Joyce Manor at the Roseland, May 13th, 2026

Joyce Manor was one of those artists that I knew I liked, but for some reason I had only passively listened to occasionally. That changed, however, after seeing them live. When I saw the tour announcement for their latest album I Used To Go To This Bar, released at the beginning of the year, I knew I had to make the show, especially since one of my favorites, Militarie Gun, would be supporting them.

Despite mainly attending for Militarie Gun, I found myself thoroughly enjoying every minute of Joyce Manor’s 25 song setlist. Though the lyrics are a bit depressing and at times emotional, touching on themes of heartbreak, grief, and the struggle to get by under late stage capitalism, Joyce Manner has a way of churning it out in cheery upbeat pop punk riffs that get you jumping on your feet.

Joyce Manor started their set with the catchy opening track from I Used To Go To This Bar, “I Know Where Mark Chen Lives”. With the show being several months after the album’s release, it was clear the audience had plenty of time to solidify all of the lyrics from the 19 minute album in their heads. “Freight train coming down the tracks and it almost gave me a heart attack!” the crowd chanted the chorus alongside vocalist Barry Johnson. The band followed “I Know Where Mark Chen Lives” with “Falling In Love Again” from their 2014 album Never Hungover Again and “Beach Community” from their debut 2011 self-titled album.

Joyce Manor played all but one song from I Used To Go To This Bar and composed the majority of the rest of their set with classics from Never Hungover Again and Joyce Manor. There was never a dull moment throughout — the pit was a constant circle of energy and the crowd one of the loudest I’ve heard at Roseland. Despite only being vaguely familiar with Joyce Manor’s music, I found myself singing along to a majority of their songs. With lyrics that easily turn into earworms, it’s hard not to.

I also found myself back in the pit during Joyce Manor’s encore, even though I thought I had depleted all of my energy during Militarie Gun’s set prior. Somehow I had absorbed the energy in the room, ending the night moshing and singing along to “Well, Whatever It Was” from I Used To Go To This Bar and “Five Beer Plan” from their compilation album Songs From Northern Torrance.

Militarie Gun, of course, did not disappoint and brought the energy up adequately in preparation for Joyce Manor. As always, vocalist Ian Shelton jumped around on stage and hyped the crowd up. The band opened their set with “God Owes Me Money”, the catchy single from their latest album God Owes Me Money. By their fifth song, “Very High”, even those in the crowd unfamiliar with Militarie Gun were singing along, thanks to Shelton prepping the crowd on the easy-to-remember chorus “I’ve been feeling pretty down so I get very high”. The highlight of the set for me, however, was getting to crowd surf to “Throw Me Away” — the crowd did an amazing job keeping me upright in my wheelchair.

Prior to Militarie Gun, Combat from Baltimore, Md. and Teen Mortgage from Washington D.C. also brought incredible punk energy to the stage. Combat had energy and stage presence that reminded me of a little bit Jeff Rosenstock, a little bit PUP and a little TRSH. Despite their young age, the band members conducted themselves like seasoned pros on stage — I’m sure in a few years time they’ll be headlining their own shows at venues such as Roseland Theater.

Teen Mortgage was a lot more traditional punk than Combat’s pop punk and had the stage antics to complement it. The East Coast duo had a hype man of sorts that came out dressed as the Grim Reaper during their first few songs, hyping up the crowd as he ran along the barricade pretending to cut throats with his scythe and jumping into the crowd and crowd surfing