It’s not a phase, Concord.

At least, that’s what Starsea Deoss hopes for the city’s thriving emo scene. It’s a motto of sorts for a crowd of more than 100 people clad in skinny jeans, tattoos and lots of black clothing who flock to the Feathered Friend Brewing Company and other bars around town a few times a year.

The Sad AF Collective, as they’re called, assemble there for an Emo Nite – one of rocking out, headbanging and scream-singing, along with food and beer from the local brewery.

The face behind it all is Deoss, a Bow native who came to love emo music – a form of hardcore punk rock often characterized by raw, emotional lyrics – as a teenager. Now, she cultivates a community around it.

“It’s truly about … making a safe place for people to feel better and push through whatever they’re fighting, to have an escape and be an outlet,” Deoss said.

Deoss works in merchandising for Target headquarters and does marketing and events for Feathered Friend. In her free time, she organizes elaborate emo nights.

They’re an emotional, creative outlet for her, Deoss said, but they’ve also become a meaningful community connection.

“Concord has an amazing emo scene,” Deoss said. “You wouldn’t think it, but the people here that like this music are some of the nicest, most genuine humans I’ve ever met in my life, and there’s a lot of them.”

The Sad AF Collective was birthed in 2021, spearheaded by Deoss and a few friends. While there are lots of concerts in Boston, she said, she wanted to create something more local, where people didn’t have to worry about a long drive home or staying in the city. Despite a falling out with the co-founders, Deoss continued the effort on her own. She now gets help from her mom and other friends.

“I was worried that Sad AF was going to be lost, I really was,” Deoss said. “But for me … It wasn’t negotiable. This is needed here, and it fills my cup to put it on just as much as it fills people’s cups to go to the show, and so I knew I couldn’t lose that.”

It draws crowds of around 200 people as often as Deoss can manage – usually a few times a year. They’re often holiday- or season-themed, like “Summertime Sadness” or “HalloweEmo Nite,” and take place at various spots around Concord. The next one is the “Broken Hearts Bash” at Penuche’s, on Feb. 15.

Deoss said all the money from tickets and the merch table goes toward paying the bands and putting on the next show.

Each show also doubles as a fundraiser. At every event, she raises money for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

“There’s not a single person in this community that is part of the scene who hasn’t been hit with suicide in one shape or another, whether it’s you lost somebody or you know somebody who’s struggling, or you yourself have struggled with the thoughts,” Deoss said. “It’s a huge belief of mine to give back to the community, but also do whatever we can to help those struggling.”

She teared up as she recalled one man who came to an emo night earlier this year and was struggling with his mental health. He told Deoss’s mom that he hadn’t wanted to get off the couch that night, but a small part of him felt motivated to leave the house and come to the concert, which helped him feel better.

This is why Deoss does it, she said, “so that we have a place to not be alone, to get off the couch, and to feel OK.”

It’s also a chance to highlight local bands. Deoss invites emo bands from all over New England to play their original songs alongside covers of well-known fan favorites.

Deoss said growing up, many of her peers were well off. She, by comparison, was raised by a single mom and her grandparents. She felt like an outcast, she said, and remembers putting CDs in her Discman, donning her headphones and crying to the songs.

“Emo music became one of those outlets for me to just escape and get away, and I could relate to the lyrics and the vibe of the angst and the emotion,” Deoss said.

She moved to Minnesota in 2017, and she loved the brewery scene and community culture there. When she moved back to Concord in 2022, Deoss knew she wanted to replicate that.

“That was a goal of mine, just like, how do I foster more of that community and connection and create a safe space for people to come that’s all-inclusive, right?” Deoss said. “It doesn’t matter who you are, what’s going on in your life, it’s an escape for you to do something fun or bring friends and make new friends.”

Deoss said she wants attendees to feel included and connected with other people, and to feel like they’re not alone. New Hampshire, she said, as a state, is not as inclusive as she’d like it to be, so she tries to make the emo nights a place where people can be themselves – whether that’s decked out in eyeliner or a pink mohawk or black painted nails, “nobody’s going to judge you,” she said.

“It’s truly to bring the community together and have this place where people can feel seen, not worry about being the weirdo, the outcast, the loner, and not feel alone, because you’re surrounded by a community who feels the same as you,” Deoss said. “If people come to my events and they leave just the slightest bit happier, I did my job.”

Charlotte Matherly is the statehouse reporter for the Concord Monitor and Monadnock Ledger-Transcript in partnership with Report for America. Follow her on X at @charmatherly, or send her an email at cmatherly@cmonitor.com.