Most of us have plenty to offer when push comes to shove, but let me start off by saying that the band Fireworks and its supporting acts offered one of the best pop-punk experiences I have ever been to.
The “All I Have To Offer Is This Tour, Tour,” which consisted of pop-punk acts Fireworks, The Swellers, Man Overboard and Transit has been touring the United States for months and made its stop in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., on Saturday, Sept. 25, to fill the small but homey venue, The Loft.
I attended the show, which has been heralded as the best tour of the year by many pop-punk fans, with high expectations and excitement at the prospect of seeing some of the best bands in the unfortunately somewhat lackluster pop-punk scene.
The Massachusetts band Transit began the extravaganza as the first opening group and started off their sweat-filled set with “Stay Home,” igniting the crowd as they ran toward the stage singing in an adrenaline-filled rush. Transit’s hardcore influenced style of pop-punk resonated with the crowd, as they mixed muchloved songs such as “Please, Head North” with songs from their newest album Keep This To Yourself and left the stage to a crowd that obviously appreciated their resistance to the pop movement that has infected the scene.
Man Overboard, a New Jersey band who has recently made waves within the scene, came onto the stage next and immediately made an impact. The band opened the set with a three song explosion of pop-punk glory. “Real Talk,” the titular track off their latest album, started off the set with an outburst of guitar and sing alongs that seemingly never ended throughout their entire set. However, the true gem of the night came as Man Overboard ended with their classic song, “Love Your Friends, Die Laughing” which captured the audience for one last moment as they left, giving way to The Swellers.
The Swellers came onto the stage next and treated the audience to their no-nonsense but catchy music. The Michigan native band played a mixture of songs from their recently released Ups and Downsizing and lead singer Nick Diener continued what the two bands before them did and captured the crowd as they played one of my favorite Sweller’s songs, “2009.”
Fireworks headlined the show and greeted the crowd with the infectious “I Support Same Sex Marriage,” featuring sing alongs and ample amounts of chants. The Detroit, M.I., natives kept the audience going with gang vocal filled songs from all their releases including “When We Stand on Each Other’s Shoulders We Block Out The Sun” and “From Mountain Movers To Lazy Losers,” and never let the palpable energy leave the room. Song after song kept building up and as Fireworks finally reached their closing track “Detroit” the floor of the venue was literally vibrating and the sea of fans moved as one as everyone reached their hands towards the stage. The climactic gang vocals at the end of the song reached their final notes, and gave the audience one last burst of energy before the shows conclusion.
“The All I Have To Offer Is This Tour, Tour” is what pop-punk shows are meant to be like, and featured four of the best bands the genre has to offer. I left the show, battered, bruised and without a voice – and I loved it. All four of the bands on the tour gave me hope that one day soon the neon clad haircut bands of the present day scene will be ousted by bands that care about music and not their looks.