State Champs proves their power at Halloween performance

What better way to spend Halloween than immersing yourself into one of the most iconic current pop-punk bands?

State Champs seems to be one of those bands that erupted overnight and out of nowhere. I went from watching their performance front row at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia opening for The Wonder Years to crying over their songs in the bustling pit of The Paramount, an iconic New York venue. Having seen this growth and evolution, I find it hard to put words together to express a feeling of pride, admiration, and awe.

Growth is a clear staple theme in State Champs and what they represent. Something about hearing fans scream back the lyrics “I need to get upstate again, I need to get my head on straight again” while at a New York show just hit differently. It was proof enough of the vibrant emotional impact the band has on dedicated fans of the past and new fans alike. Of all the bands to break through from the Warped Tour scene, State Champs is the one that constantly is able to bring me back to my roots time and time again. However, their music and that remembrance of the past doesn’t evoke an idea that I need to return to my past self to have that appreciation. State Champs is a band of progressing forward while building off their past.

via Ali Fitzgerald, @alfitzpics

In The Paramount, the energy was electric that night. Was it the way the guys captured the crowd’s attention or the extra sense of rebellion brought on from Halloween night? No clue, but I can say that State Champs embraced the crazy and the chaos by delivering a show no one will ever be able to forget. Between Derek Discanio’s amazing vocals and the chemistry of best friends that played across the stage, the night will always be engrained into everyone’s memory as a showcase of all that is Champs.

What State Champs is doing that sets them apart from other bands in the scene right now is they are leaning into their audience instead of working so harshly to define and restrain it. Champs has created such a welcoming attitude and a sense of friendship even with fans they have never met that they have crafted a community. In the pop-punk scene, too often artists focus on staying in line and fitting a perfect flannel and beat-up Vans mold, but State Champs (intentionally or not) challenges that. They are the great pop-punk band of our micro-generation. 

They’re the future and I’m so excited about it.

The tour is not quite over, yet! Snag your tickets here.