Since their debut album in June 2025, First Day Back has shot into emo stardom. Pulling from 1990s second-wave emo influences (think of Braid, Algernon Caldawalder, Jejune, and Cap’n Jazz) reveals First Day Back’s revival of—and listeners’ interest in—this specific era of emo. This Santa Cruz band recently completed their first tour across California from September 18-24, with the final tour date being at the Catalyst Atrium. Playing alongside First Day Back were Febuary (Las Vegas screamo) and Gapyear (Salt Lake City screamo); To little surprise, the show sold out.
All three bands were enthusiastically met by the audience. Choruses were shouted back to the performers, onslaughts of crowd surfers ensued, and a mosh pit opened up towards the back of the crowd.
As First Day Back’s set began, people clamored forward to get as close to the stage, reaching their hands out to Maggie (vocals, violin, harmonica, tambourine). Crowdsurfer after crowdsurfer landed on the frontmost audience, sometimes resulting in being dropped on the ground. The band played most of their tracks from their self-titled album. It became clear that their audience knew the lyrics and instrumentals by heart. Around the halfway point of the band’s set, Maggie spoke with the crowd about UCSC’s fall quarter starting the next day, giving Kresge College a shout out and thanking Gapyear and Febuary for joining the tour, and thanking the audience for attending. The set closed with an encore cover of “Crescent-Shaped Depression” by Title Fight alongside First Day Back’s former guitarist, Zion. Attendees strayed around The Catalyst, loudly exclaiming about the show. The merch lines stretched to the back of the corner, a reminder of the fervent show that had occurred. With First Day Back becoming an emblem of the Santa Cruz DIY scene, I’m excited to see what else they will create.
