It was a nice night of punk rock music gone acoustic at Crossroads. With the first two bands already known for their acoustic licks, Face To Face traded in their electric guitars to celebrate their recently released acoustic album Hold Fast. Opening the show was local troubadour, Sammy Kay, who has been up and down the Garden State and beyond for years. His raspy voice with heart wrenching lyrics are always a wonderful thing to hear which gives his performance something that makes people stop and listen. Sammy always has a story to tell in his songs, and it always leaves you thinking this person has been through some things which a lot of people can relate to. For better or worse, this is what makes Sammy a Jersey gem for he encompasses the true Jersey spirit of a true working class musician that has stories that need to be told.

Direct support for this date and part of the tour was done by Austin Lucas who also just put out a new album called Immortal Americans. Austin’s stage performance will put you in a trance for they will barely look at their guitar and instead look straight into your soul. Along with that southern/Midwest soul sounding voice its undeniable why Austin Lucas’ music can captative an audience. Even though it was an acoustic show, in punk spirit, Lucas gathered the crowd around and finished their set off stage. You don’t see that at many acoustic shows, but Lucas isn’t just another acoustic act. Lucas has been performing for almost a decade and has been on a plethora of tours with other high name punk bands, and it makes sense why Face To Face had them as an opener for this tour.

Something Face To Face would do from time to time while touring is play acoustic sets once in a blue moon. For a band that barely has any acoustic driven songs, this was always a treat to hear and see. Most of the time the acoustic songs were just done by singer Trever Keith, and the response was usually positive. However, Face To Face decided that it was time to release a collection of their popular songs, all acoustic, under the album Hold Fast. The collection of songs feature all the members playing acoustically and with shakers and brush sticks for the drums. The collection itself gives these songs new life and since the reaction was positive, Face To Face embarked on a tour to bring the album to life. For the Garwood show every song off the album was played along with a few extra songs like “Shoot The Moon” and “123 Drop”. Even though it was acoustic, the crowd was singing back the words like a regular Face To Face show while Trever Keith would occasionally get into the crowds’ face to sing the words. The feel of the show was just like any Face To Face show, where the energy was still there yet just a little bit quieter. The album itself probably could’ve been longer because these renditions were done perfectly, but maybe there will be another collection down the line. If there isn’t another album, I think Face To Face should consider doing another acoustic tour down the road because seeing these versions of their songs doesn’t get old.