The Wonder Years hit the road this year for their “No Closer To Heaven” ten year anniversary tour. Their latest stop being a sold out show in San Diego, CA. The tour is for their 2015 studio album No Closer To Heaven, with the promise to play the entire album front to back. Including reimagined hits from their latest EP Burst & Decay.
With the stylings of a pop-punk band, who also adds some indie, hardcore punk and melodic rock, I was in for a treat. Fans were talking amongst themselves, but when the lights dimmed and the fog machines started rolling, the energy in the room shifted to an instant chaotic crowd.
Lead singer, Dan Campbell had the crowd in awe when he hit the stage. Starting the show with “No Closer To Heaven”, Dan entered the stage with an acoustic guitar in hand. Striking the chords to the song, Dan held his head low, almost as if the music was taking over him. The crowd became quiet and some even had their phone lights on. Swaying along to the music, fans were connecting with each other.
Once the song ended, the rest of the band came on stage, the roaring ensued and “Brothers &” started up. Dan was jumping with joy and making connections with the fans right in front of him. It was the perfect intro for fan favorite, “Cardinals”. Fans started going crazy, it wasn’t long until there were multiple crowd surfers hanging around.
It wasn’t hard to see why their fans love them, lyrically, their song themes are very emotional. Often consisting of mental health, grief, finding hope with pain inside and longing for nostalgia, fans of all types of backgrounds can relate to the music. It’s songs like these that can leave the most impact in life.
Partnering up with This Must Be The Place, The Wonder Years have been giving out free Narcan during every show of this tour. Their mission is to give out life saving overdose reversal medication to every fan that attends. The life saving medication can be found at their merch tables, it’s their mission to have those focus on community care and harm reduction by making it easy for fans to have access to this medication.
If you want to have a great time to let loose and just feel the music, this tour is the place to be. It’s a safe space for many and it could be for you too. I would recommend checking out The Wonder Years if you haven’t yet. You don’t want to miss this show.
Full Gallery: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCNzGW
