State Champs have made their return to Massachusetts for their largest headlining show ever.
Last night, the New York natives brought their Living Proof tour to the House of Blues in Boston for a sold out show.
Touring alongside Grayscale, The Dangerous Summer, and New England natives Our Last Night, State Champs are in the second week of their Living Proof tour, which started March 1st in Chicago.
First up for the night was Grayscale, a Philadelphia pop punk band made up of lead singer Colin Walsh, bassist Nick Ventimiglia, guitarists Andrew Kyne and Dallas Molster, and drummer Nick Veno.
Kicking it off with their songs “Atlantic” “Beautiful Things” and “Slipping Away” Grayscale helped prep the crowd for the heavier songs to come.
“We are a band called Grayscale from Philadelphia,” frontman Walsh told the crowd. “We love Boston and are so glad to be back.”
The band then kicked it up a notch, playing “Mum” and asking the crowd to start a circle and mosh.
But in addition to asking the crowd to get rowdy, the band also took a moment to show the venue staff some appreciation for keeping crowd surfing and moshing fans safe.
“Can we also get a round of applause for security for keeping you guys safe?”
Ending on the energetic “Fever Dream,” Grayscale left the crowd buzzing and ready for the second billed band, The Dangerous Summer.
With a lineup consisting of vocalist and bassist AJ Perdomo, guitarist Matt Kennedy, drummer Ben Cato, and touring guitarist Josh Withenshaw, The Dangerous Summer took the stage and brought a wave of nostalgia with them.
Following the band’s 2014 hiatus, The Living Proof tour marks one of the band’s first cross country tours since their 2017 reunion.
Opening their set with “Where I Want to Be,” “Catholic Girls,” and “The Permanent Rain,” The Dangerous Summer kicked things off with some older tracks, to remind fans of their pre-split sound. But by the time their fourth track, “Where Were You When The Sky Opened Up” came around, fans both new and old came together to show appreciation for the band’s newest single- having only just been released three weeks ago.
The rest of their set consisted of a mix of old and new, heavily featuring songs from their latest self titled album, 2018’s “The Dangerous Summer,” and the crowd stayed hyped throughout- eager to sing and dance along. Perfectly prepping the room for the next and second to last band of the evening- Our Last Night.
With burning incense filling the room with a warm vanilla aroma, the mood was perfectly set as the tour’s only local band took the stage.
Playing their first hometown show since last March, Our Last Night was welcomed back to Boston with open arms and a thunderous applause.
“We grew up in new Hampshire playing shows in Boston,” frontman Trevor Wentworth announced to the crowd. “It’s great to be back home.”
Made up of vocalist Wentworth, his brother and lead guitarist Matt Wentworth, drummer Tim Malloy, and bassist Alex Woodrow, Our Last Night took to the stage packed full of energy, and high on excitement from the release of their latest album just a day prior.
Kicking their set off with their latest single “Bury The Hatchet,” the band made sure to keep things heavy and moving throughout their set- allowing fans in the pit to go all out.
The band then added in a cover of Kendrick Lamar’s “Humble,” in addition to their own songs “Demons,” “The Leap,” and crowd favorite “Common Ground.”
“We’ll be right back here in Boston for a headlining show in November,” frontman Wentworth announced to the crowd before they took their final bows. “We’ll see you all there.”
Shortly after Our Last Night’s final songs, and a brief intermission- which featured some house music samples of Neck Deep, Bring Me The Horizon and hometown heroes Dropkick Murphys- headliners State Champs took the stage.
And, as promptly as they stepped out, the New York natives were greeted with a wave of screams and applause before launching into their latest single “Criminal,” which had it’s music video debut earlier last month.
“This is the largest US headlining show we’ve ever played,” frontman Derek DiScanio told the crowd after the band finished up their first song.
“Whether you’ve seen us once, twice or five times, you’ve now spend your Saturday night with us, so you are part of our family. Thank you.”
The band then played their newer song “Frozen,” before throwing it back to older tracks “Losing Myself” and “Shape Up.”
Joining DiScanio on stage were bassist and backup vocalist Ryan Scott Graham, guitarists Tony Diaz and Tyler Szalkowski, and drummer Evan Ambrosio.
“We started coming to Boston about six years ago from upstate New York,” DiScanio reminisced while looking around at the sold out venue. “We’ve wanted to headline a room like this for so long and tonight we sold this place out because of you. So thank you for making five dreams come true.”
While the setlist focused mostly around the band’s latest album and the tour’s namesake, “Living Proof” the band also took time to make sure that older fans felt represented in their lineup by playing older tracks such as “Remedy” “Easy Enough” and popular tracks “All You Are Is History” and “Perfect Score.”
DiScanio also took to an acoustic guitar for a solo rendition of the band’s infamous love song, “If I’m Lucky.”
But no throwback songs appealed to the fired up crowd like the well prepared encore of crowd favorites “Elevated” and “Secrets.”
And, regardless of the songs’ release dates, the audience sang along to every one as if it was their favorite- filling House of Blues with a sense of happiness and unity with every beat and key change.
“Whether it’s Boston or the surrounding areas, we think we’ll see you guys again this summer. This city has become a second home to us and it’s all thanks to you guys,” DiScanio said before the band took their final walk off the stage. “Thank you all again. We’ll see you soon!”
You can check out photos of the show in our gallery below, and be sure to drop a comment letting us know your favorite part of the night or favorite State Champs song below!
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