A Friday Night with saturdays at your place
March 20th is the first day of spring, and saturdays at your place could not be a better way to kick off the season. The band, native to Kalamazoo, MI, sold out The Webster Underground, one of the two rooms at The Webster Theatre in Hartford, CT. The venue bar even offered specialty themed cocktails named after saturdays at your place (frequently abbreviated to S@YP) songs! The band headlined, following already energetic performances from Kerosene Heights and Retirement Party, and the room was absolutely electric by the time they made their way to the stage.
The Webster Underground has no barricade, and there is simply no better way to experience a show like this than these intimate, personal venues. The band is quite literally at your fingertips. S@YP released their debut album, “something worth celebrating”, in 2021, and followed up quickly with EP “always cloudy” (2023) and most recently, their newest full-length album, “these things happen” (2025). Like most emo artists, they shine both lyrically and sonically. They have a sound that is equal parts nostalgic and refreshing, and their band name is exactly correct - witnessing them perform feels almost identical to a late-night weekend conversation with someone you love.
They opened with the appropriately titled instrumental track, “welcome”, which bleeds over smoothly into “cross my heart”. All three members, Esden Stafne (bass, vocals), Gabe Wood (drums, vocals), Mitch Gulish (guitar, backing vocals), are showcased beautifully in every single song on this set list, but this particular combination stood out. Each of them can, and did, have their individual moments to shine, but I was most impressed when they were perfectly in sync. It felt less like 3 musicians playing together and more like one cohesive unit. The cohesion they create, combined with their casually vulnerable lyrics, creates an incredible atmosphere.
The crowd was thriving and feeding off everything saturdays at your place was throwing out. There was not a single moment that someone was standing still. Even between songs, people were dancing and laughing. There was moshing, crowd surfing, and stage diving, made mostly possible for the aforementioned lack of barricade, which let the band and the fans exist without any separation, physical or otherwise. It was clear on every member’s face that they were proud of the crowd that they had gathered, not only in numbers but also in quality.
The set list covered songs from both albums as well as their EP, including my personal favorite, “forest bubbles.” The audience sung along to every vulnerable track, not missing a single lyric. Finally, after an entire night of people chanting and begging, they listened and played their most listened to track on Spotify, “tarot cards” before closing the show out with “i give in.”
S@YP is easily the most fun show I have been to in a long time. Every single aspect of the night came together perfectly - the weather is getting warmer in CT and the sun is finally staying out longer, and there's something hopeful in saturdays at your place’s lyrics that resonate with these feelings. I am confident that this is a show I’m going to be thinking about for a long time. Saturdays at your place is growing fast, and in the near future, I know I will be able to brag about seeing them like this - in the perfect venue, at the perfect time, with the perfect crowd. Passing up on seeing them now would absolutely be a mistake. If you have the opportunity to see them perform, it’s a complete no-brainer. They are fun, energetic, and the energy they create during their concerts is completely undeniable.
Everything saturdays at your place, including music, merch, and tour dates, can be found on their website.