After over 20 years and against all odds; both The Spirit of Versailles and In Loving Memory played The Teragram Ballroom on February 8, 2026- These once obscure midwestern emo bands played to an audience that, ironically enough, consisted mostly of attendees that weren’t even born yet when both bands were active. All in attendance were witness to the live show birth of a cult resurgence.
With how popular Midwestern Emotional Hardcore (Emo) and Screamo/Skramz have become in online music circles in recent years, it’s almost unfathomable to imagine just how niche the genre was up until not too long ago. Especially in the late 1990’s and early 00’s, history about these smaller scenes within emotional hardcore were not very well documented, and many of these bands have been lost to time or may not even be aware of their newfound success amongst younger generations finding their music later on. The Spirit of Versailles and In Loving Memory are two late 90’s bands that could not fit this description more accurately, with very little footage even existing of either band performing in their short-term original runs.
Southern California promoter Your Renaissance specializes in the more emotional sides of the hardcore scene promoting emo, screamo, and alternative shows from the Inland Empire to Orange County and in Los Angeles; and there couldn’t have been a better promoter to host this incredibly rare and highly curated event, also booking local SoCal screamo kings Clay Birds and Love Letter for the uncommon occasion.
related: Habak Finds Beauty In The Horrors Of Humanity at The Roxy
While the more emotional sides of hardcore music may have fallen out of fashion with the mainstream explosion of the scene in recent years, there is a tight-knit screamo scene growing in more unexpected areas of Southern California; with The Haven in Pomona and Programme Skate & Sound in Fullerton instantly coming to mind. Emo, Screamo, and Post-Hardcore have always thrived in more intimate communities that emphasize the importance of having a safe space to express yourself, and historically these genres have thrived the most during eras where mainstream hardcore was going through “tough guy” moments. As hardcore punk and alternative music continue to grow in popularity, the curiosity surrounding the more vulnerable and experimental sides of the genre’s history will grow as well; with acts like The Spirit of Versailles and In Loving Memory being rediscovered as heroes by younger audiences. It’s important to consistently have promoters like Your Renaissance in Southern California that create these environments for underappreciated artists to return to entirely new audiences who appreciate them in a new light.
related: Feeling Supernatural – Turnover at The Regent
The first act Love Letter stood out stylistically more than any other band on the lineup, taking on the more shoegaze side of Emo music than the darker screamo elements that the later acts would incorporate. They had an incredibly pleasant somber sound to them that eased the crowd in before the heavier distortion that would soon fill the Teragram. Love Letter has been appearing on a lot of DIY lineups around Los Angeles over the past year, and it’s easy to see why with how widespread the appeal for their brand of distorted dreamy fuzz rock is. Love Letter may not have fit in to this lineup 100%, but the flexible nature of their sound and their natural raw live talent allows them to fit in on pretty much any lineup. This versatility will definitely be a key factor in their continually rising success, and they displayed it flawlessly here.
related: Emo Is Hot Mulligan at The Hollywood Palladium
Clay Birds are one of the most talked about bands in the Southern California emotional hardcore scene currently, really standing out as a much darker artist amongst the youth crew hardcore and pop-punk that surround them in Orange County. Similarly to Love Letter, all of the band members are extremely young still being teenagers; but screamo and emo music have always notoriously been more popular amongst the youth, especially in this newest wave of the genres’ popularity. The more twangy atmospheric guitars and lo-fi smashing drums of Midwestern screamo are in full effect here, almost surprisingly so for any band from California. Vocalist Aron Farkas screams in a distraught high-pitched wailing fashion that really emphasizes the anguish and hurt that Clay Birds are trying to express through their music. While it may seem kind of odd upon first impression for this sort of tortured music to come from the OC, the sort of boredom and feeling of being trapped that one experiences in suburbia is precisely the type of environment that screamo/skramz music thrives in.
Although In Loving Memory didn’t close the evening, both them and The Spirit of Versailles were considered headliners on the flier; and considering how short-lived and niche both artists have been throughout their history, I don’t think it would have made sense to pick one as the headliner over the other. Screamo/skramz scenes overall are deeply community-based and the sort of ego that would drive these sorts of thoughts is completely discouraged. If anything, going on beforehand and being the more obscure act is probably considered the cooler move in an underground setting such as this.
related: Touche Amore Play 4 Albums In 2 Nights at The Regent Theater
In Loving Memory have an absolutely intense immersive sound that makes any space they inhabit feel massive, especially as the dual vocals between Jen Wiley and bassist Brian Dingeman feel as if they are bombarding you from all directions. While they still have the bleak tormented sound that screamo/skramz music has always been based around, In Loving Memory have these moments of escalating guitar riffs that become so intense they almost feel uplifting and inspirational. Inspiration is not a feeling that you experience often in any sort of screamo music, but In Loving Memory really brings the term “emotional hardcore” back to its roots with these moments that could resemble a Boston straight-edge act with how epic their momentum is. In Loving Memory definitely have roots that are deeply embedded in punk and hardcore ethos and while it’s a shame they never got bigger during their run in the late 90’s, it makes sense they stayed underground with how committed they are to holding this DIY spirit in their art.
It could be felt throughout the room that nobody there had expected to ever see The Spirit of Versailles perform again, especially not in Los Angeles. After all; bands that performed mostly house shows during a three-year run almost 30 years ago don’t really have a reason to randomly get back together and play across the country, do they? For The Spirit of Versailles and In Loving Memory, simply being appreciated by a new audience who never had the chance to see them live was enough for them to make this pilgrimage. While it’s beyond special for fans to see an obscure artist reform after being inactive for this long, I’m sure it’s equally inspiring for the band to unexpectedly develop this fanbase decades later. Everybody in the room was appreciative of the rare experience they were all about to share: from the reunion bands to the audience to the opening local bands, we all felt blessed to be a part of this moment.
related: Every Cap’n Jazz Song Is My Favorite – Live at The Wiltern
The Spirit of Versailles’ B.J. Anderson definitely incorporated more of the whiny Midwestern Emo vocals than In Loving Memory, shifting between the more melodic tones and contrasting with lo-fi wails of agony to create a feeling of pure sadness and pain. While emo and screamo/skramz may seem drastically different than the tougher sides of hardcore, the elements of anger and feeling wronged by the world could not be more present here. In a way, bands like The Spirit of Versailles are even more brutal than most hardcore bands in their ability to exhibit this raw aggression in a much more efficient, vulnerable way. The Spirit of Versailles are the antithesis to the hardcore stereotype of trying to be the toughest guy in the room, but they also don’t fall into the emo stereotype of trying to be the saddest, most emotionally damaged person in the room either. They aren’t trying to fit into any specific aesthetic, and that’s exactly what makes their portrayal of pain and aggression so impactful; it’s about expressing the raw emotion, completely dismissing how it may come off to others.
The anticipated reunions of Spirit of Versailles and In Loving Memory may not be talked about in the more mainstream punk or metal music publications, but that sort of underground secrecy is what makes this such a prominent event to begin with. These bands, and 90’s screamo/skramz overall, wouldn’t have the same appeal if it wasn’t for the elusive history of scattered scenes that these sounds came from. In a genre focused around the pains of being misunderstood and the darkness of feeling lost in the world, it’s only appropriate that the most well-loved bands in the scene were somewhat lost and misunderstood as artists themselves throughout their history. Without promoters like Your Renaissance providing an environment that gives younger generations the resources to give these underappreciated bands the respect they finally deserve, half of the artists that we regard as legendary or historic would have been lost to time long ago.
Words by Danny Ryan
Photos by Evan Moses
