The Academy Is…

The Echo Lounge & Music Hall

Dallas, TX 

April 25, 2026

Gallery and Review By: Militza Reyna

Chicago natives William Beckett – lead vocals, Adam “Sisky Business” Siska – bass, Mike Carden – rhythm guitar and Andy “The Butcher” Mrotek – drums, percussion make up the American rock band The Academy Is… 

The Academy Is… has released four studio albums: Almost Here, Santi, Fast Times at Barrington High, and Almost There, and four EPs. 

March marked the return of The Academy Is… after 18 years, the band released their first album Almost There. February also marked the 20th anniversary of their Almost Here album. The Academy Is… embarked on a tour to celebrate both albums.

The Echo Lounge & Music Hall was the venue The Academy Is… chose to bring fans of all ages together to celebrate their “The Academy Is… 2005: Almost Here, 2026: Almost There” Tour. 

They played Almost Here in its entirety opening up the night with “Attention” followed by “Season”. 

When they sang “Skeptics and True Believers” everyone in the room sang along.

They also played “LAX to O’Hare”, “We’ve Got a Big Mess on Our Hands”, “Sleeping With Giants (Lifetime)”, “Neighbors”, and  “Seed” from their album Santi which was released in 2007.

From their Almost There album they sang “Miracle”, “Freak Out”, “L Train”, “100mph”.

Bryce Avary from The Rocket Summer joined them to sing “2005”. Even though the album has only been out for a month every fan in the room sang along to every lyric.

They also played “After the Last Midtown Show”, “About a Girl”,  an acoustic rendition of “His Girl Friday” from their first studio album Fast Times at Barrington High 

With their catchy choruses and vocal melodies the night was filled with nostalgia taking back everyone to the early 2000’s.

Throughout the night the fans cheered, danced and sang along taking in every lyric that was sung. 

In between songs, William let the crowd know that The Academy Is… is back for good and they look forward to seeing everyone again. The Academy Is… still have a few left on this tour so if they are coming to a city near you make sure to check them out. Get tickets here!