#ThrowbackThursday State Champs celebrates 10 years of ‘Around The World And Back’ with sold-out show at Brooklyn Paramount | Photos & Review

April 23, 2026 Leave a comment

It’s no secret that State Champs has become one of modern pop-punk’s most influential acts over the last two decades. With over 830K monthly Spotify listeners, countless sold-out tours worldwide, and five full-length albums under their belt, the Albany four-piece first solidified their rise in the scene with their seminal 2015 record Around The World And Back. The band kicked off the new year celebrating the album’s immense impact with a short run of shows across the United States, including a sold-out show at NYC’s Brooklyn Paramount on Jan. 16th. 

Openers for each show varied, with Brooklyn being lucky enough to get Broadside, Real Friends, and Cartel all in one night. Frontman Oliver Baxxter took complete control of the stage beneath him as soon as Broadside’s set began with “I Think They Know.” With their fifth album now weeks away from release, the Virginia pop-rockers gave Brooklyn a taste of their most recent singles while still showing some love to older fan-favorite tracks. It’s almost impossible to describe the emotions radiating off the crowd during “Coffee Talk,” with every word of the band’s most well-known hit echoing throughout the venue. This was my first time being able to catch Broadside live despite listening to them since 2018 and it was everything I could’ve hoped for and more.

Real Friends was the next band on this stacked lineup, delivering a set full of catharsis, healing and pure pop-punk. You can check out my full review of Real Friends’ opening slot here. 

Cartel was the final opener of the night, intensifying the energy with a set full of 2000s nostalgia. The pop-punk icons began making music over 20 years ago and just recently made a massive resurgence in the scene last year. You’d never be able to tell, however, because the way they carry themselves on stage makes it seem as though they’d never left. It was fun to watch Cartel power through their massively influential hits while the crowd sang their hearts out alongside frontman Will Pugh. 

Even though it felt like the crowd had already exhausted all their energy for the three openers, Brooklyn Paramount came alive when it was time for State Champs. The 2,700 capacity venue was transported back to 2015 as the band performed a full playthrough of Around The World And Back. One of my favorite moments from the beginning of the night was the confetti that consumed the room as soon as “Secrets” began. It created a beautiful scene around me as fans frantically tried catching the falling pieces while singing their hearts out. 

State Champs shows aren’t complete without frontman Derek DiScanio and bassist Ryan Scott Graham running around like madmen. The energy that radiates off these two is seriously impressive as their stamina never falters for the entire hour and a half that they’re on stage. You can tell how much the band genuinely loves to connect with the audiences in front of them just by watching them. With every high kick, headbang and mid-air jump, State Champs is always prepared to give the crowd one hell of a show no matter where they are in the world.

There were two parts of the night that I was anticipating the most (and predictably lost my mind during). “Perfect Score” and “All or Nothing” have been in my top 10 State Champs songs since I started listening to the band in middle school. Getting to hear these tracks live, along with the rest of this quintessential record, was a seriously surreal feeling. Another surreal moment that found me losing my mind was when DiScanio welcomed Daisy Grenade on stage to perform “Around The World And Back” with them. I watched this happen when the alt-pop duo opened for State Champs in 2024, but this time was double the surprise and even more beautiful than the first.

Not only did State Champs rip through all 13 tracks on Around The World And Back, they came back out for an encore full of fan-favorites from the rest of their eras. “Elevated” and “Everybody But You” served as an epic finale to a night full of nostalgia, community and chaos, with massive mosh pits and endless crowdsurfers raging on until the very last chord. 

Whether you were there for the album’s release 10 years ago or recently discovered them 10 days ago, this show was the perfect embodiment of all that Around The World And Back has come to stand for since its release. This night was more than just a trip down memory lane–it was a celebration of the raw passion and authenticity that State Champs has brought to the genre for the last two decades. I’ve been able to see the band five times now, but this time around certainly showed them at their biggest and best yet. If I had to give the band rating, State Champs would definitely earn a “Perfect Score” from me. 

Review & Photography by Amber Bintliff

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The Word Alive hosted a 10 yr anniversary of “Deceiver” virtual show | Review

October 1, 2020 Leave a comment

  • Photo by @vdwyer 

Just over ten years ago, The Word Alive released their debut album, titled “Deceiver.” Last summer, they did a tour where they played this album in full, and recently (just over a year after that tour), the band did a virtual show to commemorate this anniversary one final time.

The band’s setlist consisted of “Deceiver” in its entirety, from the popular singles “Epiphany,” “The Hounds Of Anubis,” “The Wretched,” and “2012,” to some of the more underrated tracks like “Dream Catcher,” “You’re All I See,” “Consider It Mutual,” and “Epiphany,” songs that didn’t appear much in their setlist until the tour they embarked on last summer (which I attended the Denver date of), where they played this album in full. One major difference between the setlist for that tour and the setlist for this virtual show is the fact that this time around, the band also played a couple of the tracks that were on the deluxe edition of this album – “Lights & Stones” and “Apologician,” as well as a cover of Kanye West’s “Heartless.”

There were quite a few things that stood out about the performance in this virtual show. For instance, this record has many impressive guitar solos, and those solos really grabbed my attention during this performance. In addition, this band puts a lot of emotion and passion into not only their music and lyrics but also their live performances, and this performance was no different; I feel like that emotion and passion really shined through during this show.

“Deceiver” is an important album in The Word Alive’s history as a band and this virtual show was a great way to celebrate a decade since its release.

Review courtesy of Megan Langley | Instagram

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Miss May I & The Word Alive celebrate 10 Year Anniversary of “Monument” & “Deceiver” ft Afterlife, Rozu, & Thousand Below | Photos + Review

August 19, 2019 Leave a comment

In the summer of 2010, two of some of the biggest bands in the metalcore and post-hardcore scene released what could arguably be some of the most important albums in their careers. Miss May I released their sophomore record “Monument” on August 16th, and exactly two weeks later, The Word Alive dropped their debut album “Deciever.” With the ten-year anniversary of both of these albums almost right around the corner, both bands embarked on a co-headlining North American tour to celebrate the occasion, bringing along Afterlife and Thousand Below to support them, as well as having some up-and-coming bands from certain areas open up their local date of the tour. 

Opening up the night was Denver-based metalcore band Rozu. Though their set was only twenty minutes, they put everything into their performance and put on a really good show. They played the four singles that they have out currently (“Dissolve,” “Divide,” “Faceless,” and “Anchor”), as well as an unreleased track called “Rue.”. The band’s metalcore sound showed through the energy and aggression found throughout their live set, and their performance overall really impressed me. 

Next up was Florida-based band Afterlife. The band dropped their debut LP “Breaking Point” back in January of this year, and primarily included songs from that in their setlist: “PSA,” “Throat,” “Broken Home,” “New Rage,” and “Giving Back The Pain.” However, they still made room in their set for an older track, which was “Vicious Cycle,” the title track from their debut EP of the same name. The band mixes elements from various types of rock, and particularly alternative rock and nu-metal, and that blend of influences showed really well through their set and the songs they chose for it. 

The third band on the bill was Thousand Below. The band opened the set with their latest single “Chemical,” which is one of the most melodic (and in my personal opinion, one of the catchiest) tracks that they’ve released so far. They followed that up with two more of my favorite songs of theirs, debut single “Sinking Me” and “The Love You Let Too Close,” the title track from their debut album that came out last year. The remainder of the set was filled with a few more songs from that album: “Vein,” which is one of the band’s most aggressive tracks and one that really got the crowd moving, “No Place Like You” and “Tradition.” The band has always stood out to me in the post-hardcore genre and their live performance was further proof of that. 

Second to last was The Word Alive, who began the set by playing their album “Deceiver” from start to finish in honor of the anniversary. This album in particular is one of their much more aggressive records, but also has plenty of powerful and memorable choruses and some meaningful lyrics, so as much as their set had the crowd moshing and surfing, it had them singing along for the hour long set. After those ten songs were finished, the band played some of their more recent tracks – “Trapped,” the lead single off of their 2016 album “Dark Matter,” “Misery,” a single that was released on its own awhile after the album dropped, and “Why Am I Like This?,” which is a song from their latest album “Violent Noise” and one of my personal favorites of theirs. 

Closing out the night was Miss May I, who played not only all the songs found on Monument when it first dropped, but also the tracks found on the deluxe reissue. After that, they concluded their set with three different songs that spanned from their entire discography: “Hey Mister” from “At Heart,” “Forgive and Forget” and “Shadows Inside,” the title track from their most recent release. They easily played one of the heaviest sets of the night, with people moshing and crowd surfing almost instantly, and put so much energy into their performance as well. 

This tour was my first time seeing all of these bands, and I loved it. Everyone on the lineup put on a great performance, and this tour was a great way to commemorate and celebrate the anniversary of two important albums for this genre of music.

7/30/2019 – Photos + Review courtesy of Megan Langley | Instagram

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