Inside Balance and Composure’s long-awaited comeback shows

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“We broke up, and then we got back together — same old story,” Jon Simmons, Balance and Composure’s frontman, says during night one of the band’s two-night hometown tour opener. 

When the Philly-based powerhouse announced an indefinite hiatus in 2019, it came as a surprise to many fans, as Balance and Composure had been gaining momentum and growing their following leading up to their break. In an interview with Stereogum, Simmons explained that they decided to go on hiatus due to a number of factors, including burnout, creative differences, and personal struggles. He said that the members of the band needed to take some time to focus on their own lives and well-being.

Read more: 10 most criminally underrated Circa Survive songs

When talking to AP before their New York City reunion show, however, he shared how in the years to follow, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the urge to create eventually brought the band back together. 

“Having no shows or music was an empty feeling, and we wanted to end that feeling,” Simmons says. 

After five nights of playing new releases, crowd favorites, and reimagined deep cuts from the last decade, Balance and Composure officially cemented their return to the scene, and while the group took a hiatus, the fans most certainly did not. After the show, attendee Celeste told AP she’s been waiting to see the band again since their 2016 tour with Foxing. “I’ve been listening to [Balance and Composure] since 2010 when I was in high school,” she says. “They absolutely still live up to how I remember them.” 

Ehianeta Arheghan

Both hometown shows sold out within minutes, and the band played to packed Union Transfer crowds. From the barrier all the way back to the edge of the bar and up into the balcony, fans who have waited for a Balance and Composure live show since the farewell tour screamed the lyrics to virtually every song — even the new releases. Despite the venue at capacity, fans found a way to open the pit during classics like “I Tore You Apart in My Head” and sent fans crowdsurfing to the front every chance they got. Balance even mention that in blink-182 fashion, they tried to buy tickets to their Philly shows but couldn’t get their hands on any because of how fast fans grabbed them up. While they joke that it had to be bots, the size of the crowds and the volume at which they screamed the lyrics to every song, new and old, told a different story. 

The fan loyalty didn’t stop in their hometown. The subsequent Pomona and New York shows were also sold out. In fact, the New York City show at Knockdown Center is to date the largest headliner Balance and Composure have played. The bigger venue felt just as full with fans flocking to the stage, standing on risers in the far corners of the space, and screaming the lyrics from the outside patio during breaks when the main venue felt overwhelming. Even in the bathrooms, fans were shouting along to the songs they could hear blaring through the speakers. 

“It’s cool to look back because we were so excited to play New York the first time, and we literally played in front of the sound guy and bartender,” Simmons says. “Now, it’s just as fun — it’s just different.” 

A highlight of this first round of reunion shows was the band’s take on their 2016 hit, “Postcard.” Simmons says reimagining older songs has been a breath of fresh air, and more rereleases may be on the horizon. 

“I want to rebrand ourselves so we can play what speaks to us,” Simmons explains. “We just want to play shows that sound fun and special.” The band even joked that they should do their own run of “BC’s Version” albums in a nod to Taylor Swift’s album rereleases. 

Ehianeta Arheghan

The freedom to experiment creatively without the external pressure of a label or anyone’s expectations is a big part of why Balance and Composure came back. Based on the audience reception of the reimagined cuts, this new direction seems to be one that fans are excited to go in with the band. Some immediately took their phones out to capture the new version and put it online for fans to consume. Meanwhile, others embraced them by screaming the familiar words while vibing to the new feel that Balance introduced to the song. 

Approval, however, isn’t as important to the band or the label as the ability for them to comfortably try new things and feel proud of the music they’re putting out. 

Part of that creative freedom stems from Balance and Composure’s new partnership with Memory Music and its founder, Will Yip. As a sought-after producer and engineer, prolific groups like Tigers Jaw, Title Fight, Circa Survive, mewithoutYou, and the Wonder Years have all come through his Philly space to make music that today is quintessential to the alternative scene. 

Yip, who jokes that he is the label so he can’t get in trouble for saying what he wants, adds that from his perspective as a fellow creative, he understands the band’s process.

“I don’t like playing the same 22 songs over and over again, the same way; I know that [Balance and Composure’s] songs are special, but if you want to listen to 2016 ‘Postcard,’ go listen to 2016 ‘Postcard!’” Yip says. “It’ll be cool if we give you a 2023 ‘Postcard’ too, or a 2023 whatever.”

As a listener, Yip considers it a gift when an artist chooses to breathe new life into their older music through reimagines, so if and when Balance and Composure are ready to make more of them, he’s on board. 

Ehianeta Arheghan

Their collaboration was born through Simmons and Yip’s friendship and shared love of music. The two met while Yip was working on Title Fight’s first LP, Shed. After hitting it off in conversation, Balance and Composure ended up using Yip’s Studio 4 space to record some demos, and then an EP, a full-length, and now their most recent singles — “Savior Mode” and “Last To Know.” 

The serendipity and natural chemistry that brought Balance and Composure to Memory Music for their comeback tracks and future releases is baked into the origins of the label itself. Yip credits the foundation of the label, in part, to Tigers Jaw — who are currently signed to Memory. The band recorded a live acoustic session at Studio 4 and told him that he needed to be the one to put the record out when it was finished. That relationship continued on from the first recording in 2015, through the band’s hiatus in 2019, and into today. 

“I actually did tear up when Balance played their last show in Philly [in 2019] — it was sad because I saw how much Jon didn’t want to stop,” Yip says. 

Multiple members mentioned that they felt a bittersweet feeling during the last few shows of their farewell tour with Touché Amoré because they were some of the most fun shows they’d played. More recently, Balance have been in and out of the studio recording tracks with Yip, although it’s unclear how much of that music will see the light of day. 

Now, fresh off their five-date reunion run, Balance and Composure are already gearing up to play more shows for their eager fans. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of their seminal 2013 album, The Things We Think We’re Missing, the band will stage special shows in Atlanta and Austin.

“This is the cheesiest thing, but I do feel like we are a family live. Our fans are a part of us,” Simmons says. “There’s nothing more fulfilling for me; after playing a show, that’s my favorite feeling in the world.”