 I’ve
been looking forward to tonight’s gig for
a while now, I love the Wonder Years ever since
I caught them supporting Saves the Day almost
four years ago, and even then I was late to the
party. But trying to keep an unbiased opinion,
I arrive at the already bustling venue a little
later than expected with the final support band
already on stage.
A Loss for Words are an American pop/punk/hardcore
band from Massachusetts, this 4 piece are already
getting the crowd warmed up, with their melodic
vocals and gritty guitars. They bounce around
the stage and entertain this mixed crowd of old
and young. They’re good but nothing special,
they do a cover of the  Jackson
5’s I want you back that goes down great
but for me isn’t anything to write home
about. They do a great job of getting the crowd
pumped, but the songs just don’t cut through
like I thought, they sound well and don’t
miss a beat but it needs something more that I
can’t put my finger on. Wonder Years singer
Dan “Soupy” Campbell comes out to
join them for Conquest of Mistakes which gives
them an extra boost as the crowd goes crazy pressing
towards the stage. They end there set with Wrightsville
Beach and leave the stage to huge applause, it’s
clear they’re doing something right as this
crowd are now hyped for the main event.
 The
Wonder Years, take a bit of time to get to the
stage with lots of sound checking and people running
back and forward, but eventually the band walk
out one by one and get to their weapon of choice
and then proceed to blow everyone away with the
sheer passion and power of their pop punk rhythms
from the off. They start with There, There which
starts of slowly as Soupy sings “I’m
Just Trying To Breathe” before it hits the
chorus and on his shout of “I’m sorry
I don’t laugh at the right times”
which gets the room exploding as the band hit
the chunky chords and get this party started.
They continue with Passing through a Screen Door
which sees the crowd singing along to every word
as they sing an  anthem
for everyone who’s felt alone and scared.
Soupy then takes a moment to talk the crowd about
their “shitty week” which involved
cancelling a gig, having there van break down
on numerous occasions, having to sleep at rest
stops and having there sat navs do nothing, but
then tell the audience that it’s all worth
it though, as they get to be here and play for
everyone, they then go into Local Man Ruins Everything,
which gets people crowd surfing amidst the signs
telling them not to, unfortunately the share drum
brake towards the end of the song which leads
it to be cut short, this ties in with their bad
week, and the irony isn’t lost on Soupy
who tells the crowd to talk amongst themselves
as  its
gets fixed, before stopping and saying no, actually
I want to take this time to thank you for being
here! They eventually continue and build up the
pace again with Cul-De-Sac, The Bastards, The
Vultures, The Wolves before playing Everything
I Own Fits in This Backpack which is dedicated
to everyone who came and saw them in Birmingham
7 or so times ago when they used to come and play
in tiny venues.
At this point the set seems to dwindle, it feels
like the band are losing energy, they’re
not bad by any means, they just don’t seem
to have the heart like they did at the start,
I’m  guessing
this is down to their hectic week, and might not
be noticeable to people who haven’t seen
them before but for me its crystal clear, but
they continue with Washington Square Park, Coffee
Eyes and The Devil In My Bloodstream. Before Dismantling
Summer Soupy announces to the crowd how he can’t
believe how far the band has come, they were never
meant to get from the tiny basement shows and
to be write here right now is amazing! This seems
to get the band back on top as they put their
heart and souls into the rest of the set getting
me and the crowd stoked again. They play Don’t
Let Me Cave In and Logans Circle before Soupy
tells a lovely story about how the last time they
played this room it was supporting Yellowcard
and Saves The Day, and how as a kid he was so
into Saves The Day it was amazing to be supporting
them, when he was younger they had a competition
on at schools across the country to get Saves
The Day to play a gig at a school, and all they
had to do was save up empty cans of soda, so Soupy
stole a shopping cart from the local store and
went round the neighbourhood door to door to get
cans, he ended up filling his trolley and got
Saves The Day to play. This story comes before
their final song Came out Swinging which shows
this 6 piece from Philadelphia’s more punky
side as the 4 guitarists go crazy  on
stage and the rhythms all mould into one great
burst of energy which sees the crowd go mental!
The band leave the stage to huge applause before
returning shortly after to play the epic 6 minute
I Just Want to Sell out My Funeral which takes
the crowd on a journey through mellow notes to
heavy choruses which is pure energy and emotion
and makes you think about the desperation and
loneliness that the band must feel at times. The
song comes to a massive end and the crowd disperse
happy after an amazing showing by an awesome band.
Tonight’s gig overall was awesome, there
were some slow points but it wasn’t enough
to marr the pure passion that comes in a Wonder
Years gig, unfortunately 2 songs where missed
of the set list (An Elegy for Baby Blue and I
was Scare and I’m Sorry), but this could
just be a printing error for the tour, or because
there van broke down on the way over from Cardiff
meaning the set had to be cut short. But this
doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things
as there 14 songs they did play where epic and
blew this crowd away!
A Loss For Words – 3/5
The Wonder Years – 4/5
Review By James Daly
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