Taking Back Sunday's Holiday Spectacular returns to Starland, and the pop-up shop is back too

The Long Island band's 12th annual December weekend lands in Sayreville on Dec. 11–12, and the Saturday-afternoon Holiday Pop Up Shop has just been added.

At this point it's a December ritual. The parking lot off Jernee Mill Road fills up, flannel goes on over the band shirts, and a room full of people who learned every word to *Tell All Your Friends* in high school sing them again, a little louder, a little older. Taking Back Sunday's 12th Annual Holiday Spectacular returns to Starland Ballroom on Friday, Dec. 11 and Saturday, Dec. 12, 2026, and the band has now added its Saturday-afternoon Holiday Pop Up Shop to the weekend.

Here's how the weekend works, from the AXS and Starland Ballroom listings. The Saturday concert has doors at 6:30 p.m. and the show at 7:30 p.m., with Winona Fighter and Modern Chemistry opening. It's all ages. Friday night is a second full show at the same room, and AXS also sells a two-day pass for anyone doing both nights. Earlier on Saturday, at 1:30 p.m., the band hosts its Holiday Pop Up Shop inside the venue. That's a separate event with its own ticket.

Keep that last detail in mind when you buy. In earlier years the pop-up has been a daytime event that does not include entry to the evening show. A past Starland listing spelled it out: the shop ticket does not get you into the night's concert. If you want both, you need both tickets.

The pop-up has grown into its own little tradition. When the band held one at Starland in 2023, New Jersey Stage described an afternoon with a special acoustic set mixing the band's hits and holiday classics, plus vendors and photos with Santa. This year's listing doesn't yet say what the 2026 shop includes. Watch the Starland page before you go.

Twelve years in, the Holiday Spectacular isn't a tour stop. It's Taking Back Sunday's own December homecoming, held one state over.

Why Sayreville? The band is from Long Island, but Starland has hosted this weekend for years, and Central Jersey has taken it as its own. The shows tend to reward the people who make the drive. Last December's edition gave the room a moment longtime fans had waited on for a long time: Brooklyn Vegan reported that former guitarist Fred Mascherino rejoined the band onstage for a two-song set, the first time they had shared a stage in 17 years. Nobody is promising a repeat. Still, that's the reason people buy both nights.

The openers fit the room. Modern Chemistry has turned up on the holiday bill before, including the 2024 edition. Winona Fighter brings a younger, scrappier punk energy that suits a Starland crowd that likes to move.

Starland Ballroom, at 570 Jernee Mill Road in Sayreville, holds about 2,000, which is big enough for a sing-along that shakes the rafters and small enough to see the stage from the bar. Tickets for both nights, the two-day pass and the pop-up shop are through AXS. Holiday weekends at this room have a history of selling through, so don't leave it until the week of.

So circle the second weekend of December. Grab the pop-up ticket if you want the afternoon, the concert ticket if you want the night, and both if you're the type who already knows the words to the holiday covers.

Sources: Taking Back Sunday — Starland Ballroom, Sat Dec 12, 2026 — AXS (axs.com); Taking Back Sunday 12th Annual Holiday Spectacular — AXS (axs.com); Taking Back Sunday Holiday Pop Up Shop — Starland Ballroom (starlandballroom.com); Taking Back Sunday celebrates release of 152 — New Jersey Stage (newjerseystage.com); Watch Taking Back Sunday reunite with Fred Mascherino for the first time in 17 years in NJ — Brooklyn Vegan (brooklynvegan.com); Taking Back Sunday announce 2024 holiday shows — Brooklyn Vegan (brooklynvegan.com); Taking Back Sunday playing full LPs at NJ holiday shows, announce acoustic day show (brooklynvegan.com); Tell All Your Friends - Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)