On Thursday, March 10, Third Street’s Brightside Music and Event Venue hosted Dayton is for Lovers, an alternative music festival. This year – the festival’s sixth – featured smaller artists such as Nightbeast and DJ Sadness, with Hawthorne Heights headlining. Because of the pandemic, this was the band’s first show in Dayton in nearly three years.
Hawthorne Heights, originally named A Day in the Life, was formed in 2001 and released their first album in 2004. The band name comes from author Nathaniel Hawthorne. The current members of Hawthorne Heights are JT Woodruff, Matt Ridenour, Mark McMillon, and Chris Popadak. The band is most known for “Ohio is for Lovers,” a song heavy both in instrumentals and lyrics.
The band took to social media to update on the event. “We expect the show to sell out, there are less than 100 tickets left,” JT posted to the Facebook event page the day before the show. Hawthorne Heights also reported that there would be food provided by local restaurant Phat and Rich DYT. For those of age, the festival served local beer.
The band had VIP tickets that would allow fans to watch the band’s soundcheck, which sold for $100 on their website. As of noon on the day before the event, there were two of these tickets left; fans were clearly excited to get up close and personal with Hawthorne Heights.
To commemorate the event, Hawthorne Heights created a limited edition “Dayton is for Lovers” festival shirt, as they have done in the past. The shirt included signature designs from the band as well as the festival details and performers. This was a must-have for super fans of Hawthorne Heights or any of the Dayton is for Lovers bands.
A fan posted videos and photos from the show to the Facebook page afterward, showing The Brightside filled with lively people enjoying the homecoming of a local band. While I was not able to attend the event, I always encourage supporting local acts.
If you’d like to keep up with the band, you can follow them at @HawthorneHeights on Instagram and @HawthorneHgts on Twitter.
Carly Webster
Reporter