Webster Theatre felt the heat Friday night as the packed Connecticut venue prepared for rock band Set it Off to take the stage. 

Alongside Selfish Things, Broadside, and Emarosa, the three piece band made their stop in Hartford, CT as part of their Midnight Tour: Part Three. 

And while headliners Set It Off weren’t slated to go on until 9pm, that didn’t stop fans from bearing the 90 degree heat and filling up the venue early on to catch their openers. First of which, was Selfish Things.

The four piece Canadian rockers took the stage around 6 o’clock and kept the crowd engaged throughout the duration of their half hour set.

Made up of frontman Alex Biro, drummer Jordan Trask, rhythm guitarist Cam Snooks, and lead guitarist Mike Ticar, Selfish Things have been making waves in the alternative rock scene. 

And it was clear from their reactions that Friday’s crowd had been paying attention. 

With older tracks “Good Morning, Miss America,” and “Five Years” mixed in with newer song “Flood,” the band got the growing crowd moving singing along at full volume. 

Biro even jumped off stage to join the crowd to perform their final song, “Hangman” – much to the excitement of the fans surrounding the stage.

And though their set came and went quickly, the hyped up crowd stayed buzzing for their follow up act, Broadside. 

A Virginia based quartet made up of Oliver Baxxter, Pat Diaz, Dom Reid, and Jeff Nichols, Broadside took the stage and were instantly met with a wave of applause. 

Though technical difficulties caused the band to cut their set short, they made the most of the time that they did have, performing hits like “Paradise” and “Coffee Talk,” which had the entire building singing along.

“This is supposed to sound a lot more synth like and sexy… so just pretend it does,” Baxxter joked regarding their audio issues. 

Broadside remained on stage for around half an hour and the stage quickly transformed from Paradise to the Peach Club- also known as, Emarosa. 

Emarosa, a Kentucky formed pop punk band made up of singer Bradley Walden, guitarist ER White, bassist Robert Joffred, rhythm guitarist Matthew Marcellus, and touring drummer Destin Johnson, were the last band to play before the headliners took the stage.

And though the dancing and singing had been consistent throughout the first hour and a half of the show, that did not slow down any members of the crowd- or the members of Emarosa.

From stepping out on stage to a WWE intro, flipping bassists in the air, and even entering the crowd on each other’s shoulders, Emarosa put on one hell of a show. 

With a setlist including “Hell of It,” “Get Back Up,” and “XO,” Emarosa were sure to not leave any second of their forty minute set lacking. 

They even took a minute to sing “Happy Birthday” to their merch seller, along with a lucky fan who proved to Walden via proper identification that she was in fact celebrating her birthday that night.  

And though their set also came to a fast end, they made sure to tell the crowd how appreciative they were of them being there to support live music.

The venue then dulled into an eerie calm as the third band left the stage and stage hands quickly got to work at transforming the area into Set It Off’s performance space. 

With the room now filled with bodies sweating from the 90 degree heat and lack of AC, fans eagerly awaited the headliner, and spent most of the waiting period wondering what their set would consist of- especially since they were down a band member. 

Then, at around 8:58pm the venue cut the lights and the infamous “Two Minutes Til Midnight” countdown flashed up on the stage- causing fans to erupt into screams of excitement.

And two short minutes later, the music began and Cody Carson, Maxx Danziger, and Zach DeWall took the stage with newer single “Lonely Dance.”

With all the dance moves, choreographed and improvised, along with their over the top energy levels, Set It Off made it clear from the get go that they were putting everything they had into this set. 

“Hey Hartford, how are we feeling?” Carson asked the crowd before launching into their fourth track “No Disrespect.” “

“We are going to play a song we haven’t played in a while if that’s okay? This song is dedicated to anyone who has met someone, fallen deeply for them, and then realized they were a piece of shit.”

The trio also made sure to address the room’s rising temperature and their desire for fans to take care of themselves. 

“I see some of you getting woozy because of this heat. If you feel like you are going to pass out- please go get some water. Take care of yourselves,” Carson reminded.

While this was the third leg of their Midnight Tour, and we had already seen their first leg- we were pleased that this round brought new tracks, new moves, and a few surprises. One of which included drummer Danziger taking center stage and performing a ukulele filled version of “Bad Guy.”

Carson also stepped out of his comfort zone, and played a soulful clarinet solo during the band’s track “Unopened Windows,” which was written for his late father.

And while most of their set included a mix of songs from “Duality” and “Midnight,” the band added in a new acoustic track, titled “You are Loved,” which Carson performed solo before Danziger and DeWall rejoined him to end on the angst filled favorite “Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing.”

You can check out the full setlist below, along with our photo gallery– and be sure to catch Set It Off, Broadside, Selfish Things and Emarosa on the Midnight World Tour when it hits a town near you.

Set It Off Setlist:
Lonely Dance

NME

Hypnotized

No Disrespect

Killer in the Mirror

Bad Guy (Maxx singing, Cody on drums)

Duality 

Unopened windows  (clarinet solo)

Hourglass

Maxx Drum Solo

Dancing with the Devil 

The Haunting 

Bleak December 

Why Worry 

Midnight Thoughts 

You are Loved

Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing