by LE Francis
I came into this show exhausted. This was a Sunday night show on the same weekend as Sleep Token’s Sunday night show. & I was not only drained mentally & physically from being crammed into a sold-out venue the night before, I was very aware that as soon as the last chords faded I had a three-hour drive home ahead of me. The anticipation of the long drive home always seems to drag me down.
It seems like I kept ending up back at The Showbox Sodo in 2023 & in some respects it’s my preferred venue in Seattle. The Sodo neighborhood has changed a lot over the years, even though my brain always seems to throw back to the sketchy Studio Seven days or that time I parked in a pay lot for a Coheed & Cambria show & came back to find a drunk guy pissing on my bumper. But things have changed. The area around the venue is a well-lit main street & the neighborhood is less cramped than downtown with ample parking & plenty of things to do within a few blocks of the venue — including a Silver Platters Records if you get in early enough.
& typically, the venue will open the bar a little bit early & you can go sit down & have a drink. At this show, I was able to get in early & slip into my favorite table at the back — the same one I haunted during Meute. & that is honestly where I stayed for most of the show.
In short, this review is written from the perspective of someone with extreme old man energy, sitting in the back of the bar, almost as far from the stage as you can get in the room. & for the most part, it’s very favorable.
Action/Adventure
The show started out with a high-energy set from Chicago-based pop-punk band Action/Adventure. Their setlist was a short seven songs — especially with one, “Barricades,” being a tight minute-long.
They were down a member that night because their bassist was at his brother’s wedding but they were using “AI” to replace him. I couldn’t tell you what the hell they were using, but from where I was sitting they sounded great.
Action/Adventure are an immensely fun band to watch — even at a distance. & though I’m not a huge pop/punk fan — admittedly The Wonder Years pulled me in because they were sad boys & Action/Adventure doesn’t really lean emo — but there’s enough of that mathy, post-hardcore influence in there to hook me nonetheless.
I also think the idea of a one-minute song is incredibly useful & innovative in the social media age — not to say I want to see songs trending that way but should every band have one one-minute, social-media friendly showpiece going forward? Couldn’t hurt.
Find out more about Action/Adventure at actadvband.com.
Sweet Pill
Sweet Pill’s set was wonderful & their energy is absolutely unmatched. The whole band is impressive but their frontwoman, Zayna Youssef, is a powerhouse live. She has a rich, alto voice that strikes a very interesting balance between the rough power of a punk singer & a smoother, more refined pop/rock tone. I realized more recently that she reminds me a bit of one of my favorite vocalists, Mia Zapata of The Gits. But there’s also a more mathy, modern rock feel to the band that reminded me pretty heavily of Hail the Sun when I reviewed their single “Starchild” — which they ultimately ended up touring with & I wish there had been PNW dates because that’s a perfect pairing in my opinion.
However, I went into this show with only the most cursory play through their music & while I loved the set, I don’t have any critiques & also don’t have a whole hell of a lot to say otherwise. But I would definitely love to see this band again sometime.
Anxious
I don’t know if I was just cranky but Anxious got off on the wrong foot with me when the lead singer decided to heckle someone in the crowd for “rolling his eyes” when they asked everyone to move forward.
First of all, you’re on the stage, I highly doubt you clearly saw someone in the back of the crowd rolling his eyes & even if you did, acknowledging it is not a power move.
Second, if someone wants to hang back & not engage in whatever clusterfuck is about to land in the pit, that’s their prerogative. I totally understand that bands have to do crowd work but I have less than zero patience with musicians that single out people for not participating or worse potentially creating unsafe situations in the pit. We’re all coming to the show with different tolerances, I’d much rather the people who don’t want to engage stay out of the pit. Which is exactly why I parked my old man ass in the bar until The Wonder Years’ second set.
& a crowd coming out to see The Wonder Years is likely to range wildly in age & neurospiciness. I’m just glad dude couldn’t see me practically nodding off in the back if he’s that easily riled. It’s not that I wasn’t enjoying the show, but my energy level couldn’t match so I stepped back & that’s fine. I paid the ticket fee, I clapped, let me enjoy the show however I can.
That said, their music was fine, they put on a great show. They just made me grumpier than I wanted to be. Can’t we all just chill?
The Wonder Years
As lead singer Dan Campbell said — there were likely OG fans in there who hadn’t even heard “The Hum Goes on Forever” & fans that had been there the whole time.
Then there was me. I’d first heard the band on their tour for “The Hum Goes on Forever” because Hot Mulligan opened for them — & I was so impressed by the few songs I caught live that I started listening to them after that. I had just fully sunk into “The Hum Goes on Forever” when they announced “The Greatest Generation” anniversary tour & I immediately got tickets & switched my fixation over to the older album.
& while “The Greatest Generation” is an amazing album & every single song has some absolutely brilliant hook in it that just refuses to leave your head, I agree 100% with Campbell that “The Hum Goes on Forever” is one of the best albums they (or anyone) have every written.
Their first set was the entirety of “The Greatest Generation” & as someone whose first listen-through of the album was this summer, my favorite song was definitely “The Devil in My Bloodstream.” I loved the song so much I even used a few lines of it as an epigraph in a poem. The song thematically felt like the absolute backbone of the album so I was so surprised when Campbell shared that the band felt like the song was a big gamble at the time — a piano ballad in the middle of a pop-punk album.
The set was greatly enriched by Campbell’s commentary. Being relatively new to their music, I really enjoyed hearing the details & Campbell reminds me a little of Rody Walker (of my all-time faves Protest the Hero) in the way he addresses the crowd – he’s earnest, a little goofy, & unafraid of sharing in an engaging way.
What it boils down to is that this was the second time I saw The Wonder Years this year & if I could have managed it I would have loved to have caught them a few more times. I’ve only recently started listening to this band & they quickly became an absolute staple for me. I’ve never really been a pop-punk fan but there’s more to the band than the OG genre, & even then I would argue that they definitely bend the edges of the genre. There is something so honest & straightforward about their music that I don’t really see in the prog/metal bands I typically listen to. I get caught up in the emotion, the intention of a band & The Wonder Years’ focus seems to be on the expressive nature of their medium & how succinctly & beautifully they can express their point & in that, they inevitably they create a masterpiece.
The last thing I’ll say: in my opinion, this is a band that never misses & if you have the opportunity to go out & see them, I would advise you not to miss either.
Verses on Verses is a biweekly music column from the perspective of a poet. Inquiries can be directed to LE Francis, lefrancis@sagecigarettes.com.
LE Francis (she/her) is the managing editor of Sage Cigarettes Magazine; a columnist & staff artist for Cream Scene Carnival Magazine; co-host & staff editor of A Ghost in the Magazine & The Annegirls Podcast; & the author of THIS SPELL OF SONG & STAR available through Bottlecap Press. She is a writer, musician, & visual artist living in the rainshadow of the Washington Cascades. Find her online at nocturnical.com.
