Sad Summer Fest Rocks Out Portsmouth With Taking Back Sunday, The Maine, PVRIS, And More!

It was a hot day in Portsmouth, but that didn’t stop people from lining up well before doors waiting for Sad Summer Fest to begin! With a stacked lineup of 8 different bands performing over the course of the day, there was something for everyone there to enjoy! And there was a lot of excitement to be had even away from the stage; with merch tents for each band, photo ops all over the place, food trucks, and even pop-up M&Gs!

Daisy Grenade was the first band in the lineup. They were a fantastic opening act for the festival, managing to get the crowd amped up as early as 2:30 in the afternoon with their first song “Riot“! Keeping the high energy going the two lead signers, Dani and Keaton, were bouncing around the stage as they hooked the crowd with “Cult Classic” and “Are You Scared Of Me Yet?“. As they went through their set, it was clear the festival was off to a great start!

Next up was Stand Atlantic. They had the crowd immediately jumping along with them during “Jurassic Park” and “Wavelength“, truly getting everyone into the concert spirit this early in the day! They asked the crowd to rock out during their song “deathwish“, which they absolutely did especially when the chorus hit! And it was during their song “molotov [OK]” that the first pit of the day opened up! The audience went crazy for them and the band seemed to feed off of the great energy!

Keeping the good vibes going, it was time for Mom Jeans to hit the stage! Fans were very excited to see this band, singing and dancing along to all their songs! They encouraged a circle pit to start during “White Trash Millionaire” and cheered the pit on from the stage as people ran around. And the moshing was continuous after that, going on strong during “Circus Clown“. One of the songs they performed, “Alameda County Fair“, had particularly good summer vibes, which was quite a hit with the crowd!

Everyone was getting real loose now, just in time for Hot Mulligan to perform! The banter between the lead singer Tades and the crowd was quite amusing, as he’d go from screaming in the songs to cracking jokes with the crowd in between the music. The crowd went absolutely crazy for them, head banging to every song they played, especially during “*Equip Sunglasses*” and “BCKYRD“. Tales even joked with the audience that, after their last song “How Do You Know It’s Not Armadillo Shells?” that he was gonna take a nap backstage. Hope he got that nap!

As the show kept moving on, it was time for L.S. Dunes to hit the stage! They were quite the high energy band, and the crowd perfectly matched their energy. The lead singer Anthony even threw his mic out into the crowd a couple times, allowing some enthusiastic fans to all sing along directly into the mic, and they loved it! “Permanent Rebellion” and “Grey Veins” were big hits with everyone there, people were rocking out and moshing especially hard to those! Anthony also pointed out how amusing it was to watch the crowd shift across the pit as most people were avoiding standing in the heat of the direct sunlight. They closed out their set with their song “2022“, and the fans didn’t even care it was hot as they jumped all around!

It was now time for PVRIS to perform, and their fans couldn’t be more excited! They went straight into performing “Monster” and followed it up by one of their recent singles, “ANIMAL” with the crowd singing along to every word! With their new album EVERGREEN releasing only a few days after this festival, fans were hyped to hear any and all new songs PVRIS had for them! While they had a slightly chiller vibe than the other bands on the bill, that didn’t dissuade the crowd from enjoying it to the fullest extent! Lead singer Lynn was killing it on both guitar and vocals, getting people to jump up and down during “Death of Me“. Closing out their set with their long time hit “My House” followed by their latest leading single “GODDESS“, the crowd went wild for them!

The sun was now set below the horizon, just in time for The Maine to come out! The crowd was more than ready for them as they sang along to their music, having the best time. During their song “Loved You a Little” they brought out Adam of Stand Atlantic, much to the absolute excitement of the crowd. Lead singer John ran out into the crowd during “Ice Cave“, which gave everyone in the seats and the lawn the opportunity to see him up close and even high five him as he passed by! He called a kid up while he was in the back of the venue to help him countdown to get everyone in the audience to jump up and dance. Everyone loved the kid’s enthusiasm and went extra crazy just for him! The crowd loved their hit “Sticky“, and when they closed out their set with “Black Butterflies and Deja Vu” they brought another fan up onstage to sing his heart out. All these sweet fan interactions left smiles on everyone’s faces that night!

It was now time for the final act of the night, and the crowd still had enough energy left in them and was raring to go when Taking Back Sunday took to the stage! Starting off with “A Decade Under the Influence” the band had the crowd immediately captivated as they sang along to every word. The pit opened back up during “Set Phasers to Stun“, and those who weren’t actively moshing were singing the lyrics even louder than the band themselves! Lead singer Adam was grooving all across the stage, feeding off of the energy from the crowd rocking out. “You’re So Last Summer” and “The One” were both big hits with the audience; and even when the band even brought out their saddest song, they had to fit the theme of the fest, “Better Homes and Gardens” their fans sang along to every word! They closed out their set with an amazing performance of “MakeDamnSure“, and they made damn sure to end this festival on a high note as everyone in the venue sang along!

After the lights came up and concluded the whole day and night full of incredible live music, everyone left the show with smiles on their faces and was sure to remember this incredible lineup of bands that made up Sad Summer Fest!

Check out our full photo album down below:

Be sure to check out Daisy Grenade’s latest album Cult Classic, Stand Atlantic’s latest single “kill[h]er“, Mom Jean’s latest single “wassup;)“, Hot Mulligan’s latest album Why Would I Watch, L.S. Dunes’ latest single “Benadryl Subreddit“, PVRIS’ latest album EVERGREEN, The Maine’s latest single “Cruel Summer“, and Taking Back Sunday’s latest single “The One“.

Click here for previous coverage of PVRIS on their 2021 tour.

Post and photos by Taylor Pettitt (Twitter | Instagram | Website)

Did you go to one of their tour dates? Let us know in the comments down below!