(Photo from UK tour 2013)
It couldn't have been anymore than a week after their Clwb November date that The Wonder Years announced another UK tour once again heading through my favourite gig city - Cardiff. Snapping up our tickets i've pretty much been counting down the days until the best live band hit our shores.
Halfway through my day at work I got a phone call from my mum telling me my brother was ill, for me to later discover that he was in fact so hungover he could barely stand up. So unimpressed that he was bailing on me I dropped in to his house and made him feel so guilty for being a total bloody idiot that he's paid for our Taking Back Sunday tickets but not guilty enough to change his mind about coming. With all my friends in London I made my dad come with me... mostly so there's someone to hold my phone when it gets crazy.
Halfway through my day at work I got a phone call from my mum telling me my brother was ill, for me to later discover that he was in fact so hungover he could barely stand up. So unimpressed that he was bailing on me I dropped in to his house and made him feel so guilty for being a total bloody idiot that he's paid for our Taking Back Sunday tickets but not guilty enough to change his mind about coming. With all my friends in London I made my dad come with me... mostly so there's someone to hold my phone when it gets crazy.
By the time we made it to the venue State Champs were just finishing up their set so I found a spot near the front and waited for A Loss For Words. When they took to the stage everyone wandered over from the bar and instantly threw themselves into action as the band opened with "Hold Your Breath." They made it all about the crowd with Matty riling us up and jumping to join us in the pit and even handing us his mic for last song 'Wrightsville Beach." People in the crowd who were unfamiliar with the band even had the chance to join in with the hype when they threw a Jackson 5 cover into their set that had the floor swap moshing for grooving.
Now, there will never quite be the words to describe a Wonder Years gig. From the instantaneous rush the second they're on stage, to the crowd bellowing the words back so unbelievably loud there is no way anyone hobbles out the venue with fully working vocal chords. There's a sense of unity that i've never felt anywhere else and I don't know whether it's the way we sing those songs for a brief hour and half completely unashamed of admitting lyrics that feel like the darkest parts of ourselves. Or whether it's when you're singing these songs with people you've never met - for the time you're there you all just get it and these strangers feel like old friends. And then there's the absence of the usual bullshit you get at gigs. The people who purposely shove you for the hell of it, the ones who don't help anyone up when they've fallen and the losers who use crowds as an excuse to grope girls. The Wonder Years fans somehow manage to create this perfect crowd where every person is equal whether you're a girl a boy or whatever the hell else. Aliens could show up and I don't think anyone would think anything of it. For me I feel more at home at their gigs than I do anywhere else in the world.
After i've left their gigs I think i've made up this magic and with the venue being that much bigger this time I was slightly anxious it wouldn't be the same but the moment the opening chords of "There,There" struck I knew it would be just as incredible as all the other times. Within thirty seconds it felt like everyone had been standing in torrential rain for hours and after the second song - "Passing Through a Screen Door" - I was a little bit horrified to discover my dad was still in the pit. He'd been awake since 4:30am and still had his glasses on. There's a reason I told him to stand at the back. My high pitched 'dad what the hell are you still doing here' yelp made a lot of people laugh and they helped him get out the pit. Playing the usual favourites it was nice to hear tracks like "A Raindance In Traffic" and "Dynamite Shovel." For the first time i've seen them there's been a 'backstage' for the band to disappear out of for the crowd to demand an encore. When the drums started up everyone drew in a breath, looked at each other and choked out no fucking way all in unison. They were closing with the ultimate set ending "I Just Want To Sell Out My Funeral." It was like reliving the entire gig all over again wrapped up into one song. Except this time, despite it being seemingly impossible, we sung louder.
Now, there will never quite be the words to describe a Wonder Years gig. From the instantaneous rush the second they're on stage, to the crowd bellowing the words back so unbelievably loud there is no way anyone hobbles out the venue with fully working vocal chords. There's a sense of unity that i've never felt anywhere else and I don't know whether it's the way we sing those songs for a brief hour and half completely unashamed of admitting lyrics that feel like the darkest parts of ourselves. Or whether it's when you're singing these songs with people you've never met - for the time you're there you all just get it and these strangers feel like old friends. And then there's the absence of the usual bullshit you get at gigs. The people who purposely shove you for the hell of it, the ones who don't help anyone up when they've fallen and the losers who use crowds as an excuse to grope girls. The Wonder Years fans somehow manage to create this perfect crowd where every person is equal whether you're a girl a boy or whatever the hell else. Aliens could show up and I don't think anyone would think anything of it. For me I feel more at home at their gigs than I do anywhere else in the world.
After i've left their gigs I think i've made up this magic and with the venue being that much bigger this time I was slightly anxious it wouldn't be the same but the moment the opening chords of "There,There" struck I knew it would be just as incredible as all the other times. Within thirty seconds it felt like everyone had been standing in torrential rain for hours and after the second song - "Passing Through a Screen Door" - I was a little bit horrified to discover my dad was still in the pit. He'd been awake since 4:30am and still had his glasses on. There's a reason I told him to stand at the back. My high pitched 'dad what the hell are you still doing here' yelp made a lot of people laugh and they helped him get out the pit. Playing the usual favourites it was nice to hear tracks like "A Raindance In Traffic" and "Dynamite Shovel." For the first time i've seen them there's been a 'backstage' for the band to disappear out of for the crowd to demand an encore. When the drums started up everyone drew in a breath, looked at each other and choked out no fucking way all in unison. They were closing with the ultimate set ending "I Just Want To Sell Out My Funeral." It was like reliving the entire gig all over again wrapped up into one song. Except this time, despite it being seemingly impossible, we sung louder.
