Emo Night Columbia - PhotoEmo Night Columbia at New Brookland Tavern in West Columbia SC. - Photo by Columbia SC photographer Sean Rayford
In 2015, a New Brookland Tavern staffer took a photo of himself standing near a couple sucking face, posted it on Instagram and tagged it #selfieswithstrangersmakingout. Over the the last two years it’s been a pastime for both staffers and regulars at the dive bar slash live music venue and last night at Emo Night Columbia, the game was in full effect, or “in fucking full effect,” as the drunk guy at the Get Up Kids show would say.
Emo Night Columbia - PhotoEmo Night Columbia at New Brookland Tavern in West Columbia SC. - Photo by Columbia SC photographer Sean Rayford
“Is it weird for you?” asks my friend David Adedokun, a former co-worker at a record store in town during the early aughts. We we stand next to a stage filled with twenty-somethings singing along to 'late wave' emo hits. It's a stage that bands like Taking Back Sunday, Hawthorne Heights, Paramore and Yellow Card all played.
“Yea, it’s kinda like back when we would have 80’s parties here and people would show up who grew up in the 80’s,” I respond, “and we were like, “What the fuck are they doing here?”
David, also a local musician, tells me he's coming back for the next Emo Night and ordering shots every time a song comes on the stereo by a band he's shared a stage with. Be warned.
Photos and words by Columbia SC photographer Sean Rayford
Emo Night Columbia - PhotoEmo Night Columbia at New Brookland Tavern in West Columbia SC. - Photo by Columbia SC photographer Sean Rayford
Emo Night Columbia - PhotoEmo Night Columbia at New Brookland Tavern in West Columbia SC. - Photo by Columbia SC photographer Sean Rayford
Emo Night Columbia - PhotoEmo Night Columbia at New Brookland Tavern in West Columbia SC. - Photo by Columbia SC photographer Sean Rayford
Emo Night Columbia - PhotoEmo Night Columbia at New Brookland Tavern in West Columbia SC. - Photo by Columbia SC photographer Sean Rayford
Emo Night Columbia - PhotoEmo Night Columbia at New Brookland Tavern in West Columbia SC. - Photo by Columbia SC photographer Sean Rayford
Emo Night Columbia - PhotoEmo Night Columbia at New Brookland Tavern in West Columbia SC. - Photo by Columbia SC photographer Sean Rayford
Emo Night Columbia - PhotoEmo Night Columbia at New Brookland Tavern in West Columbia SC. - Photo by Columbia SC photographer Sean Rayford
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Emo Night Columbia - PhotoEmo Night Columbia at New Brookland Tavern in West Columbia SC. - Photo by Columbia SC photographer Sean Rayford