Dance Gavin Dance • The Home Team • Belmont • Dwellings • June 24, 2025 • The Union
Reviewed and Photographed by Sam Howard
This year has been a fantastic year for the emo and punk scene fans in Utah. Tours featuring bands like Mayday Parade to Pierce the Veil. We have been getting fed all the greats of emo and punk. To add to the course of fantastic emo and punk bands, Dance Gavin Dance brought their Return of the Robot Tour to The Union this week with a crazy lineup of bands.
Dwellings
With a four-band lineup for the night, Dwellings started us off with a very fun energy to their set. Based out of Sacramento, California, this pop punk band brought the groove to the show. Having a very funky rhythmic sound and tight melodies really got the crowd dancing. Throughout their very short set, they would often open their original songs with snippets of covers from various bands. At one point, they even covered Clint Eastwood by Gorillaz. I think the mix of having a little snippet of a cover song before playing their originals really grasped the audience’s attention. It gave them something to sing along to.
As they only had a six-song set list, the Dwellings’ set was nearing the end. It felt as though they had just gotten on stage by the time they played their final song, though it was a short amount of time, they really made it count to leave their footprint on the night. Dwellings played a very fun show, and the audience responded with high praise as they ended their set. It would be great to see them headline their own tour back here in Utah at venues such as Soundwell or even Kilby Court.
Belmont
Second up on the list of bands was Belmont, a band based out of Chicago, Illinois. Belmont came out packing a punch with their aggressive sounds and vocals. Having a very high-energy and fast-paced show, Belmont really got the crowd moshing and pushing. Having a before and after look at the crowd, it was like the crowd was packed in together like canned fish after they started playing their set. Instantly, the vibe in The Union became rowdy and exciting. Belmont got a perfect taste of how Utah crowds are at shows.
Having a very aggressively hardcore sound, Belmont was blowing the roof off of The Union. With some crazy guitar melodies and rhythms that were impossible not to mosh to. They were the perfect opener for a band like Dance Gavin Dance. As the opening band’s job is to warm the crowd up, Belmont had the crowd hot and ready for the next one. It was clear that this is what the crowd came to The Union to see. Belmont would be the perfect headliner to see at venues such as Soundwell or even the Complex.
The Home Team
Now that it was the halfway point of the night, the crowd was buzzing. It was now time for The Home Team to take the stage, and from the consensus of the crowd’s reaction to them coming out to the stage, this was a highly anticipated set. This pop punk band based out of Seattle, WA, played with a very bouncy and groovy sound. It got the crowd jumping and dancing once again with a different pace from Belmont’s vibe right before them. The vibe here was still very high energy. The stage presence of the singer, Brian Butcher, was so demanding, it felt like the whole show was The Home Team’s.
The interaction with the crowd was great as well. As The Home Team has played in Utah many times before, with this being my second time seeing them play, they expressed just how much they love to play here. “Salt Lake is always one of my favorite places to play,” said Butcher. They even shouted out our very own Kilby Court, where they first played in Utah. It was a nice sentiment for our great music scene.
The Home Team had a fantastic set, with it being the longest set of the night so far. With the demanding stage presence and high-energy sounds that get the crowd bouncing and dancing, I would love to see The Home Team headline venues such as The Complex or even The Depot here in Utah. They could easily sell out a tour here with the die-hard Utah fans that they have.
Dance Gavin Dance
Last up of the night was our headliner, Dance Gavin Dance. Bringing their Return of the Robot Tour to Utah, this band based out of Sacramento, California really brought the heat. This tour was also used to debut their new singer, Andrew Wells, based out of our very own Payson, Utah. Wells’ sound mixed really well with the rest of the band, and as Dance Gavin Dance has a new album coming out later this year, this tour was the perfect way to show off that even though they have a new singer, they are still just as good, if not better than they were before.
The Return of the Robot Tour was the ultimate test for audiences, as Dance Gavin played a lot of deep cuts for the OG fans. With only 5 more shows left from the Utah date, it seemed that Dance Gavin Dance was a well-oiled machine, even though the singer explained that he blew his vocal cords prior to the Utah show. The Utah crowd really made up for it, though. Between singing every lyric back to the stage, to having the most crowd surfers I have ever seen since seeing them perform at Warped Tour back in the day, this was such a crazy show to attend.
Wrapping up the night, the singer came out to the crowd to sing the final song before the encore, which encouraged even more crowd surfing. The night was a perfect mix of dancing and moshing, and surfing, and left the crowd wanting more once they ended their show. With the new album, Pantheon, coming out later this year, I don’t doubt that Dance Gavin Dance will return in full force, and Utah will show up to mosh, crowd surf, and dance to their heavy-hitting sounds on stage once again.
