Author Archives: gallagap17
State Champs play two-day Holiday Tour
By Ashley Gallagher
In late 2013, Albany-natives State Champs released their debut studio album, The Finer Things. The album debuted at number two on the Billboard Heatseekers chart, and it is safe to say that the fire never stopped for this band. Since then, the band has released two more albums, played the Warped Tour main stage, released a DVD, and went around the world and back again, and again, and again.
However, no matter how many people they play to, they never forget the feeling of smaller more intimate shows and of course, their hometown.
On December 28th and 39th, the band headlined House of Independents in Asbury Park, New Jersey and the Upstate Concert Hall in Clifton Park, New York, making it a hometown show, as a part of their two-day Holiday Tour. They brought Young Culture, In Her Own Words, Save Face, and A Will Away along to support them at the show.
Young Culture, a fellow Albany band, started the show with songs off of the various EPs they have out. They had energy throughout the whole set and got the crowd to move along, even if they didn’t know the who they were. The energy for this band differed in New York as it did New Jersey and you could tell how much they enjoyed playing to fans from where they are from.
Next was In Her Own Words and Save Face. In Her Own Words started off good, but as the set went on it sounded rather repetitive, however, their stage presence was very good. Save Face, who are from New Jersey, have grown from the last time I saw them in a small bar venue. They are one of my favorite bands to watch due to their energy on stage.
A Will Away travelled from Connecticut to support State Champs and told a story about how the first time they saw State Champs was at another holiday show where they were supporting Hit The Lights. From that moment on, they knew State Champs were going to be a very successful band.
State Champs set up their stage with a mix of Christmas trees, Christmas lights on the drum set, faux presents, and inflatable dogs with Santa hats. Even the tiger logo on the drum set had a Santa hat on it.
They played The Finer Things from start to finish before continuing with their newer songs, and a fan favorite (that is never played) Shades of Gray. In Albany, they played If I’m Lucky, which was played after album was finished because it is on the acoustic EP that featured a bunch of songs from The Finer Things.
Lead singer, Derek DiScanio stated that they hope to make the Holiday Shows an annual event, so hopefully, we can look forward to that in the future.
Stream The Finer Things here:
https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/2Hbmdm8IXpkMRcXgY0vYGq
The Story So Far in Buffalo
By: Ashley Gallagher
On November 13th, The Story So Far played a sold-out show at the Town Ballroom in Buffalo, New York. The tour, which is in support of their new album, Proper Dose, was supported by Movements, Citizen, and Turnover.
The four bands reflected the various sounds off of one another. Movements had more of a pop punk sound, whereas Citizen had a louder rock sound. Turnover was more of a wildcard. They were more of an experimental alternative rock sound.
As obscure as this seems, they fit into the set because of the new sounds The Story So Far had been playing around with for their new album. The band experimented with a new sound and tried to distance themselves from being “just another pop punk band.” Their sound has matured and developed. Not a lot of bands can further develop their sound without losing their previous fans, but The Story So Far has only improved and found a more unique and emotional sound.
Their set was a perfect combination of their old and new music, but they kept the same energy as they have always had. Fans enjoyed both the new songs they heard live for the first time and sang their heart out to the old ones that they have grown to love.
You can listen to their new album, Proper Dose, here:
