American Football

Victor Gonzalez
7 days ago
2 min read

Updated: 3 days ago

American Football Proves They're More Than Nostalgia at Mohawk!

On May 28th, American Football kicked off a two-night stint at the Mohawk, celebrating the 25th anniversary of their seminal debut LP1. It's wild to think about—a 25-year anniversary tour for a record that only took four days to make. Since reuniting in 2014, they've consistently toured, put out two albums, bought the LP1 house, converted it into an Airbnb, and now are celebrating a quarter century of having one of the worst SEO band names. Yeah, this was going to be a good one.

For about 15 minutes, it wasn't even clear if the show would happen. A pre-show downpour soaked the outdoor venue's speakers, leaving the band to troubleshoot and vamp while the crowd waited patiently. Once they finally got the all-clear, you could sense a collective settling as the music started up (Mike even joked they were going to perform "Jump" by Van Halen during the delay—definitely would have been a tone shift).

While the main draw was hearing LP1 front to back, the band really shone during their second set, pulling from LP2 (2016) and LP3 (2019)—albums that push well beyond their midwest emo origins.

The contrast was surprising. During the LP1 portion, the crowd stayed reverently quiet, swaying to long instrumental passages broken up by Mike Kinsella's sparse lyrics. Steve Lamos's trumpet work during "For Sure" was an early standout, with the audience holding onto each familiar note.

The second half brought different energy entirely. Mike became more talkative, the band felt looser, and the mood shifted upbeat. Having paid their respects to the cult classic, they were ready to showcase their evolution. "Uncomfortably Numb" from LP3 stood out before the inevitable finale.

When those opening notes of "Never Meant" rang out, phones shot up across the venue. Everyone knew this was it—the song that turned a brief college band into midwest emo royalty. More than just delivering the expected moment, though, the band had spent the evening proving they're still moving forward, not just living in the past.

Find American Football at the following: Instagram, Facebook, and their own website of course. Their latest album is streaming everywhere you scroll for music.