Another show that I’ve been ridiculously excited about tonight. Dubbed the “Emo’s Not Dead” tour, it’s essentially a triple whammy of Simple Plan, Mayday Parade, and State Champs. The tour name is confusing… The only one of those three I’d call close to emo is Mayday Parade. Simple Plan and State Champs are firmly in the pop punk pigeon hole and even though those bands may not agree with me, that’s a better pigeon hole to be in as far as I’m concerned.
So it turns out doors must have been half six instead of the seven that some places advertised. As I walked into an already packed Academy at the stroke of seven, State Champs were already taking to the stage.
Straight away you can tell this is a triple headliner. Even the balcony is packed out with fans singing along and there’s an impressive mosh pit that’s taking up the majority of the floor. There’s even crowd surfing and sitting on shoulders. The three members of the band that aren’t stuck behind a drum kit are flying across the stage and everything is note perfect.
Normally, there’s a bit of wavering when pop punk bands are so active on stage, but not with these guys. The sound is equally as impressive… No turning down the opener so the headliner sounds better going on here. There’s even a great kick drum replacement mid set which I certainly haven’t see before. With the exception of my own tardiness, I’m struggling to think of a better start to a show.
Between bands we have what appears to be my most played Spotify playlist and the crowd are just as into it as the live bands. It’s true that a crowd can make or break a show, and Glasgow’s elder emos are proving themselves already. There’s also some sort of raffle involving scanning a QR code that’s on the digital backdrop of the stage where you can win a post show pizza. Whoever planned this knows the way to our hearts.
Mayday Parade don’t hang about with a heavier sound than I’m used to on their recordings and it’s well received. I could be mistaken – but I’m sure that I’m not – that they were using vocal tracks rather than a second singer for the iconic call and reply parts of certain songs. Not sure I was keen on that bit. A huge part of me hopes I just didn’t see who was singing the second parts in the same way that I hope Santa is still real.
I’d never seen Mayday Parade live before (I had the chance when they played the same venue with The Wonder Years but ducked out because I was a fool, apparently) and only really indulged in the big numbers when it comes to recordings. Mostly, I’d been exposed to acoustic versions of their hits which absolutely agree with me. Seeing them in such a heavy format live is a bit like how Plain White Ts lured us in with acoustic anthem ‘Hey There, Delilah’, just to break out all the heaviness with the following singles. It’s not an unpleasant shock.
There’s a lot of bouncing around the stage and showmanship along with a shrinking of “being barefoot on stage”…A braver man than me. This set left me regretting not hanging about to see them last time. For the last song – mega hit ‘Jamie All Over’ – the bass player was taking up second vocal duties, so maybe Santa does exist and I was tricked earlier.
Simple Plan come on and prove in a heartbeat that they’re not emo. Emo can’t ever be this fun. Coming on to the Star Wars theme before kicking things off with ‘I’d Do Anything’ and the first blasts of confetti over the crowd, you wouldn’t think this band suffered from the same aging joints as the fan base. The digital backdrop turns almost seizure inducing during ‘Shut Up’ which always adds a bit of spice to the show. This set is a warm gooey puddle of nostalgia and there’s not a single person here who isn’t loving it.
You’d struggle to find another situation where a bunch of people in their late 30s sing a song with the chorus “I’m just a kid and life is a nightmare” and mean it without a single drop of irony. Going through the set, frontman Pierre (who has obviously been drinking from the fountain of youth) is all over the place physically, but vocally spot on. We get covers of ‘All Star’, ‘Skater Boi’ (told you this was pop punk) and ‘Mr Brightside’ before fans who have come in their Scooby Doo onesies get on stage for ‘What’s New, Scooby Doo?’.
‘Just A Kid’ happens in the encore with some accomplished crowd surfing from Chuck and the set finishes with ‘Perfect’. Some personal info here… but my girlfriend and I had our first proper kiss to that song, so there may have been a lump in my throat (or what was left of it after the singing along) for that. By the end of the night we’re covered in confetti, streamers, sweat and tears.
Even though it’s a three band bill, tonight’s had a festival atmosphere. Maybe tonight was our ‘When We Were Young’ fest. With The Menzingers last night and Bowling For Soup, Less Than Jake, The Blackout, and Thrice still to come this month, maybe February is our WWWY fest – and this was the perfect start to it.
Photos by Catching Light Photography
Catching Light Photography
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