What is the number one drug on the market right now? I’d have to say that it’s nostalgia. The feeling of younger days, when life felt simpler, and the pressures of the world and bills didn’t exist. To me, there’s no better way of injecting that shot of nostalgia than listening to music that takes you back to those times, and there’s no tour package doing it better right now than Yellowcard’s Up Up Down Down Tour featuring New Found Glory and Plain White T’s. Not only does the tour name remind us of our childhood playing Super Nintendo, but these pop punk bands were consistently playing on the radio throughout our high school years. This tour brought in so many fans that the Observatory had to transform their parking lot into a mini festival grounds just to hold all of us.

Opening the show was Plain White T’s who were excited to get the show started with their song “Feeling (More Like) Myself.” The crowd was already filling up early as fans didn’t want to miss any band, and Tom Higgenson mentioned how much they appreciate that the fans want to get there for the openers on this tour. Plain White T’s have music that flows between upbeat pop punk songs, and softer easy listening tracks. This is helped by guitarist Tim G. Lopez switching out his electric and acoustic guitar, and his technique in finding the perfect melody for each song. Bassist Mike Retondo and drummer De’Mar Randell Hamilton kept the groove and feel for the fans to lock in with each song. Plain White T’s had a solid set featuring classics like “Hate (I Really Don’t Like You),” “Would You Even,” “Anything 4 U,” “1, 2, 3, 4,” “Rhythm of Love,” the seminal “Hey There Delilah,” and ending with “Our Time Now.” The crowd was more than warm; they were excited to have seen Plain White T’s and were ready for another dopamine hit of nostalgia.

This was my first time seeing New Found Glory and they exploded onto the stage ready to bring some of the biggest energy of the show. They’ve been performing for nearly three decades, and they’re still performing like it’s Warped Tour 2005. From jumping around the stage, dancing, and hyping up the crowd to vocalist Jordan Pundik making the girls go weak in the knees, New Found Glory felt like they were still in their 20s working for the fans. Bassist Ian Grushka was the clown of the group, constantly making goofy faces and having zany antics at the crowd. Filling in on guitar was Four Year Strong member Dan O’Connor who fit the vibe of NFG easily throwing kicks and screams out over the crowd. Drummer Cyrus Bolooki kept the beat strong and moving. I never would have guessed that NFG would have gotten a mosh pit moving as much as they did, but starting from two pits on opposite sides of the venue, they collided to create one massive whirlwind of people crashing into each other. New Found Glory kept this momentum going through their entire set featuring songs like “A Love Song,” “Understatement,” “Hit or Miss,” “Head on Collision,” “All Downhill From Here,” “Hold My Hand,” “Something I Call Personality,” “Laugh it Off,” “Dressed to Kill,” “Failure’s Not Flattering,” “Beer and Blood Stains,” “Part of Your World,” “Truth of My Youth,” “Sincerely Me,” and ending with “My Friends Over You.” Somehow this was my first New Found Glory show, and I regret not having seen them yet after experiencing this performance.

Before our headliner could take the stage, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man invaded the stage, stomping around like it was 1984 New York. When the Ghostbusters theme song played over the speaker, a Ghostbuster entered the fight to take down the marshmallow man. Instead of shooting proton beams, this buster was loaded with a t-shirt cannon to take down the marshmallow man. Through his harrowing feats of bravery, many lucky fans walked away with a free souvenir shirt, and the marshmallow man was defeated. This set the tone for what was to come, as we knew we were in for a fun time.

It was then that we heard a guitar screech as Ryan Mendez took the stage playing the “Top Gun Theme Song.” As the momentum of the song built up, the rest of the band took the stage joining Mendez on the song. Something about this song just makes you feel proud of whatever you are looking at, and we were here to look at Yellowcard. It was then that we got the song “Better Days” and the fans were ready to lose their minds.

Yellowcard has been such a staple of the mid-2000s pop punk scene that vocalist Ryan Key’s voice just sounds like coming home to something familiar and comforting. As he also plays rhythm guitar, he refuses to be stuck behind the mic stand, finding any opportunity to move around the stage and play it up for the fans. Lead guitarist Ryan Mendez and bassist Josh Portman are working the stage the entire time, making sure every fan gets a full live experience. But the standout performer must be Sean Mackin on violin. He’s a big part of what makes Yellowcard’s music stand out from the rest of the pop punk scene. He is just as much of a character on stage as the rest of the band, performing for the fans on the barricade as well as the fans at the back of the stage.

An intimate moment that Yellowcard brought to their show was when they switched to their Bedroom Stage setup. This brought the energy down a bit and made it feel like the show was taking place in a bedroom just for us, featuring songs like “You Broke Me Too,” “Back Home,” “Big Blue Eyes,” and “Empty Apartment.” With this softer side, each attendee felt like Yellowcard was performing just for themselves, and no one else was at the show.

Yellowcard brought back the high energy with a back half of songs that got the mosh pit moving again, crowd surfers barreling over the barricade, and allowing fans to just headbang and forget about the world, featuring some of their biggest hits like “Five Becomes Four,” “Lights and Sounds,” “Lift a Sail,” “City of Angels,” “Breathing,” “Only One,” “Bedroom Posters,” and ending with the pop punk classic “Ocean Avenue.”

We all took a big hit of the drug nostalgia this night. The show may have ended, but the high from the music from Plain White T’s, New Found Glory, and Yellowcard was going to last till the sun came up the next day. If you grew up during the heyday of pop punk music, this tour is a must-see. This show was only the halfway point of the tour, and there are many more stops to catch them on.