Movements at Paramount Theater
One of my top highlights of 2025 will definitely be standing stage right, jumping up and down and screaming the lyrics to “Daylily” by Movements with my whole chest at the Paramount. It’s one of those moments in this line of sometimes thankless and misunderstood industry that makes all the hours and hours I put into my work worth it, getting to see some of my favorite bands play songs that mean so much to me and kept me going in the darkest times.
Before the concert, I was editing at the KEXP Gathering Space. Fellow Seattle photog Travis Trautt (@travistrautt) invited me into the control room for Scowl’s private KEXP session. Scowl played 4-5 songs and answered questions from the host about their upcoming tours and music. It was my second time seeing Scowl perform aside from ADTR and The Story So Far’s tour coming through WAMU Theater last summer and I enjoyed them there too. I’ve only been in the control room a handful of times with different bands – I’m always so amazed to see how locked in the studio crew is from media to sound to visuals and how they all work together so in sync to produce such aesthetically perfect and beautiful sounding sessions in that space.
Downward, Scowl, Citizen, and Movements put on a show for all of Seattle’s most pink cloud summer needing, depressed music lovers. Downward played through their post hardcore meets dreamy shoegaze opening setlist and then Scowl’s Kat Moss took the stage, wrapping a trans pride flag around the microphone and lifting it in the air while the room filled with cheers. Personally, I love seeing a woman fronted pop punk meets hardcore band and there sure isn’t enough of them – and whenever one does gain such quick traction like Scowl, everyone wants to throw in their own keyboard warrior opinions about the band’s presence in the scene or what their label is supporting and say “well they aren’t really hardcore/their sound has changed so much since the first album, blah blah blah” shut up.
Genre’s gain sub-genre’s because bands change sound and are inspired by other bands from opposite or different sounds as they become who they are as a band and based on who they are inspired by. It happens. It’s also hard for any front woman to come after Hayley Williams from Paramore that genuinely has a similar vibe. Scowl is great and progressively moving the scene and that’s hard for people to come to terms with, I guess.
Citizen popped up next to the stage and started off with one of my favorite songs and albums of theirs, “The Night I Drove Alone” from Youth’ (2013). The Midwest emo band swept the crowd with their emotionally charged lyrics and stage presence. Movements walked on stage and played through all my favorites such as “Colorblind,” “Full Circle,” “Heaven Sent,” “I Hope You Choke!” and their newest release from February, “Where I Lay.” During the headliner set, I saw the crowd creating mosh pits and lead singer Mat Kerekes demand a wall of death, people having the time of their lives smashing into each other and picking up those who fell up from the ground, and of course, what would a Seattle show be without a guy in a banana costume being crowd surfed to the barricade. All in all, Seattle definitely got the Movements show they hoped for.
