17+ Years of Boys Like Girls
Boys Like Girls (BLG) is an alternative pop rock group out of Boston, MA best known to the masses for their hits like The Great Escape, Love Drunk, and Two is Better than One feat. Taylor Swift among many others. As their lead singer, Martin Johnson, would tell you, they formed in 2004, and their career really started to take off in 2007.
In the early days, band members included Martin, John Keefe, Bryan Donahue, and Paul Digiovanni. I can’t tell you how I learned of this band back in high school, but I CAN tell you that my relationship with them formed through late night AOL chat rooms with a bunch of online friends from Boston, instant messaging on AIM, putting their music as my soundtrack on Myspace, and a shoutout on LiveJournal. I once left a comment on Paul’s Myspace asking them to purchase a private jet for me once they made it big. That never came to fruition (obviously, I was joking), but if my Myspace account was still active, I’d have the receipts. I would grow to love these friends and those boys as time went on, but little did I know then that my journey would lead me to rock out with them at many shows across the Midwest and east coast. Looking back, those early days when they were touring the country in a van, loading their equipment in and out of venues on their own, we called John Beef and Paul Poolie, and their friend, Mike Lanno was slinging merch were some of my fondest memories.
It all kicked off with their first show in Michigan at St. Andrew’s Hall, and since then, I’ve had the honor and pleasure of watching their performances on the smallest of stages like the Lion’s Club in Fraser, MI and a makeshift stage inside a record store to the festival stages of Warped Tour and Bamboozle to headlining The Fillmore in Detroit.
In addition to the gift of music, BLG launched my love of Boston, sent me deep into the world of Emo Pop Punk bands from big names like Fall Out Boy and Paramore to Valencia, The Maine, Forever the Sickest Kids, and Detroit’s own hometown heroes Every Avenue and so many more. It also kickstarted my stint working in the music industry which, to date, has been the most fun era of my life.
It was a groupie era complete with way too many cringy selfies, backstage passes, friendships forged, marketing campaigns, and big hugs. The friends I made out of Boston, we formed our own friendship group lovingly known as the BLG Fruit Salad. We each picked out our own fruit, mine being kiwi because it was most similar sounding to my real name. We even made our own website at one point, that’s how dedicated we were. Many of us have gone our separate ways since 2006, but our histories are forever tied together by this band.
Through this band, I’ve had some unique experiences including randomly meeting Miranda Cosgrove at the House of Blues in Cleveland, having lunch with Martin and their former manager, Brent, in Philadelphia, and attending soundcheck the day prior to their hometown show in Boston surrounded by those friends I grew up with in the chat rooms.
I’ve had the privilege of observing how the boys interact with the world from fans at the show to service staff in restaurants, getting to know their past girlfriends, and witnessing what is said how they behaved behind closed doors. I’ve watched from the sidelines as they had a falling out with their original bassist, Bryan, who was briefly replaced by Morgan Dorr and is now filled by Gregory James, and clenched every muscle in my body when someone’s voice cracked or guitars failed on stage. Listen, I’ll never know the stresses or aberrations of living on the road full time or what that freedom and level of fame can afford you, and it’s honestly none of my business. Nevertheless, it has been an odd but incredible experience.
After a 12-year hiatus, BLG is back with a new album titled “Sunday at Foxwoods,” an easy record to rock out to but encompasses their classic sound. Happy that they’re back, but it’s also like they never left.
Now, here we are in our 30s, well on our way to 40 with full lives outside the music that originally brought us together, significant others, and even children. We’ve grown older, hopefully wiser, and with a few changes to band members. As individuals, we’ve endured and changed a lot over these last 17 years. As I continue to age, I find I have less patience to sit through 2-3 hours of opening acts and I can’t bear being squished by standing room only crowds and mosh pits, but a part of me will still find ways to keep showing up.
As of Oct. 22, 2023, I have seen them play live 30 times in cities across the U.S. including Cleveland, Chicago, Boston, Detroit, New Jersey, NYC, Philadelphia, Kalamazoo, Milwaukee, and San Francisco.