Hawthorne Heights has spent 2026 touring the world in celebration of the 20th anniversary of their second full-length studio album, If Only You Were Lonely. The latter half of October brought the second U.S. leg of the band’s Lonely World Tour, which made its way to Baltimore’s Soundstage on October 29. Taking a page from other 2000s-era artists embracing nostalgic anniversary tours in recent years, the band opened the night by playing the album in its entirety before branching out for an encore featuring fan favorites spanning the rest of their discography. With support from Creeper and Letlive, the evening made for a well-rounded and energetic rock show.
The night began with England-based goth rock band Creeper. The venue was slow to fill on a Thursday night, just two days before Halloween, and by the time the band took the stage, the crowd was still relatively modest. That didn’t stop frontman Will Gould from delivering a commanding performance. While the entire band brought an engaging presence to the stage, Gould and co-lead vocalist Hannah Greenwood, who also plays keyboards and guitar, were particularly captivating as they moved across the stage and interacted with the audience.
The audience really came alive when Letlive took the stage. It would have been difficult not to during such a kinetic performance. Frontman Jason Aalon Butler barely seemed to pause for breath throughout the set, commanding not only the stage but the entire room as he stood on the bar, made his way through the crowd, and leaped from barricades and stacked monitors. In fact, some of his most still moments came when he paused to advocate for the safety of women, the voices of marginalized communities, and the medical rights and well-being of American citizens. It was a performance that balanced unbridled chaos with moments of genuine purpose.
By the time Hawthorne Heights took the stage, the audience was more than ready for the headliners. Emotions were running high from the moment the band appeared, and while the band itself may not have been quite as physically animated as the opening acts, the energy in the room never once faltered. Crowd surfing and moshing continued throughout the set, mostly all in good fun and without incident. At one point, something happened in the crowd that prompted security to briefly stop the show. I wasn’t tall enough or positioned well enough to see exactly what had happened, but the situation was quickly resolved. After checking in with the audience, the band restarted the song from the beginning and carried on.
As you’d expect from an anniversary tour, the evening was steeped in nostalgia and sentiment. At one point, frontman JT Woodruff addressed the crowd, reflecting on the weeks of touring that led up to his wedding and the fact that, 15 years later, he’s still married to the same woman. Along the way, he also joked about still being with his “mistress” of all these years: bassist Matt Ridenour. It was a lighthearted moment that spoke to the longevity of the band’s relationships, both on and off the stage. Later in the set, the band played a recorded montage in memory of late guitarist and screamer Casey Calvert, bringing a more poignant moment to an otherwise celebratory evening.
Twenty years is a long time in music, and anniversaries like this are a reminder of just how much a record can mean to the people who grew up with it. For some, If Only You Were Lonely is tied to a particular time in their lives; for others, it’s a record they’ve continued to carry with them over the years. Seeing it performed in full, surrounded by a room of people who still know every word, made for something more meaningful than simply revisiting an old album. Between the high-energy performances from the supporting acts, the familiar singalongs, and the moments of humor and remembrance, Hawthorne Heights delivered an evening that celebrated not just 20 years of If Only You Were Lonely, but the lasting connection between a band and the fans who have stuck with them along the way.
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