One of my favorite types of experiences is seeing a band live for the first time, and not realizing how much of their music you are actually familiar with. The first time I got to see A Day to Remember was when they played the Las Rageous festival in 2018 in Vegas. I had always heard the bands name before, but at that time hadn’t given them the time to really sit and listen to their music. None the less, song after song I quickly realized I knew, and was awoken to the fact that I had been a unknown fan all along. They have since come to Southern California a couple times, but something always came up and I could never get the chance to see them again. Finally, when they came to the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, CA on their Least Anticipated Album Tour, I was able to see them and truly appreciate them live. Bringing with them The Story So Far, Four Year Strong, and Scowl, fans dug their giant cartoony easycore monster merch out of the closet for a chance to go wild for A Day to Remember.

Opening the night was a relatively newer band known as Scowl from Santa Cruz, CA. These hardcore punkers were ready to get the show started playing hard and fast. Fronted by Kat Moss, who comes out looking like an emo pop punk princess. But don’t let her looks fool you, as she unleashes a vicious roar of a voice. Screaming with a deafening passion of anger, you can’t help but be captivated. In between singing, screaming, she could be seen flowing between two stepping and prancing across the stage. Backed by guitarist Malachi Greene and Mikey Bifolco, who blend the distortion of crunchy guitar work with driving melodies. Bassist Bailey Lupo and drummer Cole Gilbert Helped to keep the frenetic energy going song after song letting the crowd warm up their headbanging muscles for the night. Though they only had a 30 minute set, they whipped through 13 songs that never let the pace up like “Retail Hell,” “Shot Down,” “Petty Selfish Cretin,” “Psychic Dance Routine,” “Wired,” “Roots,” “Bloodhound, “Dead to Me,” “Sold Out,” “Four Walls,” “My Turn 2 Play,” “Fuck Around,”  and ending with “Opening Night.” Scowl left an impression on every person who got to the venue for the start of the show, and I can see big things coming for them soon.

Up next is a band I have seen a few times in smaller venues, that being Four Year Strong. The energy these guys always brought to those shows filled the entire room, and the fans couldn’t help but turn the place into a underground hardcore show. So, I was excited to see how they would handle an arena like the Forum. Kicking things off with “Brain Pain,” Four Year Strong was ready to see the crowd moving for them. Co-vocalist and co-guitarist Alan Day sings as if he’s trying to blow out his vocal cords. He wants not only the instrumentals of the band to get people excited, but his screams to amp up the crowd just as much. Fellow co-vocalist and co-guitarist Dan O’Connor performs with just as much passion as Day. Bassist Joe Weiss and drummer Jake Massucco are in perfect sync carrying the low end of each song. It was Four Year Strong that finally got the crowd surfers to get on people’s shoulders and come barreling over the barricade. This continued through their whole set which featured songs like “It Must Really Suck to Be Four Year Strong Right Now,” “uncooked,” “daddy of mine,” “We All Float Down Here,” “Get Out of My Head,” “Heroes Get Remembered, Legends Never Die,” and ending with “Wasting Time (Eternal Summer).” I went into this set wondering if Four Year Strong could bring their energy to fill all the Forum, and they absolutely could.

Then it was time for The Story So Far. This band was the one I was the least familiar with, which made them so much more exciting to see. Opening with their song “Big Blind” and you can feel the big moving pop punk melodies that guitarists Kevin Geyer and Will Levy crafted. They played with such brightness and an uplifting mood that you could not help but just bounce and vibe with the music even if you were not familiar with it. For being the vocalist and front man of a pop punk band, singer Parker Cannon was very reserved behind the microphone. I heard from a fan in the crowd later that it is a joke about the band that Cannon purposely does not move around much on stage, but instead just sings and hides behind the mic. While drummer Ryan Torf blasted away on the kit, providing the groove and beats that let the mosh pits run wild. Though fans were casually crowd surfing, The Story So Far is what really started putting security to work to catch the fans, as they came over the barricade during songs like “Roam,” “All This Time,” “High Regard,” “Out of It,” “Letterman,” “Heavy Gloom,” “Bad Luck,” “Things I Can’t Change,” “Nerve,” “Watch You Go,” “Keep This Up,” and ending with “Proper Dose.” Throughout their set, I just continued to grow as a fan. I love walking into any show, not knowing a band, and leaving with new music that I get to listen to on the daily.

Once it was time for A Day to Remember to hit the stage, they wanted to kick the show off with a band. Starting their set off with “Sticks & Bricks,” as soon as vocalist Jeremy McKinnon came in with his first scream, a huge confetti explosion happened, coating the entire Kia Forum in raining confetti. The fans ignited their untapped reserve of energy to let themselves go wild for the remainder of the show. Guitarists Neil Westfall and Kevin Skaff are a dynamic duo with the catalog of pop punk iconic riffs they have created, and getting to watch them perform them live enhances any experience listening to these songs in the future. While drummer Alex Shelnutt carried the energy of the show behind his kit. Driving the melody of the song when needed, staying in the pocket, and crashing on the cymbals during breakdowns. A Day to Remember is a majestic fine tuned machine of pop punk bliss through and through.

A Day to Remember has been performing to fans for over two decades now, knows how to craft an entertaining show. Other than surrounding their stage with blasts of cryo canon’s and setting off pyro to help enhance some of their best breakdowns. During “Mindreader” McKinnon called on the fans to become legends of the crowd surfing game and told the fans to ride other crowd surfers like a surfboard. Fans fought to stand up on each other and ride the human waves of the ocean, some new legends were born as they managed to make it all the way to the shore of security catching them. With “Have Faith in Me,” McKinnon wanted to see all the female fans on their boyfriend’s shoulders. But one of the biggest surprises/fan favorite moments was when current touring bassist Bobby Lynge was asked what song he wanted the band to play, and he picked a song McKinnon has fought to keep off the setlist for the last 10 years. But since Lynge wanted it, the band shot into their notorious cover of Kelly Clarkson’s “Since You’ve Been Gone.” A Day to Remember gave the fans a wide birth of songs from their entire discography that left every fan happy with the songs we got to hear.

Seeing A Day to Remember back in 2018 and then having to wait six years to see them again was too long, but the wait was worth it. This time I knew all the songs for sure and was able to sing along and lose myself in he ecstasy of the moment. I wasn’t the only one on this life high, as the whole crowd continued to lose themselves through the show. Scowl, Four Year Strong, and The Story So Far all brought killer sets that satisfied the live music need of the fans. But it was A Day to Remember that sent all the fans home happy, and yet still yearning for more and not wanting to wait till the next time they were in town.