by Melissa Wood
On June 22, 2024, 2000s piano rock giant Something Corporate (SoCo for short) rocked Philadelphia’s The Met, the third official stop on their Out of Office Tour!
Destined Premonitions: A Tour that Was Bound to Happen
If there is one thing I tend to live by, I always trust my gut because it’s usually right. Back at the end of 2023, my Instagram feed had become increasingly saturated with posts from Andrew McMahon, most likely because I had recently attended his New Friends Tour in November and consequently had jumped back into his discography. Anyway, long story short, I eventually caught wind that Something Corporate, one of McMahon’s earliest groups, was doing a handful of reunion shows at the When We Were Young Festival in Las Vegas and a couple of New Year’s shows in Anaheim. These events intrigued me for several reasons, the biggest one being the comments, some of which I admit were my own, that appeared underneath every post McMahon had made about a SoCo show. Most asked if they could do an official tour soon- each with hundreds of likes. This phenomenon inclined me to believe that they would soon be announcing a tour. Then in the early months of 2024, SoCo indeed announced their Out of Office Tour for 2024. I knew from the moment of the announcement that I would do everything in my power to try and review this tour on official PR… luckily, everything paid off.
Upon following the media release for this tour, I can report a couple of factors that make it so unique. First, this tour is the first official tour that they have announced in 10+ years! In addition, McMahon’s team made it crystal clear across all social media platforms their plan to crack down on ticket scalpers, which proved effective. From what I understand, they worked vigilantly on the back end to ensure that tickets were going to their fans for fair prices.
To Start: Days Away
The openers for the show were a progressive rock band Days Away. Before this concert, I had never heard of this band before, but I genuinely enjoyed their sound and have consequently added some of their songs to my playlist including “God and Mars,” “Ideas,” and “Mirrors.” A highlight of the openers would have to be when some of the band members brought their children to sing with them on stage. Another highlight of the openers was that there was indeed only one. Trust me, I know that sounds awful of me to say that, but as someone who has attended concerts in the past with two plus openers, it was a nice change of pace sitting through only one.
The Impact of SoCo
As it goes with being a part of the press, there are only certain songs, usually the first couple in the set, that we’re allowed to shoot from the pit. So naturally, after three or four songs, I was back in the lobby. Now normally, at this point, I would have just waited around until it was time to shoot SoCo from the pit, but I guess the spur of the moment got to me, and I felt that it would be so cool if I could manage to connect with some fans, and ask them what Something Corporate’s music means to them.
“They were the band that got me into pop-punk essentially… I remember hearing ‘Konstantine’ for the first time and playing it on repeat. From there, all I wanted to do was go to shows… this tour is basically a dream of mine.”
-Falyn Rasmussen (Former Blue Hen, Class of 2015)
“I think it’s just a lot of nostalgia probably. I first heard Something Corporate senior year in 2002, so a lot of the songs bring me back to that time, of course. Andrew McMahon has done a lot of other iterations of music, and now he’s bringing it back to when I first heard him, and it means a lot.”
-Joe Bridge (Long-time SoCo Fan)
SoCo is so Back!
Finally, the time had come for SoCo to take the stage, and take the stage they did! To start the show, they performed “Straw Dog,” “I Want to Save You,” and “She Paints Me Blue” against a cheering crowd. As most seasoned concertgoers will probably agree, there is always an extra special ambiance about the first couple of songs from the main act, as there is still much undissipated anticipation in the air. From the looks of the reunited bandmates, it was evident that they were relishing that unique energy.
“Fall,” “The Astronaut,” “Only Ashes,” and “Me and the Moon” were the next songs to reverberate through the crowd, which I found to be such a treat considering I had never heard the first three live before. Of course, I love catching some deep cuts live in concert, so “The Astronaut” and “Only Ashes” satisfied an itch I didn’t even know I had.
After this, SoCo rocked out with “Drunk Girl,” “Ruthless,” and “Babies of the 80s,” another three songs I was able to cross off my Andrew McMahon bingo card. While I had never really heard “Babies of the 80s,” which is apparently from an early album called Ready…Break, I was very familiar with the other two. Hands down, the highlight for me here was hearing “Ruthless,” as it is one of my all-time favorite tracks from North and somewhere in my top ten SoCo songs. Just screaming out the unforgiving hook “I could still be ruthless if you let me,” was enough to plaster the deepest smile on my face, let alone the entire song.
“Watch the Sky,” “Hurricane,” and “Death Grip” came next. Now, I have heard the first two songs before in concert, but that does not mean I was hysterically singing along to every syllable of these two weather-based angst-ridden tracks. “Death Grip,” SoCo’s newest dreamscape single was then introduced to the crowd, supplemented by a lyric video playing behind the band so that fans unfamiliar with the lyrics could sing along.
“21 and Invincible,” “As You Sleep,” and “Space,” three solid tracks from North followed up soon after. Once again, these were three songs that I had never heard live before, so I was very glad that I had the opportunity to witness them in person, especially “21 and Invincible,” as that song rarely gets skipped when it rolls up from shuffle in my car.
To end the main part of the show, SoCo performed “Cavanaugh Park,” “Punk Rock Princess,” and “I Woke Up in a Car.” Looking back, I would surmise that the performance of “Cavanaugh Park” was one of the most emotional parts of the show for me, as this was the first official SoCo song that I ever listened to (and bought off iTunes). This moment had me floored as I heard its ever-familiar soothing intro, in addition to finally being able to belt out some of the most relatable lyrics in existence “I’m running out of clock, and that ain’t a shock. Some things never do change. Never do change.” You can never go wrong with “Punk Rock Princess,” the pop-punk anthem made of black band Tees, dark side-swept hair, and sharpie-covered Converse. To complete this performance, McMahon brought out his punk-rock princess, his daughter Cecelia, to help him sing. Finally, to finish things right, McMahon rocked the crowd with the classic banger, “I Woke Up in a Car.”
An Encore Worth Waiting For
As the stage went dark to signify the end of the main set, the tension in the room had now become palpable, as most avid fans of McMahon knew what was coming in the next couple of minutes: the encore. Having peaked at the setlist before this concert, I was almost positive that the ever-elusive “Konstantine” would be played next. For those who are unaware of the lore, “Konstantine” is a nine-and-a-half-minute love song that has become a cult favorite among the SoCo fan base and has been somewhat of a cryptid over the years, as McMahon usually abstains from playing it due to it being so long. I have gone to multiple McMahon shows over the years in hopes of hearing this beautiful song but have come up short every time, so this moment felt like a true rite of passage for my diligence over the years.
With the cheers of the crowd egging him on, McMahon took a seat at his piano, and started playing some light interlude music before making the reassuring comment, “You know, I feel like there are a lot of people in this room who have waited a long time for this moment,” a statement that could not have been truer! This statement was so true that it transcended past the walls of the venue and across the country to California, where my sister Kellie (who is a big reason why I listen to McMahon in the first place) was listening on the other side of a Face Time call in hopes of hearing this song live. Personally, she tried to obtain tickets to the San Fransico show but had come up short. At the end of everything, her words were, “I’m glad I was able to see the unicorn even if it was on my phone, lol.”
Finally, to end the concert, McMahon finished with a proper bang- the post-high school graduate melody “If You C Jordan.” Honestly, this was an ideal song to end the night with. It’s the perfect conglomerate of hilarious, relatable, and absurd that leaves you feeling validated about any ‘Jordans’ that might be plaguing your life.
Overall Evaluation
If I’m being honest, this concert was nothing short of perfection. Usually, I have slight qualms with the setlist. However, this time around, that was not the case. To my surprise, SoCo hit the nail on the head and played every song I wanted to hear, setting up the night for a catharsis unlike any other!
Another facet of this concert that I found to be special was the different home-style videos that played in between every so couple of songs. Specifically, they appeared to be retelling the story of the early days/formation of Something Corporate, including a memorable image of McMahon sporting a very 2000s-coded haircut.
