This December 3rd, State Champs brought their album-titled "Kings Of The New Age" tour through Charlotte, North Carolina. Between You & Me, Hunny & Save Face also played as support. Unfortunately, due to infamous Charlotte traffic, I missed Save Face's set.
Between You & Me was the first band that I caught and they absolutely brought the big energy.
Coming into this show, I didn't know too much about this band besides the label call out (which, as a member of an independent band, I very much understand the woes of record labels "shelving" great bands & artists as i've seen and heard a bunch of horror stories in that department. I also love when bands stand up for themselves. The music industry isn't always black & white and everything is always contextual, but it just automatically gave them brownie points in my head, even subconsciously, maybe. In regards to their music, I remember (what is now many) years back, my National Guard unit getting told we were being activated and to pack our things within time. I took my iTunes library as well as one friends and loaded my iPod Classic and played the shit out of that thing when we had no electricity during the flood. I specifically remember the song "Cavalier" as well as a (probably a demo of) "Dakota" and thinking "this band rips." I never got around to seeing them live after that until this event & was incredibly excited to see wether or not their live performance stood up to my high nostalgic expectations. They brought so much energy, sounded very good, and crowd interaction was 10/10. They did play some songs I didn't know so i'm gonna be backtracking their catalog soon and I suggest you do the same, great band.
Hunny played next. They were definitely more on an indie-punk/alternative vibe vs a pop-punk vibe, but they still "fit the bill." They seemed proficient at their instruments. Not my personal cup of tea but thats whats great about music not everyone has to like everything.
And finally, State Champs!
As a former die-hard State Champs fan, I still very much enjoy their music, of all eras. Obviously there will always be a special place in my heart for this band as anyone keeps with any band that at one point in their lives was personally their favorite band. I think that after a certain amount of years, people grow and that definitely is reflected in their most recent, and "mature" album "Kings of The New Age." They are acknowledging that they are now the OG's on the pop-punk block, while still making a statement "we're here to stay."
So while I may not be as "die hard" as I used to be, I still and will always rock with State Champs. They are at the point in their careers' where they have reached commercial success within this genre and know and have embraced exactly what their "new bag" is. Their shows now are always high energy, great sound, great lights, fog machines, the works...
I remember seeing them in a dive bar on Pure Noise Records Tour on Halloween in Houston, Texas(with Brigades, Handguns, & Front Porch Step), and the shows in comparison, it's laughable in the way that they have reached so much success in comparison to their counterparts/peers at that time. They always were a band that put their all into their shows, even back then. So, to see them still doing the most on stage and giving their all into each date of every show is definitely inspirational and great to see, especially after over 15+ years of touring, it can be draining on peoples lives, and it can break bands to be completely blunt. Not State Champs, their dedication to their craft and seemingly unbreakable intrinsic friendships seem to truly "here to stay."