The Starting Line announce “Music + Stories” reunion tour kicking off in Boston
The starting line is in Boston, both literally and figuratively. Or at least it will be this June when Philadelphia-bred rock band The Starting Line kick off their recently announced “EST: 1999 Music + Stories” tour right here in Boston at Royale. The tour comes in celebration of the groups’ 20th anniversary. The full run will feature full live shows with sets spanning the band’s entire catalog, along with storytelling detailing the band’s history and narratives behind the songs. The group will visit markets such as Los Angeles, CA on July 20, Cleveland, OH on September 13, Denver, CO on November 15, Dallas, TX on November 16 and more.
The Starting Line’s 2002 debut album, Say It Like You Mean It, earned the group a #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart, sold over 300,000 copies on the indie label Drive-Thru, and spawned a surprise hit with “The Best Of Me,” a pop-punk anthem that was embraced by MTV. The band followed that up with a solid year on the road, and after making a name for themselves and building their impressive fanbase through relentless touring, the group collectively decided to make the jump to major label Geffen Records for their next full-length, Based On A True Story, which was released May 10, 2005.
All did not go according to plan; despite a strong debut at #18 on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart, headlining the Vans Warped Tour that summer and going on to perform the biggest headlining shows of their career, the label de-prioritized the album and withheld support, choosing to not service their anthemic first single, “Bedroom Talk,” to commercial radio. At what should have been the pinnacle of their career, the band begged Geffen to be released from their contract and signed to Virgin after then-president Jason Flom caught one of their live shows and was stunned at the sight of 10,000 kids singing along with the band.
The Starting Line will be making the following U.S. appearances throughout 2019.
JUNE
29 – Boston, MA – Royale
30 – Atlantic City, NJ – Warped Tour
JULY
20 – Los Angeles, CA – The Fonda Theater
21 – Mountain View, CA – Warped Tour
SEPTEMBER
13 – Cleveland, OH – Agora Theater
NOVEMBER
15 – Denver, CO – Summit
16 – Dallas, TX – Canton Hall
DECEMBER
21 – Philadelphia, PA – Franklin Music Hall
22 – New York, NY – Webster Hall
Featured Image by Matt Lambert
