Rock Band to Reunite After 10-Year Hiatus: Marietta Sets Festival Comeback

Marietta is getting back together! A decade after their 2015 disbandment, the Philadelphia-based emo revival band announced that they will perform at Best Friends Forever in Las Vegas this October.

The festival is set to run from Oct. 10 through Oct. 12 at the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center and will feature other musical guests including Jawbreaker, Pedro the Lion, Rilo Kiley, Superchunk, Tigers Jaw, Mineral, Texas is the Reason, and Wednesday, among others. Marietta announced their reunion at the festival in a statement shared across social media on March 4.

“Your favorite emo boys are so honored to be playing this year’s Best Friends Forever Fest,” the group shared. “It’s been ten years, and even though we’re way more likely to pull something even from just turning quickly and our first practice last week was what I would charitably describe as SPICY, we are extremely excited to pony up and play some songs for you.”

The group went on to joke, “Also, if anyone has guitar tabs for Dantooine, that would be helpful. This is unfortunately not a joke.”

Their upcoming performance at Best Friends Forever will mark Marietta’s first since their disbandment. The group originally began as a three piece featuring frontman Evan Lescallette, guitarist Ethan Willard, and drummer Andrew Weigel. The group morphed into a quartet after bassist Ben Johnson, who played with Weigel in in their high school pop-punk band, The Putdown, “snuck his way in” after going to see the group, they previously told Jump.

After recording their first full-length album, Summer Death, which was followed by two more, and moving on from basement performances to play larger venues alongside bands like Braid and A Great Big Pile of Leaves, Marietta announced “with an incredibly heavy heart” in December 2015 that they were “breaking up” and hitting fans with “the ol’ ‘indefinite hiatus.’ the classic ‘i’ll see ya when i see ya.’”

“This has unfortunately been a long time coming. we have known that this was going to happen for months, and it has been on our minds during every show we’ve played,” the statement continued. “i can’t stress enough how important this band and all of the friends we made as a result are to us. it really really kills me to put this thing to rest, because it has been a huge part of all our lives for the best years of our lives. it’s not easy to bury your baby but this is what we have to do.”

It’s unclear if the group’s upcoming performance at Best Friends Forever is a one-off show or if Marietta is planning further shows.