After a year and a half of live shows being on pause, State Champs returned to the stage to headline the 2021 Pure Noise Tour. The tour hit the road in September and also features Four Year Strong, Real Friends, Just Friends, and Bearings. The nationwide tour is currently wrapping up with two sold out shows in New York City on October 21 and 22.
Maybe not quite the world, but the band can definitely say they’ve been around the country and back this year. The tour kicked off in Nashville before heading to Charlotte, Dallas, Los Angeles, Denver, Boston and Philadelphia— where vocalist Derek DiScanio told the audience he was officially announcing the band has a finished album to be released soon.
State Champs’ most current feature length album, Living Proof, was released in 2018 and the band released a six song EP, State Champs Unplugged, in 2020.
State Champs brought a new energy to the stage at The Fillmore, kicking off their Philly set with “Secrets” and playing powerhouse jams “Elevated,” “Remedy,” and a cover of the Shawn Mendes bop “Stitches” from the band’s feature on Pop Goes Punk Vol. 7.
The set was well-orchestrated with confetti and streamers emphasizing key moments of the songs. The standing room only floor was packed with State Champs fans clearly thrilled to be back out seeing the band live; a circle pit was in full swing and DiScanio made sure to make a personal connection through pointing or a sly smile and eye contact with the many crowd surfers that floated forward throughout the night.
Toward the middle of the set, DiScanio stopped, scanning the crowd before asking: “Do we have any Fall Out Boy Fans in here?” In response to the crowd’s resounding screams and cheers indicating yes, the band played “Chicago is So Two Years Ago” of Fall Out Boy’s first feature length album, Take This to Your Grave.
The band also played a three-song encore featuring fan favorites “Dead and Gone,” “Criminal” and “All You Are is History.”
Bearings, Four Year Strong, and Real Friends also put on an incredible show. Real Friends vocalist Cody Muraro added a fresh take on some classic Real Friends songs like “Me First” and aced one of the band’s newest singles, “Storyteller.”
The Pure Noise Tour is Muraro’s first tour with the band, the latter single one he’s been involved in creating.
Muraro’s voice is smooth and warm but still strong and rough enough to rise to the emotional depth of Real Friend’s lyrics. If this tour is any indication, it’s safe to say the band is set for an incredible new era with Muraro at the helm.
“After the last year and half, we’re so grateful to be on the road again. This will be our first tour with our new vocalist Cody. It will also be the first Real Friends tour in nearly two years,” states Real Friends bassist Kyle Fasel. “We couldn’t be more stoked to share the stage with State Champs, Four Year Strong, Just Friends and Bearings. We are ready to rock out and drink coffee all across the USA.”
The tour concludes tonight and tomorrow, so if tickets are available, we recommend grabbing them up!
Few tickets opened up for NY night one for those of you that have been searching ❤️https://t.co/gOhxSu76Mb
— State Champs (@State_Champs) October 19, 2021
The Pure Noise Tour has a reputation for putting on some of the best acts in pop punk since its inaugural run in 2012 featuring The Story So Far. In previous years the tour has presented bands like Stick To Your Guns, Seaway, Counterparts, and Boston Manor, among others.
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