TW: mention of suicide
Des Moines was a little extra lucky this St. Patrick’s Day when New Jersey emo legends Armor For Sleep stopped by Wooly’s to perform their fan favorite album, What To Do When You Are Dead, for its 20th anniversary. To add to the 2000’s nostalgia, they brought along friends Boys Night Out, for a little bit of post-hardcore, and Hellogoodbye, for a little bit of power pop.
Hellogoodbye opened the show with a plethora of good vibes — starting with a short, unreleased song, “Magic Is Real”, and “Baby, It’s Fact”, a request from a young fan at the barricade. Singer Forrest Kline spent “You’ve Got An Expensive Heart” dancing his way through the crowd, giving a few fans a chance to sing into the microphone. The St. Patty’s Day luck continued with another unreleased song, “Let It Drop”, which Kline says will be out this summer. The quick set wrapped up with their 2006 hit “Here (In Your Arms)”, the crowd laughing gleefully while Kline sang the majority of the song in Spanish.
Boys Night Out was up next. This is their first tour in 18 years -– vocalist Connor Lovat-Fraser formed a brand new lineup to play Furnace Fest in 2024 -– but watching their performance, you wouldn’t know it had been so long. The band, from Ontario, Canada, played a tight set with a lot of energy, which was reflected by the crowd. Fans were especially excited for “Medicating”, off of their 2005 concept album, Trainwreck, and “I Got Punched In The Nose For Sticking My Face In Other People’s Business”, a single off of their 2003 debut album, Make Yourself Sick. Lovat-Fraser says they are working on new music and a possible tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Trainwreck.
Armor For Sleep took the stage around 9:30 pm to a room buzzing with excitement. As the band took to the stage, a disembodied voice read from “What To Do When You Are Dead: A Comprehensive Guide To Your Afterlife” — an illustrated booklet typically included with physical releases. The 2005 concept album takes listeners through the protagonist’s haunting post-suicide journey through the afterlife. Throughout their set, they performed What To Do When You Are Dead in its entirety, including the popular bonus track, “Very Invisible,” as well as a few other songs from their discography. Before playing “End Of The World” from their third album Smile For Them (also featured on the Transformers (2007) soundtrack), vocalist Ben Jorgensen joked about how the song still feels relevant in 2025. I haven’t seen Armor For Sleep live since 2008 and in my opinion, they sounded even better than ever. Closing the show with “Car Underwater”, Jorgensen opened up about his depression at 18, feeling like he didn’t want to “be around,” and thanked the crowd for sticking around with him. It’s safe to say that after nearly 25 years in the industry, Armor For Sleep is still beloved by the scene.