Emery
Artist: Emery, As Cities Burn, The Classic Crime
Venue: The Glass House, Pomona
Date: 3/3/26
Twenty years is a long time to carry a record, and Emery made it feel like no time at all. Playing to a completely packed Glass House on a Tuesday night in Pomona, the band moved through The Question (2005) front to back. A few tracks they stripped back to acoustic, the way they were originally written, which gave the room a moment to breathe a belt before the intensity came back around.
The crowd banter was half the show. Emery checked in on everyone's backs, asked who had work in the morning, expressed genuine disbelief at how packed a Tuesday night in Pomona could get. It felt less like a anniversary tour and more like a reunion with people who grew up on the same records.
Then came the new song. Midway through, the breakdown hit and the band dropped into Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight" — the pit immediately lost it, bodies moving, the room understanding exactly what was happening. And then to close: "Alright y'all, we're closing with The Wall. Y'all don't get a choice." The crowd roared because it was exactly what everyone wanted anyway. The pit exploded one last time.
