On the first weekend of December, Philadelphia natives Grayscale celebrated a major milestone: their first 10 years as a band. From December 4th to the 6th, the pop-punk band performed three shows in a row with a different setlist each night, with each night dedicated to different albums in the band’s career. On December 6th, the band performed at Philadelphia's historic Theater of Living Arts for the second night in a row, focusing on tracks from their albums The Hart and Adornment, as well as other hits and deep cuts. At the nearly sold-out venue, Grayscale ended their hometown anniversary run with a bang, as the energy within the room never wavered for a second throughout the night.
Opening for Grayscale that night was indie rock band Never Ending Fall. With catchy choruses, groovy basslines, and upbeat melodies, the crowd immediately became captivated by the band’s performance, dancing and jumping along to the music. The band’s enthusiasm for performing as well as their clear friendship with each other made the set even more immersive. To make an even further impression on the audience, the band also interacted with the crowd throughout the set. During the third song, frontman Jack Miller went up to the barricade as he got the crowd to sing along, and towards the end of the set, Jack and guitarist Conrad Boyd jumped into the pit as they started a wall of death. The band also had a fun surprise guest, as halfway through the set, they introduced renowned saxophone player Saxl Rose to perform with them for a song. The set ended with the band telling the crowd that that night was bassist Johnny Hohman’s birthday, which led to everyone in the room singing “Happy Birthday” to him. Even if they were hearing of Never Ending Fall for the first time that night, many people in the audience certainly became new fans.
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At 9:40pm, the lights dimmed as the venue boomed with cheers, anticipating the headlining act. A giant shamrock-shaped light lit up on the stage, and soon enough, Grayscale walked in as the crowd continued cheering. They opened with their hit “Kept Me Alive” from their latest album The Hart, a high-energy pop-rock track that instantly got the fans moving. As soon as the song began, a constant wave of crowdsurfers surged through the room, which continued almost nonstop for the entire first three songs. With frontman Collin Walsh’s dynamic vocals, electrifying riffs from guitarists Dallas Molster and Andrew Kyne, and vibrant drum lines from drummer Nick Veno, Grayscale creates an immersive soundscape that encourages anyone to get off their feet and become lost in the music. Not a single fan in the venue was standing still; everyone was moshing, crowdsurfing, or jumping along.
The beginning of their set was focused on The Hart as they performed more tracks from the album such as “Through the Landslide” and “Let Go”. They switched gears and began performing fan-favorites from older albums like their 2017 album Adornment, including the deep cut “Echoes (Carry On)”, which marked their first performance of the song in five years. Grayscale slowed things down with the acoustic track “Forever Yours”, and even though the moshing and crowdsurfing paused for the moment, the fans were still very much active as they sang along to every lyric. The band also took a moment to mention how grateful they are to be celebrating their 10 year anniversary, and that 2025 was the biggest year for the band yet with many major milestones, such as embarking on their first UK/EU headlining tour and their first Australian tour. The band continued with the slower tracks, like the emotional “Mum II” and “Don’t Leave Me in the Dark”, until they kicked things back up with the fun pop-punk song “Summer Clothes”.
Grayscale continued performing more fan-favorites from The Hart and Adornment, and the fans remained active as constant moshing and crowdsurfing continued; sometimes, two or even three people would be crowdsurfing at once. Collin even made sure to give a shout out to security for keeping the surfers safe all night, especially since there were so many. The band ended the initial set with “Atlantic” from Adornment, and then briefly left the stage. As the fans chanted for an encore, Grayscale hit the stage once again and introduced their “last song of 2025”: the empowering anthem “Not Afraid to Die”. But the band had an exciting surprise for all the Philadelphians in the room: they introduced Dan Campbell, singer of fellow Philadelphia-native band The Wonder Years, to perform with them! After Dan walked on stage, the venue exploded with energy as nearly everyone got off their feet and moshed and crowdsurfed until the last note, creating a powerful conclusion to Grayscale’s 3-night anniversary run. After such a memorable show, Grayscale fans are awaiting what the next 10 years has in store for the band.
