The Early November kicked off two nights of sold-out acoustic shows at World Cafe Live

The Early November embarked on a three-week intimate acoustic tour this summer and are closing out the tour in Philly with two nights at World Cafe Live. It’s a sort of a homecoming for the Hammonton, NJ pop punk icons, and frontman Ace Enders and his bandmates got an incredibly warm reception from the sold-out crowd at last night’s kick off show. In return they played a set that was career-spanning and memorable.

Last night’s show began at 8:00 sharp with a solo performance by Young Statues frontman Carmen Cirignano. He played a few old songs as well as new songs off of a record that will be released this fall.

Following Young Statues was Michigan emo-indie band Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate). Playing acoustic renditions of a variety of both old and new E!E! (IWALE) songs, they left the crowd speechless with cuts like “How To Make Love Stay,” “Water,” and “I Swim Like a Minnow.” Singer Keith Latinen, who also owns of Count Your Lucky Stars Records, told the crowd “This tour has been really amazing. It has been a true honor playing with The Early November. I liked them when I was younger so it has been surreal playing with them.” Touring with E!E! (IWALE) is Warren Franklin, of the band Warren Franklin of the Founding Fathers.

As soon as The Early November walked onstage, you could hear the room echo with cheers and chants. Singer-guitarist Ace Enders began by explaining that on this tour, the audience gets to choose the songs they perform, which is incredibly neat. They began by performing one song off of every record in chronological order, including “Decoration” (from 2006’s The Mother, The Mechanic, and The Path), “Baby Blue” and “Ever So Sweet” (both from 2003’s The Room’s Too Cold), as well as the first song Enders ever wrote for The Early November, “Sunday Drive” (from 2002’s For All Of This).  Also during their set, guitarist Joseph Marro performed “Closing Time” by Semisonic for the sold out crowd.

The night ended with an encore performance by Enders in which he performed two songs, “Body Like Mind” and “Dinner at the Money Table” (although the crowd begged for more).

After the show I spoke with Joseph Marro about his experience on this acoustic tour. “It’s been a lot of of fun! We’re touring as a 3 piece, just Ace, Bill & myself, no crew or merch person which keeps us all very busy. A lot of the venues and cities we’re playing we haven’t been to in many years and we’re seeing people who have either seen us 20 times or not since 2003, which is very cool. The acoustic nature of the shows lend themselves really well to interacting with the crowds, ie. taking requests, joking around, playing covers, etc. Stripping it down and making it fun was really the main objective for this tour and we’re really happy with how it’s gone.”

The Early November, I Can Make A Mess, Empire! Empire! (I was a Lonely Estate) and Young Statues are playing again tonight for a second sold out crowd at World Cafe Live.