Pop-Punk Show Offs: State Champs

State Champs w/Our Last Night and The Dangerous Summer
Showbox, Seattle, WA
03.21.19

It’s comforting to know that, even as the world is flooded by memes about songs like “Thotiana” and “Old-Town Road,” there will always be a strong pop-punk scene buried somewhere in the depths of our streaming services. One such band, State Champs, has been a strong leader of the scene for years now, with one of the most fun and high-energy sets around.

After the tour opened with The Dangerous Summer, Our Last Night took the stage with a whole following of their own. A little more hardcore than their headliners, OLN went crazy for their set with a mix of original tracks that all their fans knew the words to and punk covers of songs like “HUMBLE.”

This is the second time I’ve seen State Champs at The Showbox, and every time, the atmosphere of their shows always shocks me. They’ve got this interesting dynamic where their music is pretty hard-hitting and goes all out, but the crowd just has the most wholesome attitude ever. Everyone on the barricade is smiling and having a great time just like the people behind them, and fans have the biggest smiles ever as they crowd-surf up to the security pit. Everyone is just so happy and carefree, partying with their favorite band, and that’s something that I’ve never seen expressed as clearly as it is at a State Champs show.

While their fans were tossed around, limbs flailing in the air, the band rocked out with their latest releases from Living Proof like “Dead and Gone” and “Lightning” as everyone sang back every word. And finally, they closed out with “Secrets,” the track that blew them up, as everyone gave their all to the end of the night.

With a killer performance and a very happy crowd, State Champs always shows up for a great night to show off what pop-punk has in store.

Review and photos by Stephanie Dore

State Champs