Over the years, Midtown have played what feels like a thousand shows in Worcester. But as they make their way back to the city as part of their latest reunion, they’re feeling a fresh sense of excitement for the opportunity to do it all over again.
Bringing their Resurrection tour to Worcester Palladium on Saturday (December 10), the memories of playing intimate shows upstairs and watching bands like Fenix TX scrap with fans in the pit after being spit on are still vividly embedded in the mind of guitarist Heath Saraceno. Even after being able to level to the downstairs room, as they will revisit this weekend with fellow emo stalwarts The Movielife, the nostalgia and longing for the general vibe abounds.
But in terms of the tour as a whole, the band isn’t even looking at it as a lucrative return, but rather just a new chance to rekindle a long-standing friendship that has seen its share of radio silence in the past.
“We’ve just been looking at this as a way to get together and hang out again, and it has the great side effect of being able to play music and see other people that we haven’t gotten to see in a long time who think we were important in some way to them,” Saraceno tells Vanyaland. “It’s a lot of fun for us, but the benefit is seeing how people are really into it.”
This latest trek isn’t their first reunion rodeo, having planned a similarly short re-up in 2014, but this time around, the nostalgic itch is a bit more resilient. Additionally, to top it off, a majority of the band members have their own next generations that they want to share the experience with, even if they aren’t exactly seeing their dads as “cool” while they watch them sing to the emo kid in all of us.
“My kids are not interested, to be honest, but I’m making them go to the show because I want them to see this part of me that was such a big part of my life when I was younger,” says Saraceno. “I did that for my whole twenties where I played in bands and toured the world, and that was a huge part of who I am as a person, so I want them to see it. Even if they don’t think it’s cool, I just want to share it with them.”
Saraceno admits that even though he hadn’t really listened to any of the songs until it came time to shake off the rust and rehearse, the ability to play in front of fans again is a major payoff, and hearing them sing those back to the band is stronger than any form of nostalgia.
And while the 20th anniversary of their sophomore album Living Well Is The Best Revenge was an underlying storyline this year, Saraceno and the rest of the band haven’t fully figured where the next chapter of their career will find them. Whether that means new music or a more steady touring schedule has yet to be seen or decided, but after recording a new song earlier this year (that they have to decide the final fate of) as well as hitting a few dates with fellow New Jersey emo powerhouse My Chemical Romance this past summer, they aren’t ruling anything out. But having been away from the studio for so long, they know just how much the process has changed, and they’re taking their time in making the right move, instead of trying to force it.
“I really think it’s a case of wondering if people really want to hear new music from us, or if they would even care, and then there’s the thought of what we would sound like,” says Saraceno. “We haven’t put anything out in nineteen years, so what does a band who took nineteen years off sound like when they’re now in their mid forties? Whatever we put out, we want it to be real, we want it to be special, and we want it to be something that if you put it on, you could tell it was a Midtown song, and finding that mix is difficult.”
There are a lot of elements at play for both the band in general and Saraceno on a personal level, but at the foundation of the opportunity, Saraceno is just trying to savor the moment — and maybe even recoup some lost possessions along the way.
“I distinctly remember how that building smells, and I just want to get back and smell it again,” says Sarceno. “I want to take in the full experience of being there again, from the bar across the street where I can get a Guinness and a soup, to walking down the hill and probably slipping on some ice as I try to get in the side door to get back into the venue. I want to not have to worry about where the fuck I’m going to park the van because we won’t have one this time. Also, if the person who runs the Holiday Inn three blocks away from The Palladium is reading this, I know you have the bracelet my wife left there 20 years ago and I want it back.”
MIDTOWN + THE MOVIELIFE :: Saturday, December 10 at Worcester Palladium, 261 Main St. in Worcester, MA :: 6:30 p.m., all ages $40 to $73 :: Advance tickets