The 10 Most Iconic Emo/Stage Music Videos of the 2000s
There was a time when MTV still played music videos. It’s a period that Tyler Povanda remembers well.
He sings in the punk and emo rock band Save facewho released his second album on Epitaph Records last month, Another kill for the Highlight Reel. And while they’ll probably never air on MTV, the band’s recent videos for songs like “SHINE,” “Bury me (tonight!)” and “Sharpen your teethstill evoke that bygone video realm.
But the golden age we’re talking about isn’t the dawn of the modern music video in the 1980s. Or the onslaught of grunge and hip-hop videos in the ’90s.
No, we’re talking about the 2000s, just after the turn of the millennium, when videos of emo and pop-punk bands started surging. This was just before the internet swallowed music videos whole, and then MTV started to apparently only air Ridiculous reruns.
Paramore, My Chemical Romance, Taking Back Sunday – these outfit essentials and more have been movers and shakers in the emo video era. (In the case of the latter group, it was a time when the hip-hop star was involved Flavor Flavor in a video might help attract more viewers.)
But even if that era now seems to be over, the impact of these videos on today’s artists remains. Especially when it comes to acts like Save Face, a band that flourished under the influence left behind by the bands that created those classic music videos.
Talk to rock sound about their new album, Povanda said, “I honestly can’t believe we got to do this. In a world where all the other things are horrible, it’s nice that I can do something and that I feel good about it as well. Listening to these songs is sometimes the only time in my day that I feel good.”
It’s emo. For more, scroll down for a trip down memory lane of 2000s emo/scene music videos. Povanda (pictured above foreground) commented on the 10 he thinks are the most iconic.
Save Face’s “Another Kill for the Highlight Reel” is now available. Get your copy here and follow the group on Twitter, instagram and Spotify. Watch the “GLITTER” video below.
Save Face, music video “GLITTER”
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ten
Paramore, “Decode” (2008)
Of the many Paramore videos I could choose from, “Decode” is the most iconic to me. The song associated with the forest and the dusk tie-in – love it or hate it (I love it), it was an essential product of its time.
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9
Hawthorne Heights, “Ohio is for Lovers” (2005)
This video from Hawthorne Heights is iconic for the overhead microphone alone, so nothing else needs to be said.
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8
Story of the Year, “Until the Day I Die” (2005)
This story of the year video is a typical example of a band inexplicably playing a show in an abandoned warehouse. This kid Shawn at my school showed me this song, and I put it on my Walkman and listened to it on the bus every day. It was also the first video my friend Yanko saw someone doing a guitar trick – so yeah, iconic.
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7
AFI, “Miss Murder” (2006)
The theme and narrative of this video are so distinct that they stuck with me forever. There was nothing like it when it was on MTV. In a sea of frontpeople embracing a very similar “emo” aesthetic, I think AFI’s Davey Havok had his own striking presence.
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6
My Chemical Romance, “Helena” (2005)
Okay, each of the My Chemical Romance videos is iconic and I was going to pick “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)” but then I remembered all the cool “Helena” choreography. Still, “The Ghost of You”… whatever, let’s move on.
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5
Under Oath, “Writing on the Walls” (2006)
This video was the first time I realized that [Underoath drummer] Aaron [Gillespie] did all the clean vocals in the group. My mind was blown. The house with all those rooms, though – like 15 years later, I still don’t know what that means. But I love this band, and I was obsessed with this video.
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4
The Used, “All I Got” (2004)
This The Used video has so much depth and so many cool aspects with the combination of live action and artwork.
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3
Thursday, “Understanding in a car accident” (2002)
The fact that MTV often airs videos that look like they were shot on camcorders — like this one from Thursday — is one of the things that got me in touch with a lot of bands. Watching this as a kid made me feel like it was something I could be a part of; it didn’t have the veneer of a high budget calculated video. The authenticity of this song and video was so visceral and seductive, and it still is!
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2
Resume Sunday, “You’re So Last Summer” (2003)
Flav flavor! Also around 1:45 in this video from Take Back Sunday this guy is doing the cross leg jump, I think it’s like a TikTok trending now.
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1
The Killers, “Mr. Brightside” (2004)
I’m adding The Killers in part to make people go crazy that this song or this band isn’t emo or something. But it’s easily one of the most memorable and iconic videos of all time, and for an equally iconic song. Also, what’s going on with those two random cymbal crashes at the start?