Disrupt Festival brings high energy, emo back to Houston

The Used performs at Rockstar Energy Disrupt Festival on Sunday, June 23, 2019, at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands. The Used performs at Rockstar Energy Disrupt Festival on Sunday, June 23, 2019, at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands. Photo: Laura MacPherson Photo: Laura MacPherson Image 1 of / 41 Caption Close Disrupt Festival brings high energy, emo back to Houston 1 / 41 Back to Gallery

It was a day filled with squealing guitars, loud amps and music to sing along to.

The Rockstar Energy Disrupt Festival brought a flair of emo with a tinge of modern rock to the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion on Sunday in the festival's first go-around.

While the crowd was smaller than most shows at the Pavilion, the energy was far from lacking.

Fans piled into the event center to the east of the main stage, where they were sheltered from brief passing storms and seriated with more-younger oriented bands such as Sleeping With Sirens, Andy Black, Four Year Strong, Trophy Eyes, Juliet Simms and Hyro the Hero.

Sleeping With Sirens closed the "Festival Stage" with a crowd-pleasing set that included their latest hit "Leave It All Behind."

The newly-blonde Kellin Quinn had the crowd in a frenzy, evoking the day's first mosh pit with a slew of the Orlando, Fla.'s band's hits such as "Kick Me" and "If You Can't Hang."

Once the "Festival Stage" wrapped up, the crowd filtered out to the main stage where it were shortly greeted by Nashville metalcore band Memphis May Fire.

Memphis May Fire vocalist Matty Mullins paced back and forth on stage with a smile while singing a mix of old and new songs, setting the tone for the night.

The Story So Far changed the pace with a pop-punk set that warmed up the crowd's vocals for what was to come. Fronted by Parker Cannon, the band had its dedicated fans on their feet and hanging on every word.

Circa Survive again changed the pace with a thrilling set of clean and unclean vocals from Anthony Green. The set moved quick and each new song seemed to build on the last.

Perhaps the highlight of the night, The Used put on a show to remember. Wearing marijuana patterned pants and a tank top, vocalist Bert McCracken showed why the band was a crowd favorite.

Playing mostly songs from the band's first two albums, The Used had the loudest crowd and perhaps the most entertaining set of all. Them alone were worth the price of admission.

Thrice closed the day with a slower set of a fine-tuned rock sound that was a perfect way to wind down the night.

With the absence of the Warped Tour, the Disrupt Festival was the perfect way to fulfill that summer urge to live out your emo days while also enjoying some bands in the same genre you love that you might have never given a chance before.