Yellowcard - O2 Victoria Warehouse, Manchester 13/11/2024

On the 23rd of July 2003 an album was released and made a lasting impression upon the Pop Punk and Emo scene. Tonight, Yellowcard bring their live show to Manchester to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their now infamous album, 'Ocean Avenue'. Along for the ride are This Wild Life and Story Of The Year so it’s sure to be a night to remember.

First on tonight is This Wild Life. This band is best known for its emotionally charged acoustic catalogue, covering everything from heartbreak to childhood abandonment. Formed by a duo of drummers with a love for music and a dream, they’ve become increasingly popular over the years. Throughout the duration of their set they showcased a whole host of musical talent playing various instruments over a fantastic set. ‘Positively Negative’ was an early stand out with its lightweight and upbeat feel.

Mid-set the band joked that they were going to play a classic emo cover so that the crowd knew at least one song before delivering an acoustic rendition of 'Cute Without The E' by Taking Back Sunday. They also joked about being "the 'discount' dashboard confessional". During ‘Catie Rae’ they even got some big singalongs with the lift of a ukulele. During the final song they transitioned from acoustic to full blown metal band which caught the crowd off guard but had the whole room smiling. If the crowd weren’t fans of This Wild Life they certainly are now.

Up next is Story of The Year, an American band whose music spans everything from emo to post hardcore. From the moment they took to the stage there was non-stop movement with both guitarist and bassist running around the stage, and jumping between risers. Hats off to the band as well, through all their antics and bursts of movement they don’t once miss a note. Mid-set they joke about how the band have been around for 22 years so you should have heard of them by now, fortunately for them a large percentage of the crowd have definitely heard of them meaning the energy on stage is transferred into the crowd and reciprocated.

Musically you can see the influence the band have had on a number of bands over the years with vocalist Dan Marsala often swapping between melodic cleans and raw screams. And just like that their set is over, if anything it feels like it went by far too quick.

Finally the moment is here and Yellowcard are ready to take to the stage. At this point the atmosphere in the venue is electric. First to the stage is vocalist Ryan Key who is met by a rapturous applause from the audience, followed shortly after by the rest of the band. They start the set off with 'Ocean Avenue's' two opening tracks ‘Way Away’ and ‘Breathing’. As soon as the first vocal line of 'Way Away' starts the room is filled with the voices of the crowd. Key introduces the band and thanks the crowd for coming out before breaking into ‘Lights and Sounds’ from the 2006 album of the same name. 

Key explains to the crowd that last year 'Ocean Avenue' turned 20 years old and whilst the album is of huge importance to them it’s also a celebration of all the music that Yellowcard have written and recorded over the years. It’s interesting to see a band decide to make this choice. We currently seem to be in a musical period where the bands that have held it together are celebrating anniversary’s of their albums by touring and playing the album front to back. Whilst this is exciting there’s also guaranteed to be a few tracks on these albums which the crowd don’t all gel with so breaking up an album play-through by including songs from across the catalogue is a great approach and it’s clearly well received by the crowd tonight; many amongst the crowd expressed their excitement at hearing songs they weren’t expecting to hear. 

Musically, Yellowcard may fall into the pop punk and emo bracket but there is so much more to this band and something that really sets them apart from the rest of the bands of a similar time is their extremely enthusiastic Violin player Sean Mackin. The use of violin in punk sticks out but it fits so perfectly amongst the melodic riffs and adds a whole new layer of emotion to the songs. Mackin is also a superb showman often running about the stage, pointing at the crowd and jumping from the risers. The rest of the band are also notably active, throwing in all the classic pop punk moves that you’d expect at a show like this. 

As previously mentioned, it's not just songs from 'Ocean Avenue' tonight, and whilst songs from that album receive a huge reception so do the other songs. Included in tonight's set is ‘Childhood Eyes’ taken from the band's latest EP which for some people in the room is the first time hearing it live, and as for any fan hearing a song live that they haven’t heard played before, it's an exciting moment. ‘Always Summer’ also brings big singalongs and whips the crowd in a frenzy of jumping and dancing along. But the song which gets the biggest reception of the night is the final song of the set and the most anticipated of the night, 'Ocean Avenue'. Finishing off on such an iconic song felt like the perfect way to bring the night to a close, with every single person in room belting the words back.

It's been an amazing night, seeing a band who have been the soundtrack to many people's teenage years play those songs live is always special, but tonight truly felt like a celebration of everything that Yellowcard have achieved throughout their career and a sign that they likely still have more to give.