I was late to the party (or just in time depending on how you look at it) on all things Nate Ruess. Got into fun. because they were opening for Panic! on the Vices & Virtues tour. I had been listening to A&I ahead of the show, but ended up missing most of their set. I think I saw the last 2 songs or so (and C'Mon during Panic's set which was pretty cool). But I was so bummed that I missed them that I spent basically the entire summer listening to A&I, solidifying it as probably my favorite album ever. Got to see fun. I think 6 times after that and Nate solo twice. He did play a couple Format songs at those solo shows, but that's the closest I've gotten to seeing this band.
I'm so nostalgic for that time when fun. was getting more exposure and you could just feel the hype was about to explode. Saw them open for Jack's Mannequin in 2008, and a few more times. Got a ticket on stubhub for that Panic tour for $9 the night of the show. They were playing Carry On, and you could just tell it was going to be massive. The week Some Nights came out (I think it was the same week), they played a free show at a bar in Boston. Place was PACKED. Knew something like that wouldn't be happening again with the band, lol. I love fun. I love the Format. Give me all the tunes.
I saw Fun. in Billings, MT in a 500-cap room that they clearly had booked before We Are Young took off. I saw The Format last Tuesday.
I was originally going to comment on the post in a way that would have 100% been taken seriously by anyone that doesn't know me and decided I didn't need that today.
I remember Hellogoodbye saying on one of their MySpace blog posts back in the day how they couldn’t stop listening to “Dog Problems” and what an incredible album it is. All I knew of them was “The Compromise” because they played it on MTVu, but didn’t dig deeper until they already broke up. Glad we can finally experience them together!
I think my only time seeing The Format was opening for Yellowcard/Something Corporate in 2004-2005 in Cleveland. Zia Records put up an AZ indie exclusive variant.
So was this new album the original plan back in 2020 when they planned the reunion shows that got scrapped?
I haven't seen an interview yet that has discussed the new music, but I would guess in 2020 or 2022 they didn't have an album ready to go
I saw The Format open for Guster back in March 2007 at a small college auditorium in Macon, Georgia and left after their set, before Guster. The band was leaning against my car in the parking lot smoking and I had the privilege of asking them to move so that we could get in my car and leave.
Yeah, I’m curious if Covid is the reason this happened, or if it just delayed it five years. Somewhat tangentially related, I remember the Matches, another band of that era, were planning reunion shows in 2020 and had new music in the pipeline, and we’ve heard nothing since.
I’m sure they are. But we didn’t know them at the time, and I think it felt like a statement that we were there because of The Format by leaving after their set, or something silly like that. And we told Nate and Sam that.