Yellowcard with This Wild Life & Story of the Year, O2 Victoria Warehouse, Manchester.

It’s been 20 years since Ocean Avenue came out and Yellowcard had graced us with a life changing album. After an almost ten year break the pop punk legends are back on the scene. After forming in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1997 the band released Ocean Avenue in 2003 taking their newly found fame to another level and making a staple of a song for the emo scene. The album is now certified double platinum and platinum in the US, they’re back in Manchester for an insane show at Victoria Warehouse with some friends that they’ve brought with them, This Wild Life and Story Of The Year.

This Wild Life are an acoustic rock duo from Long Beach, California consisting of Kevin Jordan on vocals and guitar and Anthony Del Grosso on guitar, the band have been around since 2010 and have toured with some of pop punk’s most famous bands during their career. The last time I saw This Wild Life was almost ten years ago supporting Sleeping With Sirens. They’re known for pulling at your heart strings with slow heartbreaking and down to earth lyrics. Some may think they’re too slow for a support act but I’d say differently, despite their slow tempo throughout their set they have a way of engaging the audience with their lyrics in such a captivating way.

Halfway through their set they give the audience a history lesson and their deep connection with headlining band Yellowcard. Before jumping into their very first song which gets the crowd singing along and arms swaying in the air.

Kevin Jordan’svoice is so incredibly soft and welcoming when performing it’s like if Jeremy from A Day To Remember forever stayed in his soft tones and tempo, kind of perfect if you’re like me and have a sad playlist on your phone for whenever you feel like making yourself sad but happy at the same time. Don’t ask me how that’s possible, it just is.

Setlist:

Clouded
Positively Negative
History
Cute Without the ‘E’
Catie Rae/ Country Roads, Take Me Home
Ripped Away
No More Waiting

Very different vibe came up right after with Story Of The Year, an American rock band formed in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1995. Veterans to the scene some people could say, taking over the iconic Warped Tour in the past and being on many emos playlists throughout the years. Story Of The Year is the definition of hype and energy. They have non-stop energy from start to finish of their set, jumping from platform to platform and running to every section of the stage and as many jumps you can think of. Story Of The Year are another band that captivate their audience with their incredible meaningful lyrics that have always been just next level.

For me this is my first time catching their set despite hearing their songs for years. And they do not disappoint at all! They get you warmed up and put a smile on your face and make everyone go absolutely nuts and they know they can do that you can just tell with the energy they give off, they know they have the power to get you going. The bassist sporting a “MAGA are just fascists” vest is just the icing on the cake, and very on brand for them. The skills of everyone in the band to move around at the levels they do and play every single chord with no trouble and no misses is incredible, they played amazing, they brought the atmosphere needed to carry into the headline act. Amazing set.

Setlist:

Tear Me to Pieces
War
And the Hero Will Drown
Anthem of Our Dying Day
The Antidote
Real Life
Sidewalks
“Is This My Fate?” He Asked Them
Until the Day I Die

And finally it’s time for the main band of the night, Yellowcard, to return to the music scene after almost ten years of being away. Back in 2015 the band went on their farewell tour after announcing that after a long career run that they were going to disband, but clearly they weren’t done yet after making an incredible return at Slam Dunk Festival last year. And in their own words at that show was that they couldn’t even remember the reasoning for wanting to stop being a band in the first place so here they are ready to make a return.

With this being 20 years of their iconic album Ocean Avenuethe place was well and truly packed out, as it should be. The guys made it to the stage and kicked off the night with Way Away, one thing to note about this setlist is that despite them doing the album as a 20 year celebration there’s some others from other records thrown into the mix as well, this isn’t your regular anniversary tour with the album being done in full, this is more a career celebration as the new era takes centre stage.

Yellowcard have this unique feature in their performances that involve violins for every one of their songs, and until you see a pop punk band play with a violinist jumping up into the air whilst playing some killer notes I have a feeling that you just haven’t lived now have you?

Gigs like this are always amazing, the people in the crowd with you are the best kind to be around and everyone is just purely living in the moment. I don’t know if it’s a generational thing but I didn’t see a crowd full of phones throughout this entire performance. The high kicks take full effect as well as typical pop punk jumping into the air with the guitars. Vocalist Ryan Key, has managed to improve his vocals even more during their break and has actually got a high pitched vocal range now which I swear it should be the other way around, but the man has clearly just beaten the norm with this one, he’s hitting the notes for all of these songs with little to no effort needed.

Sean Mackin looked like he was on a spring board with how high he managed to jump whilst playing the violin during every song which is actually an impressive skill and I left that show needing to know how that was simply done.

You cannot simply fault or dislike a Yellowcard performance. I honestly feel like it’s actually impossible. Everyone has heard a Yellowcard song and if you say you haven’t you either don’t listen to that kind of music or you are just simply lying to yourself. To make every single fan in that room insanely happy, they did something no one was expecting which was surprising everyone in that room with an exclusive listening to a brand new song yet to be released, the song is incredible you can take that from me it’s a typical Yellowcard sounding song that’s all you need to know, that a). It’s amazing and b). They’re back!