Arm’s Length There’s a Whole World Out There Release Show
w/ Charmer & Wakelee
Bottom Lounge, Chicago, IL
June 9, 2025
For most bands, it takes quite some time to get their feet off the ground before they’re playing sold-out shows in other countries. For Canadian emo band Arm’s Length, this is definitely not the case, and it showed clear as day at their sophomore album (There’s a Whole World Out There) release show celebration at Chicago’s Bottom Lounge this past Monday night.
Arm’s Length has been a band since 2018, but with the release of There’s a Whole World Out There and the band’s signing to Pure Noise Records, it has become clear very quickly that they are taking the emo scene by storm – not just in Ontario, their home base, but internationally, including in the midwest.
There was a line out the front door of Bottom Lounge early in the evening, and for a Monday night show, seeing the 700-cap venue packed out by the time the first opener, Wakelee, finished, is a huge feat. Plenty of people will skip over a late show, especially on a weeknight, but when the right band comes to town… it’s worth it. And Arm’s Length (and their openers, Wakelee, and Charmer) were absolutely worth it.
Beginning their set with a piece from 2022’s Never Before Seen, Never Again Found, the band went straight for the throat emotionally. “Dirge” doesn’t pull punches with its lyrics, and the crowd doesn’t hesitate to scream and sing every word at the top of their lungs – something that continues for the duration of the band’s set.
Alternating between a good chunk of their debut album and their new release, the band made sure to play a little something for both old fans and new. Not even three songs into the set, there were crowdsurfers galore during there’s a Whole World Out There’s “Funny Face,” and then during fan-favorite “Object Permanence” the crowd’s singing was near deafening. During songs like “The Weight”, “Palinopsia”, and “Early Onset” there were both moments where fans could hear a pin drop with how intently everyone was listening, and moments where the crowd could not stop singing to save their lives. The fans’ attachment to this band’s music is tangible in the air, and the love the band has for their fans is, as well.
Closing out the night with “Blank Slate” off of their EP What’s Mine Is Yours and “Overture” off of Never Before Seen, Never Again Found, they put the crowd to work to the very end. Until the final notes were played, there were folks in the air, screaming every word as they soared above the crowd towards the barricade. A sea of passion over a band that is making waves.
