Story Of The Year & Senses Fail Bring Scream Team tour to Anaheim: The Perfect End to 2025

Some tours are exciting because of the lineup alone. Others carry weight because of what those bands represent, and how deeply woven they are into the lives of the people standing in the room. The Scream Team tour, co-headlined by Story Of The Year and Senses Fail, was firmly the latter. With Armor For Sleep rounding out the bill as support, it was a night built for us scene kids who never really left — we just learned how to stretch first.

Unfortunately, I missed Armor For Sleep, but given their legacy, there’s no question they delivered a set that stood strong on its own while setting the crowd up perfectly for the night ahead.

Story Of The Year

Story Of The Year took the stage in the most unserious way possible — rolling out on razor scooters — which immediately sent the House of Blues into laughter and elation. It was the perfect icebreaker, and the moment they hopped off and took their places, they wasted absolutely no time.

They launched straight into “Gasoline (All Rage Still Only Numb),” their newest release, out just two months, and set to appear on their upcoming album A.R.S.O.N., due February 13th of 2026. The track is heavy — genuinely heavy — and it had the crowd moving instantly. As an opener, it worked flawlessly, immediately reminding everyone that Story Of The Year hasn’t lost an ounce of what made them so formidable in the first place.

A lot of bands from this scene have released new music over the last few years, and while much of it has been solid, the sound has often shifted dramatically. There’s nothing wrong with evolution — but there’s something especially satisfying about hearing new material that sounds like the same band you grew up with, just amplified. “Gasoline” did exactly that.

Without missing a beat, they tore into “And The Hero Will Drown” from Page Avenue — the album that soundtracked so many of our lives in the early 2000s, and easily one of the most important records to come out of the scene. From there, the set moved seamlessly through their catalog, touching nearly every era: “War,” “Tear Me To Pieces” (a personal favorite, and a standout live), “Anthem Of Our Dying Day,” and more.

Just before “Sidewalks,” vocalist Dan Marsala asked everyone to pull their phones out and turn their lights on. “We’re gonna drain all your batteries so you can’t get Ubers home,” he joked, “because we all live here now.” A sea of lights flooded the venue, illuminating the room in a way that felt genuinely special — especially paired with that song.

They followed it up with “In The Shadows,” which turned into a massive sing-along, as expected, because everyone loves some good “whoas.” Every word, every note, shouted back with as much force as the crowd could muster. At the end, Dan laughed, “I sang that song so good till the last note. I’m singing my fucking ass off up here,” before mentioning that there’s no need for autotune, and nothing has to be perfect. It was a reminder of how human this music is and always has been.

Before “Is This My Fate? He Asked Them,” Dan called for one last circle pit.
“Everyone you know in this era remembers how to do a fucking circle pit. I want the short dude in the middle, and you go one direction around him.” He also made sure to remind everyone that if someone falls, you pick them up — a rule of the pit in both shows and in life. The crowd followed instructions to a tee. I couldn’t see the “short dude in the middle” from where I was, but the outer edge of the pit was pure, controlled chaos. The energy at that point was unmatched.

As expected, they closed with “Until The Day I Die.”

“Alright, one more! Sing it with me like this!” You know where it goes from there. Crowdsurfers poured over the barricade, the crowd roared in unison, and it was pure bliss.
There are few songs that represent this scene as fully and as timelessly as that one, and it was the perfect way to end the set. They really nailed opening and closing on absolute highs, and everything in between.

This was the second time I covered Story Of The Year this year. The first was at When We Were Young Festival, where I only caught the first three songs before sprinting across the festival grounds to another stage. Not going to lie, that one hurt. This time, however, I was able to experience the entire set — and it was everything I wanted and more. Their energy, sound, and passion haven’t waned in the slightest. It was an honor to be there to capture and immortalize it.

Senses Fail

Senses Fail followed, and this pairing couldn’t have made more sense. This tour was highly anticipated for a reason — these two bands truly complement each other, and the contrast between their approaches only elevated the night.

They kicked things off with “Buried A Lie,” one of their most beloved staples. I was genuinely stoked they opened with it. The last time I saw them was during the Let It Enfold You anniversary tour, where they played the album in order — the song landed fourth, after I’d already left the photo pit. There’s something about getting to shoot a song you adore while screaming along that just hits different.

They followed with “Double Cross” and “Calling All Cars,” quickly establishing that, much like Story Of The Year, this set would span their catalog. Where it differed was in sheer weight — this set was noticeably heavier,as they’d assured us it would be over the last several months of hyping up this tour, and they hit that mark flawlessly.

Buddy Nielsen’s stage banter was hysterical throughout, per usual. “It’s hot. It’s fuckin hot in here. Gonna take my pants off,” he said, before noting that there were kids in the crowd. He made sure everyone had taken their aspirin and drank their water — because, as he reminded us, we’re all old now. At one point, with context I can’t recall, he declared, “If peeing your pants is cool, consider me Miles fucking Davis.”

Between the jokes, they absolutely plowed through some of their hardest material: “Wolves at the Door,” “Renacer,” “War Paint,” “One Eight Seven,” and more. The band was fully immersed, and the crowd screamed every word back with them. Watching a room lose itself to the heavier parts of Senses Fail’s catalog was genuinely beautiful — and you could feel how much they were feeding off that energy in return.

At one point in the set, “Shark Attack” came to a brief halt when the band spotted an injured fan in the pit, making sure they made it out safely before continuing the set. A reminder in real time of what had been spoken about earlier in the night, and an important nod to the scene’s built-in sense of care.

They closed with a perfect trio: “Rum is for Drinking, Not for Burning,” “Can’t Be Saved” — for which I handed my camera gear to my best friend so I could hit the pit hard for a couple rounds and scream my lungs out, recorded I might add (I can really hit those notes *sarcasm*) — and finally, “Bite To Break Skin.” It was nothing short of perfect.

I adore this band live. They’re locked into each other in a way that’s impossible to fake, and the intensity they bring never lets up.

This show marked my final concert of 2025 — both to cover and to attend — and it couldn’t have been a better way to close out an incredible year of music. I truly have the coolest “job” in the world. Though the Scream Team tour wrapped the very next night, the memories linger, along with a renewed reminder of just how important Story Of The Year and Senses Fail are to the scene and its history. I can’t wait to see what they do next year, and I hope to be a part of it, no matter how small of a part it may be.

Huge thanks to both Story Of The Year and Senses Fail for having us out to scream along.