Where Are Your Boys Tonight?

The Oral History of Emo's Mainstream Explosion 1999-2008

De: Chris Payne

Narrado por: Graham Halstead, Chris Abell

An explosive oral history of emo’s takeover from 1999 to 2008, featuring

MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE, FALL OUT BOY, PARAMORE, PANIC! AT THE DISCO, TAKING BACK SUNDAY, JIMMY EAT WORLD, DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL, AND MANY MORE

If Meet Me in the Bathroom traced New York City's early 2000’s rock scene, Where Are Your Boys Tonight? gives the inside story of the turn-of-the-millennium emo subculture that became bigger than anyone thought possible. There was Pete Wentz, the Fall Out Boy leader who launched a litany of scene-stealing bands and preposterous side-hustles, and Gerard Way, the wizard behind My Chemical Romance and The Black Parade. Panic! At the Disco and Paramore emerged soon after—a pair of intrepid outsiders who got massive playing by their own rules. As they ascended, MySpace took over the internet and the age of influencers dawned, with emo its choice aesthetic.

Music journalist Chris Payne experienced emo's mainstream takeover from sweaty crowds and mosh pits growing up in New Jersey. In Where Are Your Boys Tonight? he offers an authoritative, impassioned, and occasionally absurd account told through interviews with more than 150 people, from the scene's biggest bands, producers, and managers to the teenage fans who helped redefine American music culture.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2022 Chris Payne (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers

A walk down memory lane

What a great look into my teenage years 😅. I went to a lot of the shows they talk about, it was basically 3 days of reminiscing.

Tip: if you didn’t live the xXxRAWRxXx life, definitely download the cast of characters.

A great new Millennium emo oral history!

Author Chris Payne got everyone one on the record for this amazingly oral history of emo spanning aughts and 2000 teens.

The history of my heart

I loved this book. This was my music growing up and I felt like I was reliving my history as I listened. I learned a lot about the scene that I missed because I was too young at the time, but emo music will be my heart forever.

Vindicated

It was amazing hearing the history of my absolute favorite bands growing up, as a west coast kid, not knowing the beginnings of MCR, Paramore or Bayside, I heard them on MySpace like most other kids in 2003-2005, but hearing the heart behind some of the best records I’ve ever heard, gives these bands such a more human element and makes me appreciate them so much more than I did when I first heard them. Plus going back and listening to the records was a nostalgia fest. 10/10 for sure.

The Rise, Fall, and Reconsideration

Overall a fun love letter to a complicated music scene. This book manages to address the more controversial elements with delicacy without being conflict-averse.

I WANT MORE!

Overall I really loved it and the cast of characters. I just wish it was longer!

Thnks Fr Th Mmrs

I’ll be honest, I started the audiobook to hear from FOB because I still follow and love them to this day, but stayed for everyone else. This book provided me more insight into the genre and scene that captivated me back in the 2000s. I loved hearing first hand accounts from everyone who was a part of it not just the bands but the journalist, producers etc. it’s well put together in terms of the focus of each chapter and part of the book, and the author did a great job of putting together a cohesive narrative out of the interviews he accumulated. Highly recommend if you’re a fan of the genre or just music history in general.

A lot of heavy hitters

I can’t stand a few of the bands covered here. Figures they got the most coverage. My favorites only had a few lines, they were the biggest part of the scene coming to the masses, but got shafted here too.

-Overall, great information from interviews.-

I’m not a fan of the writing style, back-and-forth from person to person to persons to another band to the first person… it made it difficult to follow without punching stuff out of aggravation.

A Must Read for Elder Emos

As a lonely middle schooler living in Southeast Louisiana in the aftermath of Katrina in 2005, I could not have been better primed to love the emo music of the mid ‘aughts. Because the genre is so dear to me on an emotional level, I’ve made a habit to steer clear of most music journalism about the genre. Payne accurately relays the way music journalists of the era (looking at you, Pitchfork) panned the genre, and I’m just not interested in hearing the music I loved growing up picked apart (just as I’m sure none of the pitchfork writers from back then want to hear Radiohead torn apart.)
If you share this fear of reading music journalism about emo music, I can assure you Payne brings none of that attitude to this writing. He celebrates the genre’s successes and ground breaking moments, while not shying away from some of its darker sides. He was able to gather countless hours of interviews with musicians from the scene, weaving their stories together seamlessly (and occasionally presenting different accounts of similar events.) It is so refreshing to read accounts of emo music as an important genre in the history of rock music, rather than just “a fad among teenage girls.” But speaking of teenage girls, Payne also does an excellent job interrogating what spoke to so many young women about the genre (and what very much did not. He is able to look back at emo’s highs and lows with the benefit of hindsight; and I think Payne’s book will become a foundational document in the history of emo.

Elder Emos Yearbook

This book was fantastic. Everything I hoped it would be and then some. It took me a second to get used to the audiobook bounce of the interviews but stick with it. Once you’re used to the format it’s an easy listen.