Midtown

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RPF Fandom
Name(s):	Midtown
Scope/Focus:	emo, pop punk
Date(s):	1999 - 2005, 2014
See also:	Cobra Starship
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Midtown was an American pop punk/emo band and a secondary band within the larger Bandom RPF canon, mostly because it was fronted by Gabe Saporta. The members were lead vocalist/bassist Gabe Saporta, drummer Rob Hitt, guitarist/vocalist Tyler Rann and guitarist/vocalist Heath Saraceno. Coming out of the New Jersey punk scene, Midtown were one of the first pop punk acts to incorporate emo into their music, having played their first ever show in Geoff Rickly's basement on December 31, 1999, with Thursday and Saves the Day.

After Midtown's breakup, Gabe Saporta would later found Cobra Starship, a more lighthearted synthpop band that would become one of the more popular bandom acts in the mid-00s, until their dissolution in 2015. Rob Hitt would later become a part of Crush Management, who manages various Bandom acts including Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco, and Gym Class Heroes. Crush also managed Cobra Starship. Hitt also runs I Surrender Records. Tyler Rann works in the clothing industry while Heath Saraceno played guitar and did vocals in Senses Fail until 2009. Midtown would later reunite to play three shows, one at The Knitting Factory in Brooklyn, New York and the other two at the New Jersey rock festival Skate and Surf.

Self-Assessment

We’re a rock band with songs that have a message. -- Gabe Saporta

Inherently, we have a responsibility to use music first for a kind of good purpose than just fun. I mean, fun is great and we definitely need to have that. That’s the whole thing about punk rock is that there is something underneath there - and there sound be something underneath there for us. These are one of the issues that we want to show forth. -- Gabe Saporta

Albums

The Midtown discography consists of three studio albums (Save the World, Lose the Girl, Living Well Is the Best Revenge, and Forget What You Know) and two EPs (The Sacrifice of Life and a split with Millencolin). Forget What You Know. The most popular of these releases, Forget What You Know, was produced by Butch Walker, who would later become well known for producing for several Bandom acts including Fall Out Boy, The Academy Is..., All Time Low, and Panic! at the Disco.

Gabe Saporta would later form Cobra Starship partially as a response to his experiences in creating Forget What You Know, wanting to create a band that was more irreverent and tongue-in-cheek.

Fanfiction

Due to Midtown's ties to Bandom and Gabe Saporta's general attitude towards sexuality, a sparse amount of Midtown RPF exists, though not as much compared to the amount of fic that exists for Cobra Starship or fic for other bands that also involves Gabe Saporta. Other members of Midtown are less likely to be involved in bandom RPF fic, more often than not treated as background characters.

In my old band [Midtown], we all would always show each other our cocks, you know? Like, our cocks were always out. It wasn’t even a homosexual thing. It was just like a bunch of good old boys showing their dicks around. Was that sexually ambiguous or was it homophobic or what? I don’t know.

Fannish Resources

• Midtown RPF at Archive of Our Own
• Midtown podfic at Audiofic Archive