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.

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 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.

Awesome

I grew up in the Midwest deep in scene culture. Getting dropped off at random VFW Posts by my parents and saw most of the bands in this book. This was amazing.

The Emo Bible

As an elder emo who befriended many of those interviewed in this in the early days and attended many of the events and shows mentioned—I still finished this book learning SO much I never knew.

For those “scene-ior” citizens like me this will be a bittersweet walk down memory lane that will trigger tons of nostalgia you had buried deep beneath all the lyrics you still know by heart.

For those who are newer or younger fans of the bands that exploded from this scene like My Chem, Fall Out Boy and Paramore, this will be a deep dive history lesson that explains why there’s such a cultural divide between the newer fans and the OG fans.

I appreciate that the author was able to vividly take readers back to the early 2000’s emo glory days while still viewing it from a modern lens by acknowledging some of the problematic aspects like misogyny and homophobia that ran deep in this scene—something that I often see music writers and fans conveniently brush over when talking about their musical heroes.

Performance: 7/10. The interview-style dialogue where people are named at the beginning of every quote is odd to follow along with at first but I got used to it and wasn’t as bothered by it as some of the other reviews here. The narrator for the interviews has a voice that sounds like the weird guy you always try to avoid at the bar. Idk how else to explain it. He also mispronounces some important names like “Helena” but that could just be me being pedantic.

Story: 10/10. The author does a great job of exploring the predecessors of the bands who would become household names without being gatekeepy, covers all the bases of the bands and albums you love, and even finally explains why Bert and Gerard ended their friendship and what really went on between Brand New and Taking Back Sunday. When I finished this book I felt the same way I did when Warped Tour ended—sad that it was over but honored to have experienced such a special and unique sliver of music history.