Stand Atlantic Concludes North American Tour in Philadelphia

In late October, Australian pop-punk powerhouse Stand Atlantic took a trip across the world to kick off their North American headliner tour, which marked their first North American headliner in a few years. Hitting major cities across the midwest and east coast, the band concluded their tour on November 2 at Philadelphia’s Brooklyn Bowl. Having been 3 years since the band properly headlined in the city, Stand Atlantic fans in Philly made sure to show up; the show was even upgraded to Brooklyn Bowl from the originally planned venue, The Foundry, due to overwhelming demand. Stand Atlantic made sure to close out their tour with a bang, with some help from the extremely energetic Philly crowd.

Starting the night off was Sakoya, an Indiana-based hard rock band. Having only been active since 2020, the band only has a few EPs released so far, one of which was released in July, titled III: New Man. Despite being fairly new to the scene, Sakoya immediately had the crowd hooked as soon as their set started. By the second song, the crowd was waving their arms to the beat, fully invested in the performance. Sakoya’s musical style takes inspiration from 2000s rock and metal, while adding a modern twist with catchy choruses and melodic rhythms. For the third song, the band also performed a cover of Rihanna’s “Shut Up and Drive”, which further energized the audience. Throughout the set, the crowd continued jumping and dancing along until the very end. With Sakoya’s unique style and great crowd engagement, the band certainly gained new fans that night, and also solidified themselves as one of the next rising stars within the rock scene.

SAKOYA: Facebook | Instagram | YouTube

The second and final opener of the night was Daisy Grenade, an alt-pop duo consisting of vocalists Dani Nigro and Keaton Whittaker. Having just finished a tour with Pierce the Veil this summer, Daisy Grenade has been skyrocketing within the scene lately. With captivating vocals from both Dani and Keaton and a style that combines poppy choruses with punk-rock rage, the audience was immediately invigorated; crowdsurfers even started coming through during the first two songs. There were so many surfers within the first few songs of the set, Dani and Keaton gave a shout out to security, which led to the crowd chanting “Eric! Eric!”, who is one of the most well-known security guards at Philly venues. Daisy Grenade played a few new songs, such as “Don’t Sweat It” and “Good Luck (Wish You Hell)”, and the members of Stand Atlantic popped out for the former to do the "Don't Sweat It” dance. They also performed a cover of No Doubt’s “Hella Good”, which invited many crowdsurfers. The band closed out with “Riot” and “Sick in the City”, two heavier songs from their 2023 Cult Classic EP, and not only were crowdsurfers coming through the room one after another, but a mosh pit also ensued. Daisy Grenade made sure to thoroughly energize the fans and prepare them for Stand Atlantic’s headlining set.

DAISY GRENADE: Website | Facebook | Instagram | X | YouTube

Soon enough, the lights dimmed for the final time, signaling that the headlining act was about to begin. Stand Atlantic walked onto the stage as cheers continued to fill the venue. The band opened with “KISSIN’ KILLER COBRAS” from their 2024 album, WAS HERE, and right from the jump, fans started crowdsurfing. Frontwoman Bonnie Fraser’s dynamic vocals captivated the crowd, while drummer Jonno Panichi and bassist Miki Rich delivered upbeat rhythms that kept the fans off their feet. Lead guitarist David Potter’s energy was palpable as he kept kicking, spinning, and jumping across the stage, while also bringing electrifying riffs. The band played several songs that spanned their discography, such as “hair out” from their 2022 album f.e.a.r. and “Jurassic Park” from their 2020 album Pink Elephant.

Throughout the set, the crowd never lingered for a second; fans continued moshing, jumping, and crowdsurfing constantly. Halfway through the set, Bonnie mentioned how great it was to be back at Brooklyn Bowl after three years. She then said that they would play a love song, “LOVE U ANYWAY”, which is the first and only love song she had ever written due to her belief that love songs are cursed. She also took notice of the disco ball in the middle of the venue and asked for it to be turned on for the song. The band also brought out a special guest, saxophonist Saxl Rose, to play saxophone for the song as well as the subsequent song “NOSE BLEED”. Before the next song, the band mentioned that there were two people in the crowd, Aaron and Sarah, who had birthdays and were invited up on stage. They told the crowd that they will have to crowdsurf Aaron and Sarah for the entirety of the subsequent song. As the two fans jumped into the crowd and the band performed “pity party”, the audience did their duty as they successfully held them up for the whole song.

Afterward, the band performed “I’M THE MAN”, one of their newest tracks from WAS HERE (DELUXE), which was released in May. The song was followed by “CRIMINAL”, which was preceded by a dance from “Olympic breakdance champion RayGun”. For one of the final songs of the night, Bonnie mentioned that this one would be for the true longtime fans: they performed “Coffee at Midnight”, a track from their debut 2017 EP Sidewinder. To conclude their set, Bonnie said “This one’s for the girls”, which was all that needed to be said to introduce the woman empowerment anthem “GIRL$”. Until the very end of the set, fans were moshing and crowdsurfing constantly, matching the fiery energy of the band. Stand Atlantic made sure to put on a show that the crowd would never forget, and the Philly fans made sure to give them a memorable final night of their U.S. tour.