Celebrating 20 Years of Ocean Avenue Tour: Syracuse, NY
(August 17th - Syracuse, NY) This Wild Life kicked things off for us full swing with an acoustic guitar. Perfect for an upcoming nostalgic night full of early 00 emo songs, and even performed a cover of Blink 182's I Miss You. Fans seemed to enjoy the "Hot Topic Mumford & Sons" as they kept referring to themselves as.
In-between each set, Emo Night Brooklyn took to the stage fueling us with all the essential emo classics. At first, the crowd was not quite sure how to handle this, but they were all singing along to songs from artists like My Chemical Romance, Taking Back Sunday, Pierce The Veil, and more!
Next up we had the heaviest act on the bill post-hardcore act, Story Of The Year, which feature their loud guitars, and massive singalong choruses. The band is also celebrating 20 years of their award winning album, Page Avenue. The band played through seven tracks, including songs from their new album Tear Me To Pieces and the anniversary album, Page Avenue. Mid set, frontman Dan Marsala had to stop and take note of the flocks of birds flying outside the left side of the amphitheater which were flying around just like the music video from their track, Anthem Of Our Dying Day.
It was a full circle moment as fans sang along- "And this is the moment that I live for." Finishing strong with their mega hit- Until The Day I Die.
Mayday Parade hit the stage next, immediately jumping for joy. They had an action packed set of eight tracks including their emo classics: Jersey, and Jamie All Over. Fans were screaming these deep cuts right back at the band, even louder than before. Overall, the amphitheater itself was packed full of Emo's of all ages at this point and overflowing some into the lawn area which made it feel like Warped Tour all over again.
As the sun started to go down, Yellowcard took the stage. The band is also celebrating 20 years for their Emo Cult Classic- Ocean Avenue. They played a massive nineteen track setlist hitting all of their essential tracks. During the tenth track, Derek Sanders from Mayday Parade came back out on stage to sing along to Hang You Up. Towards the end of the set, frontman Ryan Key told us the story of how Yellowcard got back together last year at Riot Fest 2022 (you'll have to just come and hear for yourself). The entire amphitheater was on their feet by the end of the set as the band finished strong with Only One and Ocean Ave before saying goodnight.
Back at the merch booth before the end of the night, only one vinyl record was available unfortunately. We were hoping to see more of a selection- especially considering the 20 year celebration of both Page Avenue and Ocean Avenue. The bands did have some other cool items in the booth- including street signs and tour posters. We realize this summer is JAM-PACKED with upcoming summer concerts from Live Nation- but if you missed this one, you're going to regret it! This is an essential nostalgic tour for an emo fan, whether old or new.
See the full photo galleries here: