This is Tour Diary, where artists give us a behind-the-scenes look at life on the road. Toward the end of 2025, Motion City Soundtrack returned with The Same Old Wasted Wonderful World, their first album in a decade. The LP made good on all of their strengths: verbose lyrics, synthy pop-rock, and whopping hooks, without feeling like a nostalgia play. The group brought those songs on the road for a co-headlining run with Say Anything and support from Sincere Engineer. Night after night, MCS gave an era-spanning set to the masses, where they blasted through tracks from The Same Old Wasted Wonderful World, traveled back to the early 2000s, and brought Deanna Belos of Sincere Engineer back onstage for “Things Like This.” The latter’s “Is it too late to start again?” verses hit perfectly.
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Following the tour, the band took us through a handful of memories from their time onstage. From signing the pool at Milwaukee’s Rave/Eagles Club to preshow backrubs to packed crowds, check out the photos below. And if you missed out on the run, MCS will do more headlining shows, join Jimmy Eat World’s Bleed American tour, and play three stops at Warped Tour later this year.
After 20-plus shows played over 20-plus years, we finally signed the pool beneath the Rave in Milwaukee! It was a huge honor for us. / Kelly Mason
There’s nothing to see here aside from Justin catching a quick nap during the show. Move along. / Kelly Mason
The higher Matt plays, the wider Matt stands. It’s physics. / Kelly Mason
Josh’s whole family came out to the show in St. Paul. What a treat! / Kelly Mason
“Am I doing this right?” asks the proud puppy looking to his owner for approval. / Kelly Mason
It was only a matter of time before he would figure out that he wasn’t “behind bars” and that he could just walk away. / Kelly Mason
Thank you and goodnight, Buffalo! Fun fact: This was the coldest night of the tour. See? Told ya it was a fun fact! / Kelly Mason
The amazing Deanna Belos of Sincere Engineer sang with us every night when we played “Things Like This.” Did you know she sang on this song on our newest record? / Kelly Mason
Josh Cain crowd-bonding time happened just about every night on this tour. / Kelly Mason
Zach says his guitar sounds better if he holds it up really high. He might be onto something. / Kelly Mason
And heeeeeere’s Jesse upside-down for the ~2000th time! / Kelly Mason
Here’s Tony doing what Tony does best: playing drums and probably thinking about wrestling. Honestly, there’s a roughly 35% chance that he’s thinking about wrestling here. / Kelly Mason
We wonder what the crowd is singing here. It’s either “Head for the hills, the kitchen’s on fire” or “I’m on fire.” Whoa. Do we sing about fire too much? / Kelly Mason
Here’s a glimpse into the nightly meetup between Josh and Jesse over on stage right. / Kelly Mason
Justin sharing a healthy dose of love and a decent amount of germs with the front row. You’re welcome! / Kelly Mason
We’re a rock band in our late 40s. Leave us alone. / Kelly Mason
It’s not every night that we get a crowd surfer who gives the two-finger gun salute with a smile. What a moment. / Kelly Mason
Matt thinks he looks sexy in this shot. It’s probably just because it’s really far away. / Kelly Mason
Brooklyn Paramount is an insanely beautiful venue. And look at that crowd! / Kelly Mason
“Sorry, I have a dog at home that loves me very much, and they are expecting me soon.” / Kelly Mason
This is our No. 1 listener on Spotify in the entire world. We truly appreciate the plays — and we also hope that new hobbies have entered his life after this crowning achievement. / Kelly Mason
Jesse loves you. Do you love Jesse? Circle one: Eh or Nah. / Kelly Mason
