Something in the Way Fest celebrates indie rock, emo, and punk

'It's just a conglomeration of bands that we think are cool and important and people should know about,' says Run for Cover founder and owner Jeff Casazza.
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The fest is a celebration of the (slightly belated) 20-year anniversaries of Run for Cover and The Bowery Presents, which both started in 2004. Soon after expanding to Boston in 2010, The Bowery Presents moved into the same Allston office building as Run for Cover, which specialized in the sort of college kid-approved, guitar-forward music the Bowery tended to book. A symbiotic relationship based in shared musical tastes soon formed, with the label's artists often booking their Boston dates in Bowery venues. Though both businesses have since moved out of the building (Bowery Boston is now based in Brighton, while Run for Cover went fully remote), the connection formed during that period remains strong.
'I can't really imagine who else we would have ended up doing this with,' Casazza says. 'We love Roadrunner; it's kind of the perfect place to see a band, in my opinion.'
Balance and Composure singer/guitarist Jon Simmons, whose group returned from a four-year hiatus in 2023, remembers always looking forward to playing Boston on past tours. He's honored to be headlining a festival presented by his old friends at Run for Cover.
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'We used to crash with [Casazza], like five or six guys sleeping on his bedroom floor,' Simmons says. 'They've done a lot of things to help us through our career.'
Balance and Composure never signed to Run for Cover, although the label did co-release a split 12-inch record with them and fellow Pennsylvania emo band Tigers Jaw in 2011 which Casazza calls 'a historical landmark for that time and scene of bands.' To Simmons, the absence of a formal partnership with Run for Cover only makes the endurance of their bond all the more impressive.
'We just stayed friends, and I think that's really cool,' Simmons says. 'There's no business aspect with us. That's hard to come by these days.'
Fiddlehead will perform as part of Something in the Way Fest.
Reid Haithcock
Although none of the four headliners are Run for Cover artists, the Something in the Way undercard features plenty of the label's current crop, like local post-hardcore heroes
'You know, not every Slowdive fan is aware of Ovlov or They Are Gutting a Body of Water,' Casazza says. 'So, I think that there's going to be a decent [number] of people who see something that they haven't seen before and end up really enjoying it.'
Just as important to Casazza was ensuring that fans could see every artist on the bill. He's very happy that the Bowery figured out how to fit a second stage in Roadrunner to make back-to-back sets possible.
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'We're at a time where a festival with 50 bands across one day is a common thing, so even if the lineup is incredible, you might be able to see seven or eight bands out of the 25 that you want to see, which ends up being a frustrating experience,' Casazza says. 'We're glad to be offering something different than that.'
Beyond the main festival, Bowery Boston's smaller venue The Sinclair will host a sold-out pre-show headlined by Fiddlehead Friday night and a late show Saturday night featuring two generations of Boston indie rock in '90s shoegazers Drop Nineteens and modern slowcore outfit (and Run for Cover band) Horse Jumper of Love. Meanwhile, Casazza sounds ready to realize his original vision of Something in the Way as a yearly celebration, with the 2026 edition already in the works.
'We're glad to have a long runway for next year, because we definitely didn't plan for a year for this one and it turned out pretty great,' he says. 'Hopefully, we can expand outside of Roadrunner and do something a little bigger.'
SOMETHING IN THE WAY FEST 2025
With Balance and Composure, Soccer Mommy, Slowdive, and American Football. At Roadrunner, 89 Guest St., Boston, Feb. 1-2, 1 p.m., $150,

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