Many of the 2000s “scene” bands that defined MySpace-era emo and pop-punk are still active today, with acts like All Time Low and Motionless In White never stopping, while others such as Boys Like Girls and Jet have reunited to ride a fresh wave of 2000s nostalgia.
The scene was a whole subculture: side-swept hair, skinny jeans, MySpace Top 8s and a soundtrack of emo, pop-punk and post-hardcore, much of it collected in our guide to the best emo and pop-punk albums. Two decades on, fans still wonder what happened to those bands, so this guide checks in on where each one landed. The scene itself grew straight out of the movement mapped in our pop-punk bands guide.
What was the scene?
Roughly between 2005 and 2012, the scene peaked as an internet-driven youth culture built around emo, pop-punk and post-hardcore bands. MySpace was its engine: unknown acts could rack up plays and book tours with no label behind them. Fashion mattered almost as much as the music, and the community itself stayed logged on around the clock.
The bands that never stopped
Plenty of scene mainstays simply kept going. All Time Low remain one of the era’s most successful bands, still headlining tours and charting new releases; their lineup history even includes the moment Bryan Donahue of Boys Like Girls joined their live line-up. Motionless In White have turned into one of heavy music’s most reliable live draws, and their own roster keeps shifting too, as when they announced a new drummer. Black Veil Brides and Hawthorne Heights are also still on the road for the fans who never left.
The reunions
Scene reunions have had a strong run through the 2020s, pushed along by streaming nostalgia and by festivals like When We Were Young, which has sold tens of thousands of tickets to millennials chasing their teenage years. Boys Like Girls came back with new music and a full touring schedule after years off the road. Jet, the 2000s garage-rock crossover act, got back together too, a comeback covered in our piece on where Jet are now. Some of the heavier acts from the scene’s edges never really left the stage either, including Black Label Society and related acts.
- All Time Low, Motionless In White and Black Veil Brides never stopped touring.
- Boys Like Girls, Jet and several others came back after years away.
- When We Were Young and streaming-era nostalgia are what’s driving the wave.
This scene’s post-hardcore wing gets its own coverage in our Sleeping With Sirens feature, while the festival that pulled everyone together year after year is explored in our history of Warped Tour.
Frequently asked questions
What does “scene” mean in music?
“Scene” refers to a 2000s youth subculture built around emo, pop-punk and post-hardcore, defined by its fashion, hairstyles and heavy use of MySpace to discover and share bands.
Are scene bands still touring?
Many are. All Time Low, Motionless In White and Hawthorne Heights never stopped, and reunions from bands like Boys Like Girls have turned the late 2010s and 2020s into a genuine nostalgia boom.
Why did scene bands come back?
Streaming put their catalogs back in front of old and new fans, and nostalgia festivals like When We Were Young turned reunions into a real business, drawing huge crowds year after year.
What killed the original scene?
The decline of MySpace, a shift in musical tastes toward EDM and hip-hop, and the natural aging of its audience all played a part in the scene fading during the early 2010s, before its later revival.
The bottom line
The scene did not disappear so much as split into two tracks. Bands like All Time Low, Motionless In White, Black Veil Brides and Hawthorne Heights kept playing shows every single year, while Boys Like Girls, Jet and others waited for the right moment before getting back on stage. Either way, the fans who filled MySpace pages back in 2008 are largely the same ones buying tickets to When We Were Young these days, and that overlap is what keeps the scene filling festival lineups heading into 2026.