The Sound of Letting Go
Article written and photos by Vanessa Holt
The Sound Of Letting Go tour was the second half of All Time Low’s ‘22 tour run and it was a stacked tour. All Time Low had the chance to play at Los Angeles’s iconic The Wiltern. They were accompanied by: Gym Class Heroes, Grayscale, and Lauran Hibberd. The line-up felt very much like a little throwback to old Warped Tour days as All Time Low, Grayscale, and Gym Class Heroes were bands on everyone’s list to see out in the scorching summer heat and Lauran Hibberd would’ve been without a doubt one of few shining upcoming artist. It was destined to be a great night with the show being sold out, eager fans had lined the streets of Los Angeles and had wrapped all the way around the venue.
Lauran Hibberd kicked off the night and she is a must-see artist. She has a very rock-pop-punk sound to her and is accompanied by energetic bandmates on stage. She covered Gwen Stefani’s Hollaback Girl which many fans raved about and how Hibberd could be a younger British Gwen Stefani. Hibberd gave a brief synopsis before each song about what they were written about before performing to give all of the new fans some insight. The songs ranged from grief, irritable bowel syndrome (trust me you just got to listen), and exes. Hibberd lyrics are deeply personal and can resonate with just about anyone which makes it very easy to become a fan overnight.
Coming up second was Philedelphia’s iconic, Grayscale. The band opened up with their latest single, Not Afraid To Die which is a glimpse into a new direction that the band is heading towards. It’s very rock sounding and the band states that they’ve never felt truer to a sound. With a 30-minute window, Grayscale curated a stellar setlist with songs varied throughout their discography. They had played their two most well-known singles: Dirty Bombs and Motown off of their latest album UMBRA and included one of the underrated songs, Babylon (Say It To My Face). The whole set was amazing to watch as the LD kept it colorful and fun which perfectly fit the vibe and the energy of the whole set.
Finishing up the lineup of openers was Gym Class Heroes. Vocalist, Travie McMcoy took the take carefully, quickly revealing to everyone that he had suffered an injury the day before. Despite that, he had roamed around on stage to the best of his abilities and wanted to be sure he gave enough of his energy that he could. The whole set was a joy to watch as every member of the band had so much energy radiate off of them no matter who you were looking at you were never missing out. Watching Gym Class Heroes’s set was so refreshing as there was so much raw emotion that was out on stage, especially for Kid Ending And The Never-Ending Naked Nightmare. Despite being a massive sold-out show, it felt like a little club show with how much they interacted with the crowd from peace signs in the air, arms swaying, two-stepping, and singing our hearts out to the iconic Stereo Hearts.
All Time Low took the stage and it felt like a throwback to the early 2000’s, with a carefully curated stage set up there were glimpses of All Time Low’s journey scattered around with the various logos throughout the years, skinny jeans, and flipped back baseball caps. The band surprised fans by kicking off with a song from the earlier days Lost In Stereo. Their setlist was a perfect mix of all of the older songs, the middle, and plenty of their newest songs such as Fake As Hell, Tell Me I'm Alive, along with the song the tour was named after, The Sound Of Letting Go. The whole night you should hear fans sing along, and it wouldn’t be an All Time Low show if you didn’t witness the members run around on stage goofing off with one another. It felt like some of the most precious moments to watch. The Sound Of Letting Go tour was one that was healing for all of the emos.
