Flyleaf Brought the Self-Titled Home to Montclair

You’d think after 10 long years of complete dormancy, Belton, Texas’ own Flyleaf would struggle to hit the ground running in a live setting. How wrong you would be. Their dual reunion/anniversary tour stopped at Jersey’s own Wellmont Theater right here in downtown Montclair on July 13th, 2026.

Before diving into the show, it’d be helpful to understand the long journey this group has been on prior to reuniting. In October of 2012, frontwoman Lacey Sturm decided to part ways with the group indefinitely to focus on her family. After a tumultuous decade, including bringing in a new frontwoman, her departure, and a six-year hiatus, Sturm decided to rejoin in 2022.

In the years following the band’s reunion, they started off playing festival slots until their announcement of a headlining tour at the beginning of 2026. History lesson over, back to the present. Anyone knowledgeable of “emo” music should be familiar with Flyleaf, and after hearing they would be back on the road, we knew we had to be there. What a show it was.

Although the tour was celebrating the 20th anniversary of their self-titled LP, the set opened with a selection of tracks from their second and third albums, including cuts like “Chasm,” “Fire Fire,” and “Beautiful Bride.” The first song from the tour’s namesake ended up being “Cassie,” which kept the crowd lively as the first third of the set came and went. Ironically, for an album anniversary tour, they ended up playing more songs from their projects that weren’t being celebrated.

The second third of the set consisted of more selections from Memento Mori and New Horizons including “Freedom,” “Stand,” “Cage on the Ground,” “This Close,” “Saving Grace,” and ending it off with “Call You Out.” Despite the lack of self-titled songs on the setlist, they still played a medley of hits from their other bodies of work. This was a reunion tour as well as an anniversary one, so the unfocused setlist can be excused. Besides, it didn’t matter what they played. It sounded fantastic. You could feel the crowd from anywhere in the venue.

But finally, the last third of the setlist rolled around, the part we were most excited for. They saved their best cuts for the end of the show, beginning with the crowd favorite “Fully Alive.” Seeing as it’s one of the group’s most vocally impressive tracks, Lacey sounded like she was still in her prime.

Next up was a pair of emotional bangers in “Sorrow” and “So I Thought,” leading up to the most emotional of all Flyleaf’s bangers: “I’m So Sick.” 11/10 performance, absolutely no notes. This was the song that put this band on the map, enough said. Before ending off the night with a fan favorite, Lacey paused the music to deliver a moving speech about her deeply personal connection to the final song: “All Around Me.” She concluded her speech with a perfectly timed joke about the corniness of encores. They ended the show with “the song that saved Lacey’s life,” as coined by Sturm, in perfect fashion, putting a satisfying bow on the night.

The unconventional nature of this show being an anniversary and reunion tour made for a memorable night overall. For casual fans of Flyleaf like us, getting to hear all our favorite songs live made the experience a 10/10 in and of itself.

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Setlist — Flyleaf at the Wellmont Theater, Montclair, NJ (July 13, 2026)

1. In the Dark
2. Chasm
3. Again
4. Fire Fire
5. Beautiful Bride
6. Great Love
7. Cassie
8. Freedom
9. Stand
10. Cage on the Ground
11. This Close
12. Saving Grace
13. Call You Out
14. Fully Alive
15. Sorrow
16. So I Thought
17. I’m So Sick
18. All Around Me