Well, shit. After a month's worth of bizarre announcements, deleted tweets, and the most controversial cancellation of three tour dates in some time, it appears that hardcore/metalcore's greatest band Every Time I Die have played their last show in December of 2021, at the band's self-curated festival 'Tid the Season. I've gone back and forth a bunch about how I was going to discuss this, but I think what's best for me and for the spirit of this blog is to leave it plain and simple: there seems to be a rift between Keith Buckley and the rest of the band that stems from adjustments made to his touring regimen compared to that of the band, and things have now become untenable.
I'm not here to take sides, and I see no point to. This is already a really ugly breakup played out where it never should be (the Internet), and the indication is that there are now legal teams involved, which means two things: one, that it may very well get uglier between the two sides; and two, we're never going to know what truly caused all of this. It's likely not one incident, but many, and it sucks to think a band whose cohesion and consistency over a two-decades-long career could be brought down with such chaos. The more you think about this awful situation the band finds itself in, the more it's going to frustrate and upset you.
I refuse to remember Every Time I Die that way.
Instead, I decided to run through the band's career, and come up with what I feel are some of their finest moments. As you probably could have guessed, there was a lot to parse through, and I'm sure I've forgotten some of them. Feel free to leave them in the comments, or respond to the tweet that had the link that likely brought you here. Then, let's make sure this how we remember the band moving forward.
"The New Black" featured on Guitar Hero 2 Just before it took its place alongside Dance Dance Revolution as a video-game revolution, the Guitar Hero franchise was picking up steam, and somehow ETID got on Activision's radar to add a song to the second game's soundtrack. I mean, one listen to the track, paced by the signature riffing of Jordan Buckley and Andy Williams, and you understand why it was put onto a video game meant to get more people into pretending to be a rock star. The song's also been given the glow-up and was added to the extensive back library of songs available on Rock Band, giving it some new life there as well. Maybe the customs community can throw a few more songs up there, so we can all have pretend ETID shows in our living rooms now that they're gone. I doubt my downstairs neighbors would mind.
The Inception of 'Tid the Season After nearly two decades worth of holiday shows in their native Buffalo, Every Time I Die knew they'd built something incredible in the chicken wing capital of the world, and wanted to share it with the world. The band's unofficial annual love letter to their hometown, Tid the Season turned Buffalo, NY into a tourist attraction for emos every December from 2017 to 2021, save for the pandemic-stricken 2020 (more on that shortly). It's one thing to have a holiday show tradition--Taking Back Sunday, The Menzingers, Movements, and few others have them-- but Tid the Season felt so special because it allowed the band to create a deeper connection with their fans. Including different attractions like live wrestling, curling, and a few other surprises, Tid the Season was a showcase of all that Buffalo had to offer, capped off by two headlining sets from its proudest sons. I'll be keeping my fingers tightly crossed that we get another one of these a few years down the line.
Closing the Loop with Brendan Urie Though it's often overlooked, New Junk Aesthetic holds a special place in my heart as the first Every Time I Die really "clicked" with me. While it's not necessarily my favorite of the band's releases (that'll likely go to Low Teens or Radical), New Junk was when Every Time I Die went from one of those bands I'd heard about but never really got into, to a band who would remain in my regular rotation for the rest of my life (so far). I may have been "late" to the party, but I'm not the only one. It seems New Junk, particularly its artwork, designed by Jordan Buckley, is admired by emo's crown prince, Brendan Urie of Panic! At the Disco. Those who follow Urie on Instagram got a front-row seat to his tattoo of the album artwork, prominently featured on his forearm. Considering that Panic! is inarguably the most commercially successful emo band of all time, Urie is a great fan to have for ETID, and has hopefully brought new fans in droves to the band. When it came time for a guest feature for Low Teens, it seems Every Time I Die were determined to return the favor somehow. The result is one of the band's most unique songs, and another iconic moment in their career.
Shit Happens Before the advent of Youtube, and our incessant need to feel connected to our favorite bands at any given moment, a DVD of live performances and documentary-esque footage was the best way for bands to see into the lives of a touring musician in the early 2000s. Throw it in with your most recently-released album, and boom! You've got yourself a deluxe edition. Sadly, this trend bled out and was not resuscitated, and Every Time I Die may be to blame. Stuffed to the gills with content that would keep a full-time YouTuber fed for a year, Shit Happens quickly became the best and most infamous DVD released in this era, and, in an eerie sign of what the world of entertainment was to become, the concept was brought back for a longform series chronicling the band's run on the Vans Warped Tour. Already torchbearers for melodic hardcore, Every Time I Die also established themselves as one of the most entertaining bands off the stage, as well as on it, with Shit Happens.
The Artwork of Ex-Lives I didn't expect the band's album artwork to come up twice when I started to draft out this chronology, but this does feel very important. Off the heels of their Epitaph Records debut New Junk Aesthetic, the band released immediate fan-favorite "Underwater Bimbos from Outer Space" when they announced their next album Ex Lives. While the song was incredible then, and has only become more relevant now, but the album artwork and the story behind was the real headline-grabber at the time. Featuring a young man being apprehended (okay, manhandled) by police wearing--what else?--an Every Time I Die shirt, the band said they knew this would be their album artwork as soon as it was shown to them. If there's ever a question as to the profound effect this band has had on its fans, let this picture quell those concerns.
Tidathon 2020
When COVID 19 force Tid the Season 2020, Every Time I Die refused to let one of the worst years on record go out with a whimper. Instead, they turned their weekend-long festival into a streamed event, and instead of having it be "just another live stream set," they infused their signature tongue-in-cheek sense of humor into it. With a telethon boasting an "auction" of the band's memorabilia, a "talk show" featuring some surprise guests, and a "fireside chat" of the band's history laced into a performance of their greatest hits (and the world premiere of Radical standout "AWOL"), Tidathon was an instant-classic in a livestream concert market that quicjly became oversaturated. It's yet another reminder of how much care the band put into all of its endeavors, and the quality that they produced because of it.
Induction into the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame Going to be honest, this one speaks for itself, but it's also worth noting that the mayor of Buffalo, New York also declared December 15th Every Time I Die Day in the city. I think it'd be a great way to honor the band by celebrating, in whatever way you choose, on that day as well.
The Last Band to Leave the Stage This will always be the first memory that comes to mind when I think of Every Time I Die's legacy. After appearing on the tour nearly every other year for 20 years, there was little question as to whether ETID would embark on Warped Tour's last trek across America, and they left it all out there on the stage each time they played each parking lot or amphitheater each day. While Warped founder Kevin Lyman was able to live out his dream of "Bro Hymn" being the last song played at Warped Tour, a technicality would later be revealed and prove that Every Time I Die was the last band heard playing the tour. Closing out the Monster Energy stage with tears, mosh pits, and more passion than I can fathom, the band tore through Low Teens highlight "Map Change," and during an extended outro, the band each left an indelible mark with those in attendance. As Clayton Holyoak launched any drumsticks he had left into the crowd, guitarist Andy Williams stripped himself of all of his clothes, save for his skivvies and his knee braces. In one of the most symbolic moments I can imagine, Keith Buckley pulled a small child onto the stage, handed them the microphone, and gave one final wave. And still, Jordan Buckley remained, refusing to stop playing the song's haunting final riff. He'd go on this way for about ten minutes, and his outro included two separate crowdsurfing sessions, the audience intermittently clapping and cheering, and multiple people hugging him while he played. Eventually, the sound tent cut out Buckley's amp, otherwise he might still be playing. It was the perfect sendoff of one of the most iconic tours in the scene, and Every Time I Die, for lack of a better phrase, understood their assignment when they were chosen to close things out.
It would be foolish to deny the legacy Every Time I Die have built in their storied career, and even more foolish to think that the spat between its members that lead to their demise would ever tarnish that. Though it's nice when we get a "farewell" tour for bands who announce their breakup, it's not always guaranteed, and it's not always final either. Even now, with the band seemingly only speaking through their lawyers, I remain faithful that with time, there's still a chance we see them take the stage together again. Until that day comes, I'll be listening to their music as often or more often than I already did, cherishing the work they put together. And if they don't, I'll listen anyway, knowing that while the ending was imperfect, their career was among the most prolific and important that the scene has ever witnessed.
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