The Format played Roadrunner – 3/25

The ‘oos indie-pop project of Nate Ruess and Sam Means brought their reunion tour to Boston with support from Piebald and Adult Mom.

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Admittedly I was never a Format guy back in the day. My introduction to singer Nate Ruess was (like many people) via his and Jack Antonoff’s briefly inescapable band fun, who I saw perform at the first night of the inaugural Boston Calling back in 2013 on a miserably rainy and cold Saturday night. I left immediately after my three songs. This was not really Nate Ruess’ fault.

fun and The Format are different animals, and while the former’s shout-to-the-rafters mass appeal never really landed for me, I found myself pleasantly surprised to eventually learn that the latter aligned with the sort of wordy indie-pop that’s always been up my alley.

Fast forwarding 13 years from the Boston Calling set, Antonoff is more inescapable now than ever, while Ruess has just emerged from a lengthy stretch of avoiding the spotlight entirely (though not entirely by choice). The Format had a comeback planned for early 2020, which never panned out for obvious reasons, but six years later they’ve finally had it all come together, back on the road with a new record under their belt.

At Roadrunner, core members Ruess and multi-instrumentalist bandmate Sam Means expanded to a five-piece for a lively set met with the fervent enthusiasm of a singalong-ready crowd. They covered plenty of favorites from the band’s initial pair of LPs and a handful from January’s Boycott Heaven, plus an R.E.M. cover that sort of brought my whole month full-circle. Fun set!

Opening up the night was a solo acoustic set from Adult Mom’s Stevie Knipe, followed by Massachusetts’ own Piebald. The local emo-power-pop institution were early champions of The Format and brought them on the road way back when, allowing them to return the favor all these years later. Their set was, as always, a hair-whipping, high-kicking good time.

Check out a gallery from the whole evening below.