Free Throw in Riverside
380 users on tonedeaf are tracking Free Throw
Never miss another Free Throw show near Riverside.
About Free Throw
Free Throw is a pop punk and emo band from New Jersey that built a devoted following on the strength of introspective songwriting and infectious melodies. Their 2016 debut "What's Golden" introduced listeners to singer Mat Kerekes' particular brand of anxious vulnerability, where he'd examine his own neuroses with the kind of specificity that made them feel universal. Songs like "Lavender" and "Strawberry" became the kind of tracks people looped endlessly, catching new details in the production each time. The band kept releasing solid records—"Piecing It Together" and "Jet Black Jetpack"—each time refining their approach without losing the raw emotional core that made people connect in the first place. They're the kind of band that plays smaller venues but inspires genuine devotion from the people who find them.
Their crowds are engaged and vocal, singing along to every word like these songs have been soundtracking their lives. Energy is intense but intimate, the kind of show where people genuinely feel heard. Kerekes connects with the room; it doesn't feel performative.
Known for Lavender, Strawberry, Graphic, Map of the Sun, Gawker
Free Throw + Riverside
Free Throw has a history of showing up when Riverside needs them. Their December 5, 2025 set at Riverside Municipal Auditorium was the kind of thing you remember — tight, emotionally direct, the kind of performance that makes you understand why people drive across the state to see them. They worked through their catalog with the precision of a band that's spent years refining these songs, hitting the kind of vulnerable moments that make emo work when it's done right. The crowd had that particular intensity you only see with bands that have earned their following one person at a time.
Free Throw in Riverside News
- Beach Drop Road Contest At UC Riverside, 77-59 Long Beach State University Athletics · Jan 15, 2026
- UND's second-half spark, Anthony Smith III's clutch baskets not enough to beat UC Riverside in home opener Grand Forks Herald · Nov 6, 2025
- 🍊 Sunday Gazette: October 12, 2025 The Raincross Gazette · Oct 12, 2025
- UC Riverside 95-70 Stanton (Dec 16, 2025) Final Score ESPN · Sep 21, 2025
- Silverstein announce final leg of "25 Years Of Noise Tour" ft Thursday, Free Throw and Bloom Lambgoat · Jul 15, 2025
Live Music in Riverside
Riverside's music scene has always been practical — it's a place where bands prove themselves in front of people who actually listen. Free Throw fits that ethos. The Inland Empire doesn't have the hype machine of LA or San Diego, which means the bands that thrive here are the ones doing something genuine. Emo and indie rock have always found solid ground here, with venues like the Municipal Auditorium serving as a proving ground for touring acts and local acts alike.
Riverside road trip to see Free Throw?
Stay in the Magnolia Center area near downtown Riverside, where restored historic buildings sit alongside new boutique hotels and wine bars—it's the only neighborhood that actually feels like somewhere worth spending an evening. Before the show, dinner at Duane's, a reliable California steakhouse with real cocktails and actual craft to the food. Spend your afternoon at the Riverside Metropolitan Museum or walking through the Mission Inn's sprawling Mission Revival campus—it's genuinely stunning architecture, the kind of thing that reminds you why people actually settled this part of California.
Stop missing shows.
tonedeaf. reads your music library and emails you when artists you actually listen to have shows near Riverside. No app. No ads. No noise.
Sign Up Free