Live review : State Champs (Boule Noire, Paris)
02:04
This is a question for State Champs - how on Earth do you do it? HOW.
I only managed to catch Northbound's last two songs, so I'll keep it short and sweet - just like them (the sweet part, I mean). Their catchy, slightly emo sound reminds me of a certain little band I like very much called Modern Baseball, and in the space of two songs, ten minutes at most, they managed to make me want to give them a more thorough listen, and to make me wish I'd seen the whole thing. Not too bad for just ten minutes.
In front of a sold out Boule Noire, As It Is take the stage. The Brighton pop punks have not graced our capital with their presence in two years, and since then, everything has changed. They now have two albums out and a full room ready to sing along to every word the band will sing. The bigger part of the set is dedicated to okay., which they have released a month ago, but golden oldies like Can't Save Myself or Speak Soft easily find their place and are met with the same amount of joy and enthusiasm as their most recent counterparts. The band managed to rise above the sound issues (their mixes got mixed up and none of them was hearing the right thing, if I got that right), and offered us, as always, a lovely and heartfelt moment in their company. A personal highlight was The Coast Is Where Home Is, written about their hometown, that made me tear up a little bit - I miss the place more and more every day. Closer Dialtones sees frontman Patty Walters crowdsurf and hears everyone singing along, and if that's not how you do a support set right, then, please tell me what is, I'm listening.
It's only the second time State Champs come to France, and the Boule Noire show, from the get go, is set to become the logical following to the absolute triumph the Backstage by the Mill gig had been. It seems every time the Americans set foot on a stage, they bring the party with them. It's no wonder why : their songs are full of sunshine and excellent dance moves material, and that's what you want at a party, right? The band themselves help the matter - when you're facing such an enthusiastic and cheerful group of people, the only thing you want is to join in. I've rarely, if ever, seen a band with that much joy in them, and it's so damn infectious as well. If I'm honest here, to me, State Champs are a bubble of happiness, a ray of sunshine, times spent laughing with your best mates in a sticky club in London or in a car park in Southampton, drinking cider and enjoying the last of the summer without a care in the world. Their music and gigs are linked to two of my favourite people on Earth, and just for that, they will always have a space no one else will ever have.
This tour is the first, proper European headline tour in support of 2015's Around the World and Back and, obviously, a big chunk of the setlist will be dedicated to the Americans' sophomore record. We get treated to Perfect Score, Shape Up, All You Are Is History or All or Nothing, and all these songs are a valid reason to put on your dancing shoes and a great way to realise that State Champs have a gift at creating songs that make it almost impossible to stand still. They know how to make every song the catchiest thing you have ever heard.
Contrary to what they had done on their last headiner, they offer us an acoustic interlude, a moment that shows us that frontman Derek Discanio doesn't just have the best dance moves in the building, he also has a pretty damn good set of pipes to his name. Old school State Champs fans rejoice at the rendition of 2010's Stick Around, and I kind of explode inside when I hear the first notes of If I'm Lucky. The track, featured on 2014's The Acoustic Things, is among my favourites by the band, and I've been dying to hear it performed since I first heard it. Last night, it was half-acoustic, half-electric, and I would quite frankly not say no to a studio recording of it - it was THAT beautiful.
After a bouncy encore composed of The Finer Things' Nothing's Wrong (FINALLY!) and Secrets, that will see a stage invasion taking place, the band leaves the stage on yet another Parisian success. One more time, they've shown me (and this scene) one thing : pop punk is definitely on the way up in the city of lights, and believe me, it was about time.
It's only the second time State Champs come to France, and the Boule Noire show, from the get go, is set to become the logical following to the absolute triumph the Backstage by the Mill gig had been. It seems every time the Americans set foot on a stage, they bring the party with them. It's no wonder why : their songs are full of sunshine and excellent dance moves material, and that's what you want at a party, right? The band themselves help the matter - when you're facing such an enthusiastic and cheerful group of people, the only thing you want is to join in. I've rarely, if ever, seen a band with that much joy in them, and it's so damn infectious as well. If I'm honest here, to me, State Champs are a bubble of happiness, a ray of sunshine, times spent laughing with your best mates in a sticky club in London or in a car park in Southampton, drinking cider and enjoying the last of the summer without a care in the world. Their music and gigs are linked to two of my favourite people on Earth, and just for that, they will always have a space no one else will ever have.
This tour is the first, proper European headline tour in support of 2015's Around the World and Back and, obviously, a big chunk of the setlist will be dedicated to the Americans' sophomore record. We get treated to Perfect Score, Shape Up, All You Are Is History or All or Nothing, and all these songs are a valid reason to put on your dancing shoes and a great way to realise that State Champs have a gift at creating songs that make it almost impossible to stand still. They know how to make every song the catchiest thing you have ever heard.
Contrary to what they had done on their last headiner, they offer us an acoustic interlude, a moment that shows us that frontman Derek Discanio doesn't just have the best dance moves in the building, he also has a pretty damn good set of pipes to his name. Old school State Champs fans rejoice at the rendition of 2010's Stick Around, and I kind of explode inside when I hear the first notes of If I'm Lucky. The track, featured on 2014's The Acoustic Things, is among my favourites by the band, and I've been dying to hear it performed since I first heard it. Last night, it was half-acoustic, half-electric, and I would quite frankly not say no to a studio recording of it - it was THAT beautiful.
After a bouncy encore composed of The Finer Things' Nothing's Wrong (FINALLY!) and Secrets, that will see a stage invasion taking place, the band leaves the stage on yet another Parisian success. One more time, they've shown me (and this scene) one thing : pop punk is definitely on the way up in the city of lights, and believe me, it was about time.
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