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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 wave of 2000s nostalgia.
The “scene” was a whole subculture: side-swept hair, skinny jeans, MySpace top eights and a soundtrack of emo, pop-punk and post-hardcore. Two decades later, fans wonder what happened to those bands. This guide checks in on where they are now. The scene grew straight out of the movement we map in our pop-punk bands guide.
What Was the Scene?
The scene peaked between roughly 2005 and 2012, an internet-driven youth culture built around emo, pop-punk and post-hardcore bands. MySpace was its engine, letting unknown bands rack up plays and tours without label backing. The look was as important as the music, and the community was huge, loyal and intensely online.
The Bands That Never Stopped
Plenty of scene mainstays simply kept going. All Time Low remain one of the most successful bands of the era, still headlining and charting; their lineup history even includes a moment when Bryan Donahue of Boys Like Girls joined their live line-up. Motionless In White have grown into a heavy-music powerhouse, and their roster has evolved over the years, as when they announced a new drummer. Black Veil Brides and Hawthorne Heights also continue to tour for devoted fanbases.
The Reunions
The 2020s have been a golden age for scene reunions, fueled by streaming nostalgia and the rise of festivals like When We Were Young, which sold tens of thousands of tickets to nostalgic millennials. Boys Like Girls returned with new music and touring after years away. The 2000s garage-rock crossover act Jet also got back together, a comeback we covered in our piece on where Jet are now. Even legends of the heavier side of the scene have stayed visible, like the long-running journey of Black Label Society and related acts.
- Still active: All Time Low, Motionless In White, Black Veil Brides.
- Reunited: Boys Like Girls, Jet and many more.
- The driver: the When We Were Young festival and streaming-era nostalgia.
The post-hardcore wing of this scene is covered in our Sleeping With Sirens feature, and the festival that united everyone 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 made the late 2010s and 2020s a nostalgia boom.
Why did scene bands come back?
Streaming reintroduced their catalogs to old and new fans, and nostalgia festivals like When We Were Young created lucrative reunion opportunities, drawing huge crowds heading into 2026.
What killed the original scene?
The decline of MySpace, shifting musical tastes toward EDM and hip-hop, and the natural aging of its audience all contributed to the scene fading in the early 2010s before its later revival.
The Bottom Line
The scene never really died; it just grew up. Some bands kept the engine running the whole time, others returned to triumphant nostalgia tours, but the community that powered MySpace in 2008 is alive and well. For a generation, those bands were the soundtrack to growing up, and they are not done yet.