Story of the Year • Silverstein • Origami Angel • Ally Nicholas • July 23, 2026 • The Complex
Reviewed and Photographed by Colton Kresser
If you’re emo, especially an elder emo like me, then you know who Silverstein and Story of the Year are. Many of us grew up watching the music videos for “Smile in Your Sleep” or “Until the Day I Die” on VH1 and MTV. We all heard those songs playing on the radio, and eventually we would put together enough cash to go to your local Graywhale and pick up their CD and blast it on the latest and pinnacle piece of technology, pause for dramatic effect, a CD player. Playing these CD’s on repeat and learning all the words so when you watched their set outside in the hot sun during the Vans Warped Tour, where you could happily damage your vocal cords, get heat stroke, and have a wicked sunburn.
It’s been about 20 years or so since those days (kill me), and to my amazement, Silverstein and Story of the Year are still out here doing the damn thing, and I’d confidently say they are on a rise in their career, playing larger shows and venues than I had ever seen them at in my youth. Thursday, July 23, they came through Salt Lake City on their current North America tour “Camp Screamo” and brought along with them new faces in the scene, Trio Ally Nicholas and Duo Origami Angel.
Ally Nicholas
Ally Nicholas opened the show shortly after doors and played a vibey 30-minute setlist that brought what I would describe as a softer Deftones with female vocals, heavy riffs, and great guitar tones. As a musician myself, I’ll take the best guess that I can, but it seemed that their gear was minimal and raw. Guitars plugged straight into amps and vocals with no effects going through Front of House was something that stood out to me, showing that they have talent that can shine through the modern music scene of heavy effects and digital amplifiers.
All Nicholas has an EP and a few singles that are out currently, while sharing with the crowd that they are working on new music that should be out soon while playing one of their new tracks for the SLC crowd. As someone who was hearing them for the first time, I thoroughly enjoyed their set and their talent and will most likely be putting them into rotation on the current playlists.
Origami Angel
Origami Angel quite literally burst onto the stage and cranked the heat up to 11. Two regular-looking guys are up there on-stage doing sound check, nothing noteworthy or mentionable, and then BOOM! An open guitar strum and drums going off into “WHAT’S UP SALT LAKE CITY!” No cool intro song or walk-out, just straight into the music. And when I say they turned up the heat, I meant literally. For whatever reason, this was easily one of the hottest shows I have ever attended at The Complex.
A packed room with minimal, most likely zero, A/C and one large fan on the ceiling to keep this room cool? Not happening. By the time I had finished shooting their first three songs, it looked like me and everyone else had just been caught in a rainstorm. Another major factor was that Origami Angel played their set with incredibly high energy that bled into the crowd.
Vocalist Ryland Heagy has an incredible range and powerful vocals that carried their way through the whole venue and utilized his vocal power to sing catchy choruses and toss in some screams and extreme vocals throughout their songs, all while playing complex and technically challenging guitar riffs and solos. Although I thoroughly enjoyed their set, I’d have to say the most memorable part for me was when I was shooting from the crowd and looked to my left to see a young Gen-Z boy standing there, recording Origami Angel’s set on video, with a Nintendo DS… Do they even make those anymore?
Silverstein
The lights went dark as large screens that filled the stage lit up and displayed the classic THX sound system logo but modified to say “Silverstein Digitally Mastered” while that familiar sound we all know played. Silverstein wasted no time jumping right into their first song, “Negative Space”. The song led with a fast, heavy riff and screams to layer over top. Immediately the crowd went off, mosh pits, circle pits, jumping, pushing, screaming. The room was absolute chaos and quite literally didn’t stop until their set was over. After their two opening tracks, they moved into their third song, “Smashed into Pieces”. When the intro guitar riff began, something happened to the crowd that I really can’t explain.
The energy that circulated the room was honestly something I haven’t felt in a very long time. I was filled with memories of the first time I saw Silverstein; my ticket was $12, and the show was at Club Sound, on that tiny stage, that giant steel pole in the middle of the venue that you’d easily get slammed into if you weren’t careful, and a max capacity of 180 people or so.
Silverstein played two more throwbacks: “Your Sword Versus My Dagger,” to which I sang my heart out; next was “I Am the Arsonist,” which I would argue is one of their heaviest tracks and started a mosh pit that I thought would be the biggest of the night. Deeper into their set, Vocalist Shane Told played a game of “Simon Says” or rather, as he called it, “Silverstein Says,” getting the crowd to raise and lower their hands, stand on one foot and switch to the other, to eventually “Silverstein says ‘start the biggest circle pit you’ve ever seen!’”. This pit took up most of the floor and stayed for the remainder of the set.
This isn’t my first time seeing Silverstein, and it won’t be my last. I’ve seen them many times over the years, and what impresses me is the energy they gave when I saw them 15 years ago; they still gave it. Every member of that band headbangs, jumps, screams, tosses their instruments around, and doesn’t stop for the duration of their 40-minute or so set time. You can take Silverstein out of 2003, but you can’t take 2003 out of Silverstein. I highly recommend anyone who hasn’t seen them attend their next date in Utah. You will not regret it.
Story of the Year
Final act and closing out the night were Story of the Year. Honestly, I only knew two of their songs, “Until the Day I Die” and “Anthem of our Dying Day,” which I downloaded from very sketchy websites on the family computer and then burned onto many mixtapes. Despite not knowing their full catalog, I had a great experience, and as I mentioned, was impressed with a band that has been touring for 25 years still having the energy and excitement on stage.
The room was loud and full of nostalgia. These songs cut deep to them and fill them with so much joy and passion. Seeing their faces as they sang along, I could tell they felt deeply connected to the words. Between songs, bass player Adam Russell took a moment to tell everyone that Story of the Year has loved coming to Salt Lake City since “day one!” He went on to share that throughout the 25-year career they have had thus far, it’s had many ups and downs, twists and turns.
He shared how grateful they are to still be doing this for a living and how cool it is to hear their songs being played on the radio again. He reminisced on putting music out back in the day when it could only be bought on CD, you couldn’t stream music or really pirate it yet, and reflected on “Until the Day I Die” being a number one song.
Moving into their next song titled “2005”, an acoustic song about the history of their band and how far they’ve come over the years, a compilation video played on the screens consisting of old footage from the early days. Concerts, festivals, album recordings, green room and studio shenanigans. Seeing the way they were dressed back in the early 00’s really took me back. Seeing old brands and styles like Ecko Jeans, Volcom and Famous T-shirts, Etnies shoes, wallet chains and spiked hair with frosted tips.
The wave of nostalgia came over me again, reminding me of how that time has come and passed and is full of so many good memories that I should look back on more often. I saw a lot of young kids that night wearing the same clothes I used to wear, the same haircuts, and listening to the same music I grew up on. I think they call that a “full circle moment?” haha!
To further bury me and the crowd into that nostalgic feeling they played a brief medley of “Blind” by Korn, to which naturally the crowd shook the whole building while screaming “ARE YOU READY?!” before that monster of a riff kicks in, then switching it up to some Deftones, Blink-182’s “All the Small Things” to which they effortlessly transitioned to the last song of the night, “Until the Day I Die”. It’s safe to say the beginning riff is baked into our DNA at this point; it activates something in you that bonds you to the person standing next to you, where you all become one and sing the first line of that song together.
All this to say: it was one hell of a night, and if you missed out, better not next time.