Knuckle Puck embarked on their world tour with an incredibly amazing lineup with Anxious, Meet Me @ The Altar, and Hot Mulligan. It may just have been myself who felt this way but it felt like this tour was long overdue and felt like it had been years since Knuckle Puck had a stop in Utah. On top of their tour we also got an EP earlier this month, Disposable Life.
Anxious came out on stage and they had left quite an impression, the band had reminded me of early days of The Story So Far with their sound. The five members of the band were up on the stage crowded by the rest of the equipment that didn’t prevent them from giving it their all and jamming out like they were in the pit. It was amazing to see them take on this big stage but part of me couldn’t hope to see them play one of the smaller venues in Salt Lake City to just watch the energy come alive since pop-punk bands always had brought it out that aspect with fans crowding around the stage, singing along up close and personal, and stage diving. They have gained a few new fans including myself and it’s interesting to see where they will go from there.
Up next was Meet Me @ The Altar, the first time I had ever heard of them was last year near the end of summer when they had opened up for The Used, they didn’t disappoint that day and I knew they weren’t going to disappoint tonight. They have the perfect alternative/indie sound to get the crowd warmed up, besides that their energy as a band all together on stage brings up the energy in the rest of the crowd. They had everyone head banging but that was completely unmatched from the band’s crazy hair flips. They had put on a special livestream for fans of that night and each band member weaved between each other to address fans who had tuned in. Their setlist was stacked with some of the best including Fight Like A Girl. Which vocalist, Edith Johnson had said, “As you all can tell, we’re a band of all girls. This next song is dedicated to all the girls in the crowd.” They didn’t disappoint in the slightest this second time around and I was especially stoked to hear them play one of their few well-known singles, Feel A Thing.
The last of the openers were Hot Mulligan, a band that has ventured on an absolute crazy journey. I’ve seen them open up in the small shack of Kilby Court and to their sold out show at The Loading Dock. It was a great night to see them take on one of the big stages at The Complex. Vocalist, Tans Sandville has asked the crowd, “Can Salt Lake hang?” The shout from the crowd was very minimal and made the impression that we weren’t down to get rowdy with them, after another try the entire crowd was booming with excitement and determined to let them know they were here to show up for them. It didn’t feel any different from any other time I had seen Hot Mulligan in the past besides the fact that the crowd couldn’t do any stage dives.
Knuckle Puck stepped out on stage and started off their set with a classic, Want Me Around. Their setlist was a mix of some of their older stuff along with their newer songs including those off of their newest EP, Disposable Life. It’s been awhile since I’ve been to a pop-punk show but I was glad that Knuckle Puck was the first one to kick off this year. The entire night people were crowd surfing and every time that vocalist, Joe Taylor asked for more from the crowd they happily delivered on the energy. The entire night there wasn’t a moment where the crowd wasn’t singing along and people were crowd surfing the entire night. That’s what I enjoy the most about pop punk shows is that no matter what venue it is whether it’s a small shack or a venue with a 6ft high stage, the energy all night had made it seem like we were right up on stage with them.
Comentarios