Imagine this: you have been a fan of a band for over 20 years, and they have finally put on an anniversary tour for one of your favorite albums of all time. When you hear that Switchfoot was coming to your city for The Beautiful Letdown 20th Anniversary Tour, you immediately bought tickets for yourself and your family, planned what you were going to wear and what merch you would buy at the show. Since the day the tour was announced, its all that you and your family can talk about. That is what Friday night in Houston felt like. It felt like a community was coming together for one common goal: to sing their favorite Switchfoot songs.
The Heights Theater was packed with old fans, new fans, and very, very young fans. It was a beautiful night that the families and fans who were in the audience are going to talk about for the rest of their lives. The Beautiful Letdown 20th Anniversary Tour was one for the books, and we will never forget the most incredible, beautiful night that we have had in a long time.
Arlie Opens The Show
Arlie, or Charlie without the CH, opened up for Switchfoot and we were stoked when we saw they were playing the Houston show. We’ve gotten to see Arlie live a few times and we are never disappointed by their set. Nathaniel Banks is the lead singer of Arlie and is an incredible musician, who we are constantly in awe of… Not only are the songs catchy and gets the crowd hyped up, but he plays a variety of instruments, including the saxophone. And the rest of Arlie are always high energy and insane musicians as well. We loved getting to see them on stage doing what they love!
We will be waiting patiently, or not so patiently, for an Arlie and Switchfoot collab… Nathaniel did come out on stage during Switchfoot’s set to play saxophone, so it’s not too far-fetched, right?!
Switchfoot Takes The Stage!
Switchfoot is one of those bands that is incredibly grateful for the community that has been built around them. Throughout the entire show, Jon, the lead singer of Switchfoot, kept talking about how grateful he was for the experiences they’ve had since the very beginning of the band.
He mentioned a time towards the beginning of when Switchfoot formed, where they had gotten signed to a major record label and flew out to New York from California to meet with label execs. When they got there, they essentially got dropped, but this didn’t stop them. They went on to book three rental cars for the band and all of their gear, and they went on a national tour across the United States. That was essentially the first step in Switchfoot history and where they began building their incredible community of fans.
Friday night was a beautiful culmination of nostalgia and getting to experience Switchfoot as they are in 2023. Along with the joy of being in the room and feeling the energy between Switchfoot and the crowd, Jon really meant what he said when he said he loves the fans.
Jon was constantly going into the crowd to sing with the fans. And instead of pushing or shoving, there was just pure joy and excitement that one of the members of their favorite band was in the crowd with them singing.
Towards the end of the show, the crowd at the bottom of the theater lifted Jon up to the balcony where he then spent the majority of the next song walking around, high-fiving and singing with the fans on the top level of The Heights Theater.
This is where Jon was able to find his new favorite fan, a little girl named Ivy, who is six years old, and her favorite song is ‘The Beautiful Letdown.’ Now, unfortunately, they had already played that song, but we know that Ivy is going to remember this moment along with her father, Cody, who is a longtime fan of the band. Fun fact: ‘Always’ was the first song that Cody played for Ivy as a newborn. Our hearts absolutely melted when we heard that. 🥹
This is what we love about Switchfoot. It’s not just the music, but there is an entire community. There is a genuine love between the band and the fans, and that is what we are all about here at The Honey POP. We are about the fans, and Switchfoot embodies that movement of being grateful for your fans, of listening to your fans, of being joyful and the exchange of positive energy between band and fan.
Relive our experience and check out our gallery from the show below!
Now, Jon did say we were the best audience and that this was his favorite show so far on The Beautiful Letdown Tour. If this article got you at all excited about experiencing an incredible live show and you think you can be louder than Houston, we hope you will go and purchase tickets to one of the shows nearest you.
Have you been to The Beautiful Letdown 20th Anniversary Tour? If you haven’t, make sure to get your tickets here. You will not regret it!
What’s your favorite song from each of these artists? Let us know in the comments below or chat with us on Twitter, Instagram, and Discord.
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