Armor For Sleep @ House of Blues - Chicago

March 13th, 2025: Armor For Sleep @ House of Blues - Chicago, IL

Armor For Sleep | Photos Courtesy of: Jetzi Calvin

Chicago was in good spirits last week—unseasonably warm and heading into a Full Moon weekend. The elder emos were out in full force, making their way to River North for Armor for Sleep’s anniversary tour stop. We gathered at the House of Blues, one of frontman Ben Jorgensen’s favorite venues, to celebrate 20 years of What to Do When You Are Dead—an album that became a rite of passage for any early 2000s kid who knew what it meant to drown in their sorrow.

A concept album that wrestles with the transition between life and death, What to Do When You Are Dead encapsulates the rawest depths of heartache and the sort of perpetual grief that lingers like a ghost, even after crossing over to the other side. Midway through the set, Ben pauses to reflect on what he was going through while writing the album, a time in life when he didn’t want to be here anymore. The crowd, a sea of nostalgia and lived experience responds by singing every lyric back to him, word for word.

Voices echo through the room, and the iconic House of Blues floor does what it’s famous for—bouncing beneath us, just enough to make your stomach drop for a split second. In that moment, time folds in on itself. The same fans who once clutched this album like a lifeline now stand together, older and wiser but just as connected to the songs that once saved them.