My one dodgy photo of the night...
Ever since Slam Dunk Wales earlier in the year myself and my brother have been dying to see The Wonder Years again and were stupidly excited for their headline tour. I've found that over the years not only are Cardiff crowds the best but 'pop-punk' shows generally are a lot crazier and this show was no exception.
First two bands Handguns and Neck Deep had the crowd going with such enthusiasm the floor was bouncing - like literally bouncing. Slightly terrified that the place was actually going to cave in, I mentally prepared myself to accept that after this gig pain was to be inevitable and waited for Real Friends to take to the tiny stage. Wilder than before with masses of stage dives, human pyramids and people swinging from the beams Cardiff bellowed the lyrics to songs such as 'Lost Boy' and 'Anchor Down' but it was when everyone put their arms around each other and sung along to 'I've Given Up On You' that I got goosebumps. Swaying back and forth with my arms around total strangers was the moment I truly fell in love with shows like this. No one knows each other and yet we are all there for one reason; you fall down and you'll be picked back up; the sheer passion from everyone there. Everything about these gigs makes them incredible... i've been to too many where people will let crowd surfers purposely be dropped and seen a lot of unnecessary arsehole behaviour. Anyway, all cheesiness set aside Real Friends put on a fantastic show and I gained several bruises to prove it.
Making a quick dash to the bar to get a drink I made it back into the main room just in time for The Wonder Years to set off the Cardiff crowd into an all out frenzy. Fists pumping and cramming into the tiniest gap possible I'm sure I didn't imagine Soupy's look of fear when he realised just what we were capable of. With their set consisting of fan favourites and new tracks from The Greatest Generation it was a pop-punk singalong from start to finish. Opening with 'Passing Through A Screen Door' the band and crowd alike were flawless all night. The Upsides tracks like 'Melrose Diner' and 'Washington Square Park' brought back the trampoline-like floor; Suburbia had deafening singing particularly on 'Local Man Ruins Everything' and newer songs like 'The Devil In My Bloodstream' provided moments of softened crowd harmonies until that two minute mark where the loudest cry of "I bet I'd be a fucking coward" took place. To everyone's delight the band played 'Living Room Song' which was just meant to be played at shows like this, it felt like we were just in our "living room with good friends." Fingers pointing sky high everyone yelled "fuck the world and what it wants me to be" with so much sincerity, it's comforting knowing everyone else in that room feels the same way. Closing with 'All My Friends Are In Bar Bands' the epic night ended with all the bands on stage defiantly exclaiming "I'm not sad anymore..." when somehow the entire crowd ended up there with them. One second we were yelling in unison on the floor and the next I'm yelling in unison with Soupy and tripping over spare microphones...
I really love pop-punk shows.
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