Touché Amoré Celebrates Ten Years of "Stage Four" in Los Angeles

Kaiya Vandemark
May 20
2 min read

Touché Amoré played their largest headline show to date at the Hollywood Palladium on May 16th with support from Sour Widows, Incendiary, Saetia, and Glassjaw. This was a special night not only because of that, but the band was also celebrating ten years of Stage 4. There was a heavy tone throughout the night as this album tells the story of lead singer Jeremy Balms' struggles dealing with the grief and loss of his mother. On Halloween 2014, Jeremy received a phone call from his family back in California, as he was performing in a venue in Gainesville, Florida, that his mother had passed away after battling cancer. This album is raw and vulnerable while talking about the journey of navigating life after loss.

Sour Widows, an American indie rock band from Oakland, California, opened up the night. In 2020, the group released their self-titled debut EP. In April 2024, the band announced their debut album, Revival of a Friend.

Incendiary is a hard core band from Long Island, New York. I saw them last year in a festival setting at Welcome to Rockville. It was nice to finally catch them in a more intimate venue where the barricade is smaller and it feels a little bit more like a real hardcore show. Lead singer Brendan Garrone kept jumping off the stage and onto the barricade to throw the mic in the crowd's face and let them sing. Towards the end of the set, he shouted out all the bands but gave a special shout out to Glassjaw and how they look up to them in many ways. Musically, professionally, how to run a band.

Saetia, another New York City-based band, was up next! Originally formed in 1997, they disbanded in October 1999 after interpersonal burnouts and the tragic passing of original bassist, Alex Madara. Despite their short run, their unique sound laid the foundation for the "skramz" subgenre. In 2022, Saetia officially reunited, initially playing sold-out benefit shows in Brooklyn. Saetia returned to the studio and released Tendrils—their first new material in over two decades. They removed all their music off Spotify as the platform does not align with the band's values and I think that's pretty awesome.

Glassjaw is an American post-hardcore band from Hempstead, New York. They were formed in 1993 by vocalist Daryl Palumbo and guitarist Justin Beck. They mostly played off their Worship And Tribute album with the exceptions of “Serbian Kiss” and “You Think You’re (John Fucking Lennon).”

Finally it was time for Touché Amoré. Including this one, they have now done four album plays in Los Angeles and Jeremy said that every time they do this, it makes them fall in love with old songs again that they haven't played in a while. They dedicated this set and this night to loved ones and the friends we lost to soon. Towards the end of the set, they brought out their good friend Julien Baker, from Boy Genius, out for “Skyscaper” and “Reminders”. She's on the original recordings of these songs so that was a very special moment to see live. They closed out the night with “Honest Sleep”.