now that the format boycott heaven tour is over...
IT WAS SO AWESOME!!!! the energy was incredible because everyone there knew every word to every song and was just happy to be there after all this time. i successfully did my homework enough these past few months to get the boycott heaven material too :)
gotta shout out the first single, tune out and oceans for the audience, and also gotta shout out that life-altering performance of dog problems... though they all made me kinda emo. i never thought i would get to see the format live, but lo and behold it really happened, and i really hope that i'll get to see them again one day :)
(i'd post pictures but that would defeat the purpose of waiting until the end of the tour lmao)
The Format dazzle in Tucson, AZ after a long saga to reunite
Words and photos by sonder editor Andrew Friedgen
The road that led to The Format playing an end-of-year acoustic show in Tucson, Arizona was a long and messy one.
Lying dormant since an early 2008 breakup, the indie-pop band (consisting of Sam Means & Nate Ruess) dropped shocking news in our current decade: They would be getting back together to play some shows.
Those shows were scheduled for mid-March 2020.
The world fell apart. The Covid-19 pandemic turned many things on their heads, including the live music world because of its then-categorical reliance on large crowds gathering in person. The Format’s reunion shows were test cases for how long “this thing” would last. The dates were pushed back, then pushed back again, then the band gave up and finally cancelled them. It was heartbreaking for fans who had gotten excited for an unexpected reunion.
The story of The Format, Covid’s impact on the music industry, and the long journey that ended with 2025 finally seeing the band reunite, are interwoven with the journey of this publication and myself.
If we rewind back to The Format’s halcyon days, to a time when there was swoopier hair and all the t-shirts were bright neon colors, aesthetically they might have fit into the vibes that the mean indie/pop/rock bands were doing at the time, but sonically they were on another level.
After they dropped the label-backed album Interventions & Lullabies (a solid pop-rock album that stands in the shadow of its younger brother), the band suffered from drama with said label, eventually leading to the band dropping 2006’s Dog Problems as an independent entity.
Sam Means
Dog Problems is one of the greatest indie/pop records of all time. This statement is made without hesitation. It was true in 2006, and it’s true now. It was true when I was an awkward teen who had no business trying to relate to the lyrical content (but knew there was special sauce there), and it’s true in my 30s with a lot more heartbreak and tired miles behind me.
Dog Problems is both timeless and reflective of the context of the era in which it was created – there are lots of production flourishes and songwriting that echoes motifs of mid-aughts indie/pop music, but these songs stand so strong alone and stripped of that context that they still sound fresh and inviting in 2026. It was also a little weird and a little theatrical, in the purest sense. The album’s first two songs, “Matches” and “I’m Actual,” which bleed together to act as one long opener, exhibit literal drama in a way that invites comparison to themes of circus music – calliope, waltzing, etc. Dog Problems is a pop album at heart, but it is experimental in a way that is hard to put your finger on. Not that it matters. Sometimes bands get burned for eternity for experimentation, but Dog Problems doesn’t sell itself or lean on schtick. It’s painfully earnest and poetic and heartbreaking.
This was The Format’s knack, and it’s why, even back in 2006, you were a fool to lump them in with the rest of the tidal wave of indie/pop/emo bands that were seemingly dominating music subcultures. It’s also probably why both the original run of 2020 comeback shows AND the ones that eventually happened in 2025 sold out almost instantly.
Fans of The Format are apparently sleeper agents who, after long ago accepting the inevitability the band wouldn’t resurface, started slamming their albums like it was 2008 again the moment shows were announced and frothed at the mouth for a chance to grab tickets.
Nate Ruess
The timing was unfortunate: to be teased with comeback shows in 2020 only for them to be cancelled due to circumstances outside the band’s control. It would be understandable to have given up hope entirely.
Yet, 2025 brought reunion shows and an album announcement: Boycott Heaven releases January 23, 2026. It almost feels surreal and strange for the world to be getting a new Format album in 2026, but these are strange times.
The singles we’ve heard so far are undoubtedly the DNA of The Format. Nate’s distinct vocal range and presentation are like a thing hasn’t changed since 2008. The pop sheen of the music writing is still there, but it has matured a little. It’s a little less theatrical than Dog Problems. But it doesn’t feel like anything too baroque, more of a natural progression of the band since leaving off in 2008. “Holy Roller” has the sort of tempo and drama building that would fit well with a song such as “Oceans” or “If Work Permits.”
Fans of the band really ate in 2025. After the initial run of reunion shows, the announcement of Boycott and an associated tour, the band also announced a short run of acoustic-adjacent shows in select cities (which also sold out mega fast).
The last of those shows brought them to Tucson, Arizona – not far from their hometown of Phoenix – to the beautiful La Rosa venue, a former Benedictine church restored and brought to life as a concert venue. Under beautiful arched ceiling beams, classical facades, and a large, tiled dome ceiling above the stage, fans got to hear a set that spanned the band’s discography and included some of the most recent singles.
This set vindicated the takes in this article – that it is a fool’s errand to write off The Format as if they exist in a defined set of genre expectations and don’t exist to instead defy those definitions. This band delivers. Nate’s vocal performance was on par or better than what you hear on the record. The instrumentation was tight. There was magic in the air. The passion of these songs felt alive even almost two decades later.
These shows bring together a type of cohort that makes the experience electric. Because of the massive demand and instant selling out, these are not shows with people who are half-committed. The room was packed with people who felt every note of “She Doesn’t Get It” or “Oceans” in their heart. This is a special thing even with a regular touring band, let alone one that has finally punched through their obstacles to make 2025 their year, all while sounding like they haven’t skipped a beat in 18 years.
Boycott Heaven is available January 23 and you can catch the band on tour this upcoming spring.
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