Hawthorne Heights bassist Matt Ridenour and the band's tour manager, Ben Mench-Thurlow join Audacy host Dallas today to discuss the ongoing Emo Orchestra tour featuring the group performing Emo favorites of their own and other fellow artists of the genre backed by a full orchestra.

Created by Ben Mench-Thurlow, the tour’s inaugural run is now underway with special guests Hawthorne Heights performing their own hits and tons of emo faves, all accompanied by full orchestra arrangements, with the goal of creating "an inclusive experience that appeals to a wide audience of music fans... an opportunity for early fans of the emo genre to share the music that we all loved with the next generation." Grab your tickets HERE.

Although he had no doubt in the band's abilities to pull off such an epic setlist of songs, "The moment we started, first day I was like, 'OK, I think we're going to be fine," says Matt. "About four days later I remember calling Ben and going, 'We're gonna be fine.' Then the next day after that I was like, 'Alright, we're gonna be good.' It took a few days to be like, 'OK, I know we're gonna do this.'

"You never really know until you sit in the room," Matt adds. "To this day, we've done it three days now, we have never done a cover song on stage, ever. And now we're doing a lot of them every night. It definitely uses a different part of the brain, for sure."

One of the more challenging songs to tackle, Matt admits, includes Taking Back Sunday's "MakeDamnSure," because of the dual lead vocals rather than simply harmonizing, "so figuring out our place in that was challenging," he says. AFI's "Miss Murder" also proved "interesting" for the band because of the swing feel to the track. "At the end of the day, it was really stressful, but now I'm like, 'OK I feel like we're learning something here by diving deeper into these songs that we just kind of passive hear from an Emo night. When you learn them, you're like, 'I see why they did that...' It's been really cool."

As far as their own tracks go, Matt says they play four Hawthorne Heights songs in the setlist, each of which "play an integral role in the night's progression. "We start the set with 'Niki FM,' and the goal is to start the set with something comfortable. "Decembers," a fan-favorite is also included because they never get to play the acoustic track at Rock clubs. The band's biggest hit, "Ohio Is For Lovers," is in the set as well, naturally, and finally, they're debuting a new song, "The Storm." "Debuting a new song with an orchestra," Matt adds, "It doesn't get weirder than that."

Listen to Dallas' full chat with Matt and Ben above. Emo Orchestra tickets are on sale now. See the remaining list of dates below.

2023 Emo Orchestra Tour Dates:

10/12 – Washington, DC @ Warner Theatre
10/14 – Atlantic City, NJ @ Ovation Hall at Ocean Casino Resort
10/18 – Fort Pierce, FL @ Sunrise Theatre
10/20 – Akron, OH @ Goodyear Theater
10/21 – Waterloo, NY @ Del Lago Resort & Casino
10/22 – McKees Rocks, PA @ Roxian Theater
10/24 – Louisville, KY @ The Louisville Palace Theatre
10/25 – Indianapolis, IN @ Murat Theatre at Old National Centre
10/26 – Sheboygan, WI @ Stefanie H. Weill Center for the Performing Arts
10/27 – Waukegan, IL @ The Genesee Theatre
10/28 – Kalamazoo, MI @ James W. Miller Auditorium
10/30 – St. Paul, MN @ Fitzgerald Theater
11/2 – Davenport, IA @ The Capitol Theater
11/3 – Des Moines, IA @ Hoyt Sherman Place
11/5 – Omaha, NE @ The Astro Theater
11/9 – Palm Desert, CA @ McCallum Theatre
11/11 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater

Words by Joe Cingrana Interview by Dallas

Hawthorne Heights bassist Matt Ridenour and the band's tour manager, Ben Mench-Thurlow join Audacy host Dallas today to discuss the ongoing Emo Orchestra tour featuring the group performing Emo favorites of their own and other fellow artists of the genre backed by a full orchestra.
Created by Ben Mench-Thurlow, the tour’s inaugural run is now underway with special guests Hawthorne Heights performing their own hits and tons of emo faves, all accompanied by full orchestra arrangements, with the goal of creating "an inclusive experience that appeals to a wide audience of music fans... an opportunity for early fans of the emo genre to share the music that we all loved with the next generation." Grab your tickets HERE.
Although he had no doubt in the band's abilities to pull off such an epic setlist of songs, "The moment we started, first day I was like, 'OK, I think we're going to be fine," says Matt. "About four days later I remember calling Ben and going, 'We're gonna be fine.' Then the next day after that I was like, 'Alright, we're gonna be good.' It took a few days to be like, 'OK, I know we're gonna do this.'
"You never really know until you sit in the room," Matt adds. "To this day, we've done it three days now, we have never done a cover song on stage, ever. And now we're doing a lot of them every night. It definitely uses a different part of the brain, for sure."
One of the more challenging songs to tackle, Matt admits, includes Taking Back Sunday's "MakeDamnSure," because of the dual lead vocals rather than simply harmonizing, "so figuring out our place in that was challenging," he says. AFI's "Miss Murder" also proved "interesting" for the band because of the swing feel to the track. "At the end of the day, it was really stressful, but now I'm like, 'OK I feel like we're learning something here by diving deeper into these songs that we just kind of passive hear from an Emo night. When you learn them, you're like, 'I see why they did that...' It's been really cool."
As far as their own tracks go, Matt says they play four Hawthorne Heights songs in the setlist, each of which "play an integral role in the night's progression. "We start the set with 'Niki FM,' and the goal is to start the set with something comfortable. "Decembers," a fan-favorite is also included because they never get to play the acoustic track at Rock clubs. The band's biggest hit, "Ohio Is For Lovers," is in the set as well, naturally, and finally, they're debuting a new song, "The Storm." "Debuting a new song with an orchestra," Matt adds, "It doesn't get weirder than that."
Listen to Dallas' full chat with Matt and Ben above. Emo Orchestra tickets are on sale now. See the remaining list of dates below.
2023 Emo Orchestra Tour Dates:
10/12 – Washington, DC @ Warner Theatre 10/14 – Atlantic City, NJ @ Ovation Hall at Ocean Casino Resort 10/18 – Fort Pierce, FL @ Sunrise Theatre 10/20 – Akron, OH @ Goodyear Theater 10/21 – Waterloo, NY @ Del Lago Resort &amp; Casino 10/22 – McKees Rocks, PA @ Roxian Theater 10/24 – Louisville, KY @ The Louisville Palace Theatre 10/25 – Indianapolis, IN @ Murat Theatre at Old National Centre 10/26 – Sheboygan, WI @ Stefanie H. Weill Center for the Performing Arts 10/27 – Waukegan, IL @ The Genesee Theatre 10/28 – Kalamazoo, MI @ James W. Miller Auditorium 10/30 – St. Paul, MN @ Fitzgerald Theater 11/2 – Davenport, IA @ The Capitol Theater 11/3 – Des Moines, IA @ Hoyt Sherman Place 11/5 – Omaha, NE @ The Astro Theater 11/9 – Palm Desert, CA @ McCallum Theatre 11/11 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater
Words by Joe Cingrana Interview by Dallas

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