Editorial: lovelyband and the Movement for Mental Health Awareness

Words by Caitlin Powers

On September 18th, 2019, lovelytheband opened for the All-American Rejects at the Beacham in Orlando, Florida.

Mitchy Collins, Sam Price, and Jordan Greenwald played a thirty-minute set, including five songs off their debut album, Finding It Hard to Smile, and one cover. lovelyband’s set included “make you feel pretty”, “coachella”, “alone time”, a cover of “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers, “these are my friends”, and their popular single, “broken”. Collins engaged the audience, talking about the excitement of seeing the All-American Rejects, their love of Orlando, and having a few familiar faces in the crowd (myself and my friends, included). However, the important talk of the evening centered around mental health, and the acknowledgement that “…asking for help is not weak, it is the most courageous thing you could ever do.”

Collins does this at every show, every performance of “broken” includes this speech, and it is anticipated by many of the fans that have experienced their concerts before. His speech is not simply about asking for help, rather, it’s about knowing that you are never alone, and it is important to check on your friends, your family, the coworkers, even the ones in your life that you don’t particularly like. Collins’ speech is about making sure that everyone knows that they’re not alone, that it’s okay not to be okay, and that asking for help is the best, the bravest thing you can do.

On October 4th, 2019, lovelytheband announced that they would be performing at the Live.Life.Love Suicide Prevention Concert in Nashville, Tennessee on November 30th. Among the lineup, Louis Tomlinson and Lizzo are also performing. To Write Love on Her Arms (TWLOHA) is the organization that is partly responsible for this event, along with Nashville’s 107.5 The River radio, and a portion of all proceeds will go to TWLOHA projects.

lovelytheband has never been a group to shy away from politically involved or taboo issues. Collins has publicly spoken about the LGBTQ+ community (including their song, “maybe, i’m afraid”, which part of all merchandise proceeds went to benefit the Ally Coalition), women’s rights, and (as said before) mental health awareness.

lovelytheband is a band to watch, and their performances are nothing short of one of the best experiences of your life. I look forward to hearing their set at the Live.Life.Love benefit next month, and I am excited to hear the speeches that are going to be given about suicide prevention. This is going to be a concert you don’t want to miss.