It feels like it’s been a while since they did a proper tour, but on Wednesday night A Day To Remember came to Newark, NJ. The Least Anticipated Album Tour, as it’s called, came roaring to Prudential Center and I was there. This show was part of the North To Shore festival that is made up of several shows across the state of NJ that was launched last summer. I can say without a doubt, that this was the heaviest show of the festival.
Coming out swinging was LI’s own Pain Of Truth. The last few years the band has become the princes of hardcore, and they did not hold back. Their set was short, but furious. Honestly, I didn’t know the band before I saw them, but they whipped the crowd into a frenzy. I am not sure how many times Prudential Center has had shows with circle pits, but Pain Of Truth had a huge pit going as soon as they started playing.
Next up was were scene heavyweights Four Year Strong. FYS have been a band since 2001 and they are always super tight live, and Wednesday was no exception. Starting with the song “Brain Pain” it was clear that a lot people at the show were fans of the band, singing along to every song, and crowd surfing over the barricade. The whole band looked like they were just having a lot of fun playing live, and that energy translated to every fan.
Story so Far were up next. Ripping through a 45 minute set, they focused mostly on their new EP, “I Want To Disappear” which came out last week. The band sounded great live, but frontman Parker Cannon didn’t really move much beyond some clapping and raising a fist in the air from time to time. But honestly, no one in the crowd seemed to care. Older songs like “Nerve” and “Roam” were definite highlights and the audience responded energetically.
It was about 30 minutes for changeover, which honestly felt like it was too long. Eventually though, the Rocky Theme started playing over the speakers and the crowd erupted. A Day To Remember took the stage towards the end of the song and ripped into a crowd favorite instantly, “Sticks and Bricks”. And just like that, we were off. ADTR did something you don’t see very often, they had confetti for the first song. We didn’t know it at the time but this was just a small preview of what was to come.
A Day To Remember started off so strong. “All I want” and “2nd Sucks” rounded out the first few songs and they were all well loved songs. It seemed like ADTR were there to make sure the crowd was getting their favorites right off the bat. Frontman Jeremy McKinnon has always been energetic and commanding, and this show was no exception. As they worked their way down the setlist, the crowd seemed to get more energetic as the time went. Not even half way through, “Violence” erupted with several circle pits while the pyro and carbon dioxide exploded on the stage. The security definitely had their hands full- the crowd surfers never stopped coming over the barricade. I don’t think Prudential gets many shows with that kind of energy.
The next song up was “Mindreader” and somehow it felt like it was all ratcheted up. Again. McKinnon suggested that the crowd tried to crowd surf on top of another crowd surfer like a…well, surfboard. He did warn them beforehand: “What I told you to do is dangerous and you should not do it… but if you do not die this could be one of the moments you look back on.” I can say that more than a few people succeed. Albeit not in the smoothest fashion.
I have personally seen ADTR play probably close to 10 times and this was definitely one of their best shows that I have seen. It’s not easy for a band to be around as long as they have and still put on such a great show. Their mix of brutal screams between choruses everyone sings along to have definitely kept them at the top of their game for 15 years. The set list was a great mix of old favorites and a few newer songs. They even ripped into a cover of Kelly Clarkson’s “Since You’ve Been Gone” which they blamed on a request from their new bass player, Bob Lynge. The crowd chanted Bobby’s name in approval.
McKinnon said several times that the setlist was a bit of an experiment, and that they were playing songs they don’t normally play. I know there were a bunch of excited people who got to hear some of their favorite songs. Right before the encore they played the acoustic driven sing along, “If It Means a Lot to You”. Thousands of cell phones lit up the arena. It was really beautiful.
The band played a 23 song set filled with confetti, CO2 cannons, fire and hits. Hits on hits. It was almost 11pm when the show ended after the 2 song encore, “It’s Complicated” and probably the bands’ biggest song, “The Downfall of Us All.” By the time it was all said and done, thousands of people were left sweaty and smiling, covered in streamers and confetti. I had friends with me at the show and other friends in the audience, and everyone I spoke to talked about what a great time they had. Not a bad Wednesday night in NJ, that is for sure.
Review and photos by: Keeyahtay Lewis
Instagram and Twitter @ Keeyahtay