LIVE REVIEW: The Wonder Years @ O2 Academy 2, Birmingham

Pop punk heavy weights THE WONDER YEARS took to Birmingham’s O2 Academy 2 as part of their UK tour celebrating their newest release; The Hum Goes On Forever.

Opening the evening is BEAUTY SCHOOL, a five-piece formed in Leeds, UK. The band had a real enthusiastic energy about them from the moment they stepped on stage, encouraging the audience members who had heard of them to sing along. BEAUTY SCHOOL definitely seemed to pick up a few new fans that evening, and rightly so.

Rating: 7/10

SAVE FACE took to the stage in a calm manner, wearing matching red jumpsuits. However, the band instantly smashed in to their first song of the set, as frontman Tyler Povanda throws himself around the stage manically. Priding themselves on being a safe place for fans, SAVE FACE were an incredibly entertaining watch, with a well polished performance to boot. The audience had well and truly warmed to them, making them a perfect support for the evening. An absolutely unmissable band, SAVE FACE are one to watch for the future.

Rating: 9/10

For the main event, it was time for THE WONDER YEARS. Whilst the tour was celebrating the release of their new album, their setlist contained a perfect mix of older classics such as Local Man Ruins Everything, There, There and Don’t Let Me Cave In, alongside the new songs.

Vocalist Dan Campbell is soft spoken in nature, whilst doing a great job of hyping up the audience by introducing various songs. He begins to describe one from the band’s fifth album No Closer To Heaven, as they recently added the song back in to the setlist. Campbell joked that they thought fans originally disliked the song at first, when in reality, fans hadn’t had a proper chance to listen to it at the time, as the band then proceeded to play A Song For Earnest Hemingway. A real highlight in the set, and a welcoming surprise for a lot of fans in the room.

The atmosphere throughout the entire set was electric. New tracks such as Old Friends Like Lost Teeth, Wyatts Song (Your Name), Oldest Daughter and Lost It In The Lights also got an enormous response from the crowd, proving to fans that THE WONDER YEARS are timeless throughout their discography. A real tight-knit performance, THE WONDER YEARS proved they are a band that remain relevant and relatable to a fan base that continue to grow alongside them.

Rating: 10/10

Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in Birmingham from Sarah Maiden Photography here: 

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