Around The World and Back in Seattle – State Champs

State Champs, Against The Current, With Confidence, Don Broco
April 18, 2016
The Showbox, Seattle WA

Since the release of State Champs’ Around the World and Back the band has been touring all over the world and they’ve finally made it back to the US to headline shows all across the country. Support on this tour comes from Against The Current, With Confidence, and Don Broco.

As the rain poured down, fans lined up to see the various bands perform at Seattle’s Showbox at The Market knowing that their Monday would be filled with great music.

The English rock band Don Broco kicked off the night with a electrifying set – I haven’t seen an opening band with this much energy in a long time. A majority of the crowd didn’t know any of their songs but the energy from the band rubbed off on them and had everyone bouncing on their feets throughout their entire set. The band played a variety of songs off their latest album Automatic and at one point they had everyone in the crowd take a knee and then jump on the count of three – it was intense! That wasn’t the only time the band interacted with the crowd either; singer Rob Damiani even hopped down to the barricade! With this being their first U.S tour the band wanted to make a good impression and that’s exactly what they did.

Up next was With Confidence, a pop punk band from Sydney, Australia. The band performed throughout the night as their name suggest while playing songs off their debut record Better Weather. The last time they were touring in the US they were playing to decent sized crowds on the Full Sail Stage on Vans Warped Tour 2016. Back for their second U.S tour you can tell the amount of fans they have has been rapidly growing. As the band played their first song Voldemort it seemed as if the entire crowd was singing along at the top of their lungs and this continued throughout their entire set. The enthusiasm from the crowd was as if they were the ones headlining especially during songs such as Godzilla and Archers. You could tell that everyone was having a great time, including the band. You should definitely check them out if you haven’t already, you won’t be disappointed.

againstthecurrent-1-6Against The Current were next. The female fronted band from Poughkeepsie, New York brought more of a mystical and upbeat vibe, completely different from the rest of the bands on lineup. But despite the differences in sound, the band managed to keep the performance just as energetic as the rest of the bands. Since the band’s start in 2011 they have released 2 EP’s –  Infinity and Gravity – an album – In Our Bones – and numerous videos such as covers and live sessions on YouTube which has gained them almost two million subscribers. To be honest, I was a bit surprised that their wasn’t a cover song included in their setlist, but that left more room for them to play their own music. There setlist consisted of a variety of old songs such as Gravity and Talk as well as newer songs off In Our Bones. Some crowd favorites were Running with the Wild Things and Wasteland. Singer Chrissy Costanza was as energetic as a kid on Christmas jumping all over the stage the entire night. I was pleasantly surprised with the band’s performance and I highly suggest checking them out. The band put on a great set and left the crowd pumped and ready for whatever came next.

By the time State Champs hit the stage the entire venue was buzzing with excitement. The band were greeted with screams from hundreds of eager fans. They started off their energy filled set with a pop punk tune titled Remedy that sent the crowd into a craze. The energy in the room was insane, coming from not only the crowd but from the band as well. While the band was jumping around on stage, the crowd was jumping, moshing, or crowd surfing along. The energy didn’t even slow down when lead singer Derek Discanio pulled out an acoustic guitar and performed If I’m Lucky as well as their newest song Slow Burn state champs-1-9off their deluxe release of Around The World And Back (out on May 5th) – featuring two new songs, acoustic and live versions of songs and a full-length DVD filmed by Elliot Ingham. Although the show wasn’t anywhere near selling out, the crowd sounded like a sold out crowd with everyone in the room singing along to every song on the 18 song setlist. Discanio was surprised with how much energy there was in the room for a Monday night.

The band spent some time interacting with the crowd as well. They took time to remember their past shows in Seattle like when they played a show on Halloween and dressed up as minions from the movie Despicable Me and the countless other times they’ve played El Corazon, a Seattle venue that bands in this music scene seem to favor. The band ended up playing a 2 song encore before saying goodbye and heading to the next show. It was a great set filled with great people and I’d highly suggest State Champs to pretty much everyone.

The bands on this tour all bring amazing energy and great tunes that definitely leave a great impression. Whether you’re a long time fan of any of the bands or you’ve never heard them, you won’t be disappointed. I’d for sure suggest checking out this tour if it comes to a city near you!

Review by: Sarina Solem

State Champs

Against the Current

Don Broco

With Confidence