JT Woodruff of Hawthorne Heights. Photo by David Lucas. 610_8028 — JT Woodruff of Hawthorne Heights. Photo by David Lucas.

By David Lucas, Rock At Night Orlando

Live Review: Hawthorne Heights 20 Years of Tears Tour at House of Blues-Orlando – August 9, 2024

JT Woodruff of Hawthorne Heights. Photo by David Lucas.

Hawthorne Heights makes a stop at the House of Blues in Orlando, Florida with the 20 Years of Tears. Released June 1st, 2004, The Silence in Black and White is the first album after their name change from A Day in the Life.

The curtain is up as the intro plays. A young lady walks around the curtain to the center of the stage while holding an armful of roses. She stands there quietly for a moment and then throws the bunch of roses into the audience and strolls off the stage.

Hawthorne Heights. Photo by David Lucas.

The curtain drops, and it’s showtime. Screams and yells from the audience are as powerful as the sound coming from the speakers surrounding the stage. The stage background is filled with smoke and dim red lights. J.T. and the guys are pumped and killing it with “Life on Standby” as the first song of the set. Following right along with the order of the album track list, the stage lighting changes from red to blue and right into “Dissolve and Decay”.

At this point the audience has realized that the songs are coming in order as they appear on the album and while J.T. is talking you can hear Niki FM being chanted from a group of people just off of the left side of the stage. The accuracy of the singing along is pretty much spot on and doesn’t stop there and moves right into “The Transition” followed by “Blue Burns Orange”. It’s at this point that the crowd surfing has picked up with two and three people at a time working their way to the front. The House of Blues barricade staff does an excellent job of getting everyone back on their feet as safe as possible.

Slowing it down a little, Mark continues on the guitar while J.T. talking about how Hawthorne Heights first became signed. In 2003 they were about to give up and move on to different paths. They sat down and wrote “Silver Bullet” and sent the demo out to different record labels looking for a way to get signed. When some of the record labels got back to them saying that they were “actually pretty good”, it was that one spark that gave them enough to keep going. Asking for some audience participation “Orlando, when we get to “Got a single silver bullet shot right through my heart”, sing it along with me.”

J.T. comes to the front of the stage and thanks everyone for coming out and gives a heartwarming talk about being on tour and losing someone close and that everyone there being their support system. For “Gold Econoline”, he asked that everyone turn on the cell phone flashlights. That light will represent the one person who you miss the most and this will give you three more minutes with that person right now. It would be easy to say that I have seen hundreds of bands at the House of Blues and many of those bands have asked for this same thing. This is the first time that I have been able to look around the venue and the entire room was lit up without the assistance of the house lights. Coming off the stage J.T. stand on the step of the barricade while talking with the audience and giving high fives, fist bumps, holding hands, hand hearts, singing through hand hearts and interacting and as many around him as he can. Finishing the show with “Ohio Is for Lovers” and promising to meet with everyone that stops by their merch booth after the show.

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David Lucas

David has had a love for music and photography since his childhood. Growing up, he listened to a variety of musical genres. As a teenager David would photograph family members, local bands, and any friends that would get in front of his lens. Living in Central Florida with the abundance of wildlife and music venues has enabled him to follow his dreams.