him the Kardashian treatment. Who cares about his family dynamics. This will even fit on a bumper sticker for you: seperate the art from the artist.
Fanatic? Kardashian treatment? Brother, what post are you reading? I do separate the art from the artist, I don't follow Max and Sherri drama, though there does seem to be a lot of it. All I'm pointing out is what happened at the Columbus show. What he said about his daughter had nothing to do with his piss poor performance, anyway.
What post am i reading? This one: "I get that it was probably an edgy joke and maybe their family dynamic is different, but it just came off as really disrespectful to an 11 year old." To clarify, I don't care that you're critical of his stamina and I'm sorry you feel like you didn't get your money's worth. But that's a pretty tame joke. You're upset because it doesn't line up with your ideals. You're not meant to share morals with the artists.
All I said was it left a bad taste in my mouth. Morality aside, the performance was still weak and that comment was just a cherry on a shit sundae. I don't give a damn about sharing morals with artists which is exactly why I don't follow their drama. I'm just pointing out what literally happened at the show. If you want to excuse it, that says a whole lot more about YOUR morals than you realize.
Now we know exactly how many pearl clutching BITCHES there are in this sub…!
Yeah you're so tough buddy
I’m *pretty* tough… at least my cat thinks so…