The Story So Far Brought The Energy To Brooklyn

The Story So Far spent their Black Friday making a stop at the Brooklyn Paramount in Brooklyn, New York as part of their I Want To Disappear in the USA Tour. The sold out show also featured Superheaven and the hometown heroes KOYO as support.

On a day where people would normally go shopping for half priced deals, the people of Brooklyn spent their Black Friday at a pop punk concert instead. Many Long Island heads got there early to support the first band of the night, KOYO. Representing Long Island, NY and its hardcore scene, KOYO have became a standout band since forming in 2020 in Stony Brook. The band is currently singed to Pure Noise Records and is made up of Joey Chiaramonte (vocals), TJ Rotolico (guitar), Harold Griffin (guitar/vocals), Stephen Spanos (bass) and Sal Argento (drums). On September 29th, 2023, the band released their debut album Would You Miss It? Before the band went on, Brooklyn was surprised with an appearance from rapper Big Daddy Marc. Big Daddy Marc introduced the band and they got right into with it "I Might Not". KOYO brought the energy from start to finish. The pit opened up instantly and everyone on stage was off their feet. Other songs the band played included "Moriches", "Life's a Pill", "You're On The List (Minus One)" and "Message Like A Bomb". KOYO dedicated "Anthem" to Brooklyn as that song along was written for the Long Island Hardcore scene. Seeing members of the LIHC scene in the crowd, Chiaramonte threw his mic in the crowd and everyone climbed on top of each other to grab it. Throughout the tour, the band has played a brand new song titled "Mile A Minute" which was taken off of their Mile A Minute EP that they released on November 12th. The band then closed their set with "Ten Digits Away" and the fans gave it their al with loud singalongs and constant crowdsurfing. KOYO got Brooklyn's blood pumping but they were about to chill out in a little bit.

Next up was the grunge act Superheaven. Superheaven was formed in Doylestown, Pennsylvania in 2008 and is made up of Jake Clarke (vocals/guitar), Taylor Madison (vocals/guitar), Joe Kane (bass), Zack Robbins (drums). The band's sound combines elements of alternaative, post-hardcore, grunge and even shoegaze. The band has only released two studio albums with a third one coming out next year. Superheaven's set was more chill than KOYO's but was still on the heavy side. The band started off with their brand new song "Long Gone" which they just released on November 12th. Majority of their set comprised of songs off of their debut studio album Jars. Songs included "Around The Railing", "Crawl", "In on It", "Life in a Jar" and their most popular song "Youngest Daughter". They also touched on their second studio album Ours Is Chrome with "Leach" and "Poor Aileen". Both Clarke and Madison traded off lead vocals on certain songs with Robbins providing backing vocals for each. There wasn't a lot of moshing but the band saw a decent amount of crowd surfing happening towards the end. Superheaven has been playing two new songs on this tour, the first being "Long Gone", and the second being an unreleased song titled "Numb to What Is Real". Both songs will appear on the band's upcoming third album, due for release next year. Superheaven's set wasn't chaotic but it was a nice breather before the main event took place.

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It was now time for The Story So Far, one of the most popular pop-punk bands today. The Story So Far has been in the game for 17 years, having formed in 2007 in Walnut Creek, California. The band is singed to Pure Noise Records and consist of Parker Cannon (vocals), Kevin Geyer (guitar), Will Levy (guitar) and Ryan Torf (drums). The band is known for taking the traditional pop punk sound give it more of an 'edge' to it, as well as incorporating elements of punk and hardcore to it. This past summer, in June, the band released their fifth studio album I Want To Disappear and have been touring the country in support of it.

Parker introduced the band then got right into the lead single off I Want To Disappear; "Big Blind" and fans started to crowd surf and sing along immediately. The band then went old school with "The Glass" off of What You Don't See and the crowd's reaction was louder than before. The crowd chanted as loud as they could to the hook of the third song, "Out of It". Old school TSSF fans were pleased when they played "High Regard", a song from their very first studio album; Under Soil and Dirt. I noticed that the band had actually played almost all of I Want To Disappear except one song. Songs they played included "Nothing To Say", "All This Time", "Watch You Go", "Letterman" and "Jump the Gun", to name a few.

Despite being a pop punk band, The Story So Far wasn't afraid to hard when they could. Their hardcore and punk elements they add in their sound is enough to bring the two-steppers and hardcore dancers into the pit. In fact, the only reason security was overwhelmed with crowd surfers, was because there was a barrier to prevent them from stage diving instead. While The Story So Far is a quartet, they've added two more musicians to their live performances, thus making them a live sextet band. Torf, who was mainly the band's drummer, and still is studio-wise, has moved to the role of rhythm guitarist and keyboardist live with Ross Traver now serving as the band's touring drummer. The live lineup also includes Nik Bruzzese who has been the band's live bassist for two years now. Parker serenaded the crowd with melodies while Levy and Geyer kept them on their feet with energy-driven guitars.

After a few more mosh pit inducing songs and sing along anthems like "Jump the Gun" "Solo", "Keep You Around" and the fan favorite "Empty Space", the band slowed things down a little bit with "Upside Down" and it gave fans the breather they needed before the energy picked back up. There wasn't really any movement other than some occasional crowd surfing but there was alot of singing along going on. Parker praised New York and called it the greatest place on Earth to play live music in and told the crowd to keep this up with "Keep This Up". They then followed up with another new one called "You're Still In My Way". Both songs saw the fans keeping it up indeed with more moshing, singing and crowd surfing.

The night was coming to an end and while their whole set was packed with fan favorites, The Story So Far saved the best for last. The band went back to their first album and played "Roam" and the whole floor was off their feet the entire time. Parker even commanded them to jump, knowing full well they were gonna do it anyway. After squeezing one last song off the new album with "White Shores", the band concluded their main set with "Nerv". The crowd surfing kept going but the fan's voices were louder than ever as they were singing along to every word, especially on the song's hook "YOU STILL COME UP" which Parker sang with the crowd a few more times before telling them "Peace" and walking off stage. He came back on stage shortly after and thanked the crowd for coming out. He didn't say much after and the band said goodbye with the old school tune "Quicksand". The mosh pits and the sing alongs picked up again and the band was feeding off the energy. The crowd was so loud, it was hard to hear Parker sometimes. he even let the crowd sing the first part of the bridge by themselves and they gave it everything they had left. The Story So Far did not disappoint and Brooklyn gave them the best show they ever had on this run so far. Their edge and punchy sound and energetic live performances all help in separating the band from the rest.