Fall Out Boy, The Black Keys, Yellowcard and More Bring the Emo Nostalgia to iHeartRadio ALTer Ego 2024

Alternative rock is SO in for 2024, and iHeartRadio proved it by bringing the 2024 iHeartRadio ALTer EGO Presented by Capital One to the Honda Center in Anaheim, California on Saturday (January 13).

Now in its seventh year, ALT 98.7‘s roster featured the most diverse list of artists ALTer Ego has ever seen, as acts like The Black Keys, The 1975, Thirty Seconds to Mars, BUSH, Sum 41, Yellowcard, lovelytheband, and The Last Dinner Party all had chances to perform their songs on the big stage. Fall Out Boy also joined the lineup last minute due to Paramore pulling out for unspecified reasons.

Celeb Secrets was lucky enough to not only enjoy the star-studded concert with some of the best in the ‘biz, but also speak to them backstage in between their big performances.

The Black Keys was the first act up to perform at ALTer Ego, and they set the bar high for the rest of the evening thanks to performing their biggest hits like “Lonely Boy” and “Howlin’ For You.” Arguably one the best acts to open a music festival of all time, the band also sang their newest track “Beautiful People (Stay High)” for the first time live, which had the sold out crowd vibing from start to finish.

A strong wave of emo nostalgia followed as acts like Yellowcard and Sum 41 brought out some of their greatest hits from both yesterday and today.

Returning from a breakup is never easy, but Yellowcard have proven that after a six-year absence, not only did the heart grow fonder upon their return but their audience grew exponentially as well. Telling Celeb Secrets backstage that Yellowcard is “a tighter knit group than they’ve ever been,” the band played classics like “Only One” and “Lights and Sounds” before wrapping with their iconic “Ocean Avenue.”

“We played Riot Fest [in Chicago] in 2022 and that was the first phone call that got us all talking about doing [Yellowcard] again for the first time in almost six years. I think we were really waiting to see how that went from obviously the crowd and how the show was going to go but also how we were going to feel together playing again. A lot of things went into the decision for us to step away from the band in a way that we thought was pretty permanent back in 2017,” frontrunner Ryan Key explains regarding their reunion.

“It was magical. The whole experience. The crowd was overwhelming and we all were just so happy to be together again and that made the immediate decision to say ‘what do we do next?'” he adds.

Sum 41 followed by delivering hit after hit, including “In Too Deep,” “Still Waiting,” “The Hell Song,” and of course our favorite “Fat Lip.” Newcomers lovelytheband then graced the stage by singing some of their viral hits from the following year which included “broken, “nice to know you, “sail away” and more.

5 Seconds of Summer frontman Luke Hemmings took the stage to introduce the “greatest band of all time” that is “only getting better,” The 1975. While the set was short, the entire udience was on their feet for some of their greatest hits, “It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You),” “Robbers”, “I’m In Love With You,” a heartbreaking “Somebody Else,” and ending their set with “About You.”

With a totally change of sound, BUSH made their way to the stage to perform for their longtime fans and brought out all the stops. Starting things off with “Everything Zen,” the chart-topping group proved that they still have it by climbing into the audience and performing “Comedown” alongside Jerry Cantrell from Alice in Chains.

Meanwhile, The Last Dinner Party proved they deserved to be only women on the lineup with their mesmerizing indie performance. They flew all the way to the UK to exclusively be at ALTer Ego and blew the crowd away with their dance moves, color waves and hits like “The Feminine Urge,” “Mercy,” “Nothing Matters” and more.

Thirty Seconds to Mars then made their way to the main stage for a performance we’ll never forget. Band member Jared Leto kicked things off by singing in the crowd before walking to the stage to “Walk on Water.” The band also brought out Mikey Way from My Chemical Romance for half of their set, which was a gift we didn’t know we needed… until now. Despite being sick and almost pulling out of the festival, the Academy Award-winner stuck it out for their entire time on stage thanks to a little help from their biggest fans both on and off stage for their classic “The Kill (Bury Me).”

It was then time for headliners Fall Out Boy to do what they do best — deliver hit after hit and prove that emo isn’t dead! Despite filling the headlining slot just days before the festival, frontman Patrick Stump advised the fans that what they were about to witness would be truly unforgettable, as the group made sure to include their greatest hits with epic surprises.

Kicking things off with “Love From The Other Side,” followed by “Sugar We’re Going Down,” the rock chart-toppers singlehandedly put together the most epic collaboration of the year by bringing out Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda to perform their 2007 hit “Dance Dance” before ending the night with their most streamed song of all time, “Centuries.”

Want more coverage from ALTer EGO? Click through the playlist below for interviews with performers and celeb guests from the red carpet: