All Time Low • Mayday Parade •The Cab• The Paradox • October 16, 2025 • The Union Event Center
Reviewed and Photographed by Sam Howard
The Fall season always brings some of the most exciting shows to the indoor venues in and around Salt Lake City. All Time Low brought a mixtape of pop/punk, emo, and alternative sounds with their “Everyone’s Talking!” tour. Touring to promote their new album under that same name, this was a highly anticipated show, as the Utah date would be the first show back after the band had to cancel the two previous dates in Denver and Seattle due to the lead singer having vocal issues. With a stacked lineup of supporting bands, this was about to be an unforgettable show.
The Paradox
Starting off the night with their high-energy pop-punk sounds from Atlanta, Georgia, The Paradox set the tone for the rest of the night. The Paradox is a brand-new band, having formed in 2024 with their debut EP, “NSFW,” released earlier this year. They bring a refreshing, yet familiar, pop-punk sound. With the energy and sound similar to Blink-182, The Paradox had such a fun set. Introducing each song with some crude humor and hilarious quips, it was so easy to get right into the feel of the music, which made it impossible not to jump and dance to the sounds coming from the stage.
The Paradox gave the night such a fast-paced and high-energy head start to the night. With their 6-song setlist, it felt like the music equivalent of drinking an energy drink. As they made their way through their final 3 songs, one of which they wrote with Travis Barker of blink-182, lead singer, Eric Dangerfield, would go on to talk about their love of Utah, stating, “I gotta come to Utah more often.”
As The Paradox’s set came to a close, it was clear that they need to return on a headlining tour. I would love to see them play at venues such as Kilby Court or Soundwell, as they could sell those venues out and make it such a fun night.
The Cab
Up next to the stage is Las Vegas-based pop-rock band, The Cab. With a bit of a tone shift from the first band, The Cab brought a very upbeat, feel-good vibe to the night. They definitely kept the energy up in the crowd. With the building packed all the way to the merch table in the back, The Cab had an amazing crowd. Their stage presence was an art in and of itself as well as they just created such an explosive sound on the stage.
Making their way through their 7-song setlist, the singer would go on to praise the Utah crowd. He would also go on to explain that he grew up in southern Utah, which was a fun, surprising fact from the band. With their set coming to an end, The Cab closed out with their song “Angel with a Shotgun.” The entire building sang these lyrics back to the band, and it felt like the perfect end to this opening act. I would love to see The Cab return with a headline tour for their newly released EP. They would be amazing live at the Depot, and I look forward to seeing them live again.
Mayday Parade
Next on the lineup is the band for all the emo souls in the audience, Mayday Parade. Coming off their own headlining tour celebrating 20 years as a band, in which they also played at The Union, Mayday Parade came out with a punch, playing songs from their newest album, “Sad.” Having a really good upbeat mix of songs from their discography on their 9-song setlist, the band had the crowd moshing and started off the waves of crowd surfing. This being my third round of seeing Mayday Parade perform live this year, I can honestly say that it doesn’t get old seeing them play live. Each time is a whole new Mayday Parade experience, and each setlist is different.
Mayday Parade is one of those bands that just know how to take over the entire show, as they have been in the emo scene for 20 years. They know how to voice and address the hardships going on in the world while making sure that the crowd can release their energy through the music on stage.
As they made their way through the rest of the set, there wasn’t a single song that the crowd did not know. It was hard to hear the band play over the loud audience, which has got to be the best feeling for a band on stage. Ending their set with their song “Jamie All Over” had the crowd going crazy with mosh pits and an absurd amount of crowd surfing. With the end of their set, it was clear that Mayday Parade will always be welcome here in Utah, and I cannot wait for the next tour.
All Time Low
Finally, it was time for our headliner to come out. Now this show was a sort of full-circle moment for me, as All Time Low was my very first concert, seeing them on their “Back to the Future Hearts” tour as a 15-year-old. Having seen them multiple times since that first show, All Time Low has always put on such a special performance. Coming back from their two-show health break after having to end their show early at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado, this Baltimore-based band would take the stage in Salt Lake, opening with a solo performance of their new album’s opening track “[cold open].” Setting the stage, lead singer Alex Gaskarth would bring the rest of the band out to start the show.
Starting off very strong with some new tracks, it would then lead into their song “Weightless,” a classic amongst the All Time Low fans. Throughout the night, the band would play a great mixture of cult classics to some of their newer stuff. No matter what song was being performed, the crowd was loud with the lyrics back, as requested by the lead singer, so that he could “take it easy” on his voice. Despite recovering from issues with his voice, Alex put on an insanely well-sounding performance, and All Time Low played like a well-oiled machine, with high energy coming from each member of the band.
Throughout the setlist, the band was really great at interacting with people in the crowd. They would point out how fans ranged from little kids on the shoulders of their parents, to young-adult fans, and all the way to some older day one fans. Despite the crude humor and loud instruments, the show was filled with a crowd of all ages. Making it through their 17-song setlist, All Time Low sounded just like they did the first time I heard them back in 2015. It was very nostalgic and such a party. Ending their set with their song “Monsters,” the crowd demanded an encore from the band.
Coming back out to the stage for their encore, All Time Low would go on to play their song “The Weather” off of their newest album, which at the time had not been released yet. In between this song and their finale, they would go on to interact with more people in the crowd. It was at this point that someone in the crowd pointed out that their album “Everyone’s Talking!” had just been released on all streaming platforms, to which the band celebrated on stage from this news.
From here, they played their song “Dear Maria, Count Me In,” and ended the night with a bang. The show was fantastic and left me wanting to go down an All Time Low rabbit hole on the drive home. With their new album officially out, hopefully All Time Low comes back soon so that we can scream the lyrics to the new songs as well.
