The last weekend in June 2024 brought a couple things to celebrate on the same night in Scranton, PA. For the venue, The Ritz Theater, it was its grand re-opening after some significant renovations. For Kenotic Metanoia Tour headliner Lacey Sturm and opener Islander, it was the release of new musical projects and the start of their new tour together.

Although I've been to Scranton a few times, I had never heard of The Ritz Theater before. A quick googling reveals that it was built in 1907 and was home to vaudeville acts (bringing Lucille Ball, Buster Keaton and other legends to the stage), before becoming primarily a movie theater. It eventually was repurposed as a performing arts academy for kids, but its newest owners have now relaunched it as both a movie theater and a home for all kinds of musical acts. I was pretty impressed with its setup, too, as the audience area inside the performance venue was unlike any I've seen before. There was a small standing area in front of the stage, and then several tiered rows were elevated behind it for standing areas. It then transitioned to a balcony area with seating for those not up for standing the whole time. I only took advantage of standing in two different rows, to change up my vantage point, but it seemed like there wasn't a bad spot in the house. I would love to go to another concert there again.

But enough about The Ritz. I was thrilled to be able to not only get to see Lacey Sturm in concert again (for the first time without her former band, Flyleaf), but I was stoked to be at a regular rock show again. Let's face it; between worship music dominating the airwaves in the Christian music world, and then the chaos that was COVID a couple years ago, it seems tough these days to find a good local rock show (at least in eastern Pennsylvania). Thankfully, acts like Disciple, Switchfoot, and NEEDTOBREATHE have been regulars on the touring circuit.

While Lacey's music is pretty straightforward when it comes to spiritual content, rock band Islander has been resistant to the Christian market and "Christian band" labeling, but that hasn't stopped the guys from injecting their music with spiritual content inspired by their personal beliefs. Meanwhile, I had never heard of newcomers Amethyst Michelle or local opening metalcore band Renovare before, and after seeing the whole show, I got the vibe that they're either in the same camp as Islander, or have no spiritual background at all.

There was some confusion over the start time for the night. Lacey's website said doors were at 6pm, while the ticket site said doors were at 7 with a start time of 8. We got there before 7 and found that doors had not yet opened. When we returned around 7:30 or so, Renovare had already begun playing. Hearing them from the lobby, I wasn't sure if it was just a soundcheck or the show had already started. Given that the band was added to the billing just for this one PA date, I wouldn't be surprised if the plan for "doors at 7, start time at 8" was still accurate, because then the actual tour lineup would start at 8pm.

Sure enough, after Renovare's modest indie metal set, Amethyst Michelle - a fairly new band from Dallas, Texas - popped on stage. The small but energetic frontwoman goes by the name of Amethyst Michelle herself, and was clearly the draw for their performance. Musically, they were fairly interesting, too, and it made me curious to look up their music online. However, with a single titled "Shut the h*ll Up," I'm not quite sure they're my brand of tea, so to speak. Michelle was a frenetic ball of energy, though, and a delight to watch. It can be tough to really get a handle on how a band sounds in recorded form when you're introduced to them live, and her just-as-bouncy vocals were hard to form an opinion of in person. But while their own songs seemed a bit on the wild side, when they covered "Black Sheep" from Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World - quite expertly, I might add - Michelle proved up to the task. Overall, it's been a long time since I've seen a new band as interesting as this one live, and it brought back the vibes of attending smaller, more intimate rock shows from the mid-to-late 2000's.

The band finished around 8:30 and there was a short set change before Islander took the stage at 8:45. They deviated from a traditional set opening by greeting the audience first before playing. While vocalist Mikey Carvajal explained that they wanted to try something different from the norm because they felt that bursting out of the gate in song felt awkward, starting their raucous set by bantering with the crowd may have been more awkward (at least, for the audience). But with good intentions set firmly in place, Mikey addressed the audience by asking if Scranton is sick of being associated with the TV show The Office, and asked if the city was known for anything else. After one fan said "coal" and another said "parades," Mikey proceeded to freestyle a few verses about Scranton with those things included. It was cute, but definitely a different way to open a rock show. If you were attending and were entirely unfamiliar with Islander, when Carvajal leaned forward to scream into the microphone, you were likely caught off guard. Among the songs they played during their energetic metalcore set, they encouraged audience participation and sing-along for "Lucky Rabbit," "Weight Of The World," and "What a Time to Be Alive." Mikey frequently engaged with the audience, from sharing a can of root beer with a fan who had never tasted root beer before, to having the house lights turned up so he could photograph the audience. For "It's Not Easy Being Human," the band brought out the evening's main event, Lacey Sturm, to sing her part from the recorded version of the song. It was a nice way to unify the main acts a bit. Afterwards, I personally discovered the grave mistake of wearing a Dunder Mifflin shirt to a concert in Scranton, PA. Being a fan of the show (and, let's be honest here, a big dork), I figured "when in Rome," and dug out my Office themed shirt from the show. It was at this time that Mikey asked where the guy wearing the Dunder Mifflin shirt was (which he must have spotted when the lights were up), and proceeded to single me out. If you know me at all, you'd know this is pretty much a living nightmare for an introverted person as myself. For the next few moments, Mikey tried to sort of goad "Dunder Mifflin Guy" into coming on stage. (I feared immense humiliation.) I continued to politely refuse the encouragement to come forward, even as the audience joined Mikey in the verbalizing the invitation. He eventually gave up and started pulling other audience members on stage. And, after one last (failed) attempt to get "Dunder Mifflin Guy" on stage, he asked those on stage to form a line, put their hands on the shoulders of the person in front of them... and parade back and forth while they played "Coconut Dracula" (y'know... because of Scranton being known for "parades"). While, 24 years ago, it was a dream for me to get pulled on stage with Audio Adrenaline to jump around enthusiastically to "We're A Band," this anxiety-stricken adult you have now would not have been so fortunate. After the impromptu "parade" of sorts, the band continued to play and was finished by around 9:40. (To wrap up my little aside story, I did go to Islander's table after the show to apologize and explain my reasons for not coming forward. Mikey graciously assured me there were no hard feelings, and seemed excited to learn that I was with JFH, a site he said he was quite familiar with.)

During the interim before the main act, I moved down a row to get a little closer to the stage. And at a little before 10pm, Lacey Sturm came out on stage with her band to perform "Intro (My Heartbeat)," the lead-off track from her latest solo album, the tour's namesake Kenotic Metanoia. And just when fans thought that the next song in the album's tracklist would follow, they were tossed an even bigger treat - the breakout hit Flyleaf song, "I'm So Sick." It was a great way to honor her roots in her previous band and remind her audience of her musical history. "State of Me" then followed, with "Rot" close behind. She then paused to ask the audience if they had any crazy stories from their day that day, and shared that she had one herself. She then admitted that she hadn't realized a deluxe edition of Kenotic Metanoia had even released the day prior, and expressed some nervousness about her demoes being made public. She then talked a bit about her time writing new songs with Skillet's Korey Cooper - until her husband Josh gently (and lovingly) nudged her to resume the show.

Lacey kicked back into gear with a couple songs from her latest album, "The Decree" and "Are You Listening?" For the next song, Lacey talked about her contribution to a track from Breaking Benjamin, called "Dear Agony," and then said he gave her his blessing to let her perform it on her tour (without them, obviously). Lacey's bass player, Evan, stepped in on co-lead vocals to sing with Lacey. I'm not familiar with the original song, but the pair complemented each other pretty well. "Reconcile," "Wonderful," and "Feels Like Forever" all followed. Half the band then left the stage, leaving Lacey with Josh on an acoustic guitar to play a stripped-down version of "Thief." She shared how she likes how bands tend to perform songs differently live than the way they're recorded on an album, and found the acoustic presentation of this song, in particular, especially interesting.

"Not Your Fight" and "(I Died)" were great set additions, and then Lacey broke out another Flyleaf classic with "Fully Alive," from their self-titled debut record. Afterwards, she took requests from the audience and then checked to see if they had enough time to play an extra song. The band then broke into "Impossible," with Lacey following it up with asking for more requests. She played one last signature Flyleaf song, "All Around Me," after talking about the song, our purpose in life, and God's love. To end the night, she closed with an emotionally-charged acoustic version of "End of Wars," with Josh by her side.

To say it was an interesting evening would be a slight understatement, but I can't express enough how great it was to be at a bonafide rock show once again. If you miss the old Flyleaf (before the band replaced Lacey with a new vocalist, after her exit), or already are a fan of Lacey Sturm's solo work, this is a tour you most certainly won't want to miss.