In the new issue of Creative Loafing Tampa, Emo Night Tampa co-founders Theo Severson and Chris Wood chime in on how they've managed to turn a reputedly mopey genre into a rousing monthly party at Ybor City's First Chance Last Chance bar.
“It totally isn’t sad music. There’s this running gag that you’re sad and depressed, but it’s really no different from any other pop song,” Severson, 39, said. “These are just songs about friendship. They’re songs about love and love lost. They’re songs about good times and bad times.”
Wood added that it's amazing how many second wave emo bands get requested by kids that are barely old enough to drink.
“We look at them like, ‘How do you know that,’ and they’ll be like, ‘Oh, my brother put me on,’" Severson explained. So there are kids whose older siblings introduced them to bands. It’s pretty rad to have these young kids come up and ask for stuff that I really like from the old days.”
Read: Boys Don't Cry — The Crate Brothers celebrate two years of Emo Night Tampa
“They defnitely like the good stuff, and the last hour is almost always a sing-along,” Wood said.
To celebrate the genre, Severson has listed (in no particular order) 25 songs that he really loves. They're song's he'll probably play on any given Emo Night, and he had a hard time keeping it to just 25 cuts.
"I could have made it a lot longer with bands like Penfold, Lemuria, Jets to Brazil, Hey Mercedes (or any other Bob Nanna project)," he said. "Snowing, Football Etc, Owls, Gloria Record etc. etc."
Enjoy the playlist below, and get more information on the anniversary party by visiting our feature story here.