Even if you don’t know Movements by name, there’s a chance you’ve stumbled across the band somewhere on the internet. The artwork for its 2017 debut album, Feel Something, found a life of its own on Tumblr and Pinterest mood boards, circulating alongside lyrics from the album’s second single, “Daylily.” The tune, which starts with a gloomy melody, gradually builds toward an explosive chorus as lead singer Patrick Miranda sings, “I think it’s time you had a pink cloud summer / ’Cause you’ve gone too long without a smile.”
But the band’s reach has grown well beyond the online spaces that first introduced the project to many. Its 2020 studio album No Good Left to Give peaked in the top 10 of Billboard’s Alternative Albums chart.
It seems redundant to note that the music Movements makes is emotionally charged, considering that this is an emo/post-hardcore band. But even within that ecosystem, there’s a vulnerability at the heart of their work that makes them stand out. During the band’s October 18th performance at The Salt Shed, as the band members took their places and prepared to launch into the first song, a fan screamed at the top of his lungs, “Yeah! Make me sad and shit!” It’s not every day you hear someone cheer at the prospect of sorrow, but that’s part of the band’s appeal.
The tour focuses on Movements’ newest release, Happier Now. The album blends the band’s signature melancholic melodies with the more upbeat, punchy sound that came with its 2023 release, RUCKUS!. The lyrics, meanwhile, retain their confessional nature. Speaking to Rock Sound, Miranda explained that the title is meant to be tongue-in-cheek: “It was very intentional. Like, are we really happier now?”
The energy in a Movements crowd is unlike what I’ve experienced at most shows. When a band sings lyrics like “’Cause I’m alive, but I’m so fucking anxious, I could die / What a perfect illustration of my life’s design / And no amount of painting could ever hide,” you’re entering the territory of fans who listen to a song for more than its catchiness or sense of fun. Instead, fans return to these songs because they give tangible form to their own internal monologues and lived experiences.
The band seems to have a knack for lyrics that perfectly capture anxiety, heartbreak, angst, or the feeling of barely holding yourself together. For listeners, those songs can become attached to a particular period of their life. They remember the person they were thinking about when they first encountered the track or the circumstances that made the words feel true. Over time, the song becomes a container for those experiences.
In a live setting, that connection made it seem like every attendee was in their own little world. Some danced in the small spaces they carved out around themselves; others pushed their way back through the audience for another round of crowd-surfing, FaceTimed a friend to share the moment, or held onto their partner as they sang the lyrics at the top of their lungs. Despite being surrounded by thousands of people, the experience remained deeply personal.
Still, there were moments for collective energy as Miranda encouraged the crowd to let loose during the band’s more upbeat tracks. “Chicago, I’m loving the energy I’m seeing right about here,” he said, gesturing to the center of the general admission section, where fans had formed a mosh pit, jumping and aggressively finger-pointing during “Live by the Sword.” “But I need more from over here and back there and up there!” he added, urging everyone to jump as they launched into “Dissolve Me.”
The same energy resurfaced for older fan favorites like “Kept,” as Miranda asked the crowd to open a circle pit. “All right now, show me a circle pit, Chicago! Open it up and show me that motherfucker!” As the circle opened in the middle of the crowd and fans began running around, Miranda continued to hype up the crowd. “Spin it! Spin it! Spin it!” he yelled into the microphone. Miranda seemed just as captivated by the crowd as they were by the band, watching the chaos unfold before him with quiet satisfaction.
As the song ended, the energy lingered and a small group of fans at the barricade broke into a rhythmic bout of hooting: “Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh.” Miranda, visibly tickled by the chant, turned to the group and asked, “Is that just a you thing or is that a Chicago thing?” before joining in.
Over the years, Movements has kept a busy touring schedule, hitting the road alongside rock, pop-punk, and hardcore acts like Citizen, Knuckle Puck, Angel Du$t, and Knocked Loose. Reflecting on the band’s early years and the perspective it now brings when choosing its own supporting acts, Miranda said to the crowd, “When we started doing this, I was 19 years old, and there were shows that we would play that I wasn’t even allowed to be inside of because they were held at 21-plus venues.” He added that for so long he felt like they were the “young guys” who still had to prove themselves, only to find themselves in their 30s before they knew it.
He followed this with a warm shout-out to the tour’s openers, including Balance and Composure— a band Movements had previously opened for during its early days—and Midrift, a band with younger members, one of whom just graduated from high school. It was heartwarming not only to hear the humility in his speech but also to see how, as an established band, Movements takes the time to genuinely appreciate both those who paved the way for it as well as the new generation of up-and-coming bands.
The performance also featured an audio clip from Marilyn Monroe’s interview for Marie Claire from 1960: “I’m not just generally happy, if I’m generally anything, I guess I’m generally miserable,” a sentiment that fit perfectly with the irony behind the title of the album. Before the band launched into “Pulse,” a fan shouted, “I love you!”—yet another loud expression of emotion in one of the few quiet moments of the night. “Is it worth it? / Is it worth it anymore? / Are we searching for a pulse?” Miranda sang as dim purple lighting illuminated the stage, making the white “MOVEMENTS” lettering on their backdrop stand out.
For all the melancholy found in Movements’ music, the show was not an exercise in wallowing; instead, it was a place for fans to experience the music surrounded by people who also share the deep connection with the band’s work. Whether it’s shouting the lyrics back at Miranda, repeatedly launching themselves into the circle pit, or just having a quiet moment in the middle of the crowd, fans found countless ways to immerse themselves in the music. “We’re a band called Movements, we’re from Orange County, California,” Miranda said, closing the set with “Daylily.”
