LIVE REVIEW & GALLERY: The Wonder Years @ Beckett SU, Leeds & O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

With support from Kississippi & Origami Angel

Beckett SU, Leeds - 11/11/2023

O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire, London - 15/11/2023

📸O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire, London by Amy

This is the tour I couldn't have been more excited for. The Wonder Years mean more to me than any other band and they're playing the album I fully credit with saving my life and getting me through some of my darkest days, in full, to celebrate its 10th anniversary, it was like my dream tour. I had to see it twice as I knew my emotions would be all over the place at the first show. So Leeds and London it was.

First off, let's talk about the contrast in venues. Beckett, Leeds, was a chilled relaxed atmosphere, staff treating gig-goers with respect, no shouting, no attitude. It was pleasant and harmonious, orderly queued and no fuss. London, on the other hand, saw staff bark at punters for not queuing in the exact correct spot like they were committing the most heinous crime imaginable.

I've spent a lot of this year gigging up North, and coming back for my first London show since February, the cold nature of the city that I'd once been so familiar with and grown to accept suddenly felt alien. I'd become accustomed to politeness from staff, and having witnessed the way the Northern venues (and the Norwich ones) handle large crowds, there is no need for London to behave the way it does. In fact, the venues that treat people with respect get respect and order back.

Not the bottlenecks leaving the venue or people narked from being balled at for no reason that I saw from the London crowd. Having witnessed other gigs around the country in the last 12 months, I will be reluctant to come back to a London show any time soon.

London rant over, let's talk about the music….

First up was Kississippi, aka Zoe Reynolds, a 28-year-old singer/songwriter from Philadelphia. I mainly knew what to expect from Kissy, having discovered her music via a Spotify radio a while back and grown obsessed with ‘Round Your Room’. Her unique blend of dream pop with a razor-sharp edge is a nice twist on the genre's typically ethereal, hazy vocals. Predominantly singing about love, forbidden love, and failed relationships, her music is highly relatable to anyone feeling forlorn in love, confused by their emotions; songs to cry along to, warm your heart to, or just a blast of a 'fuck you.'

The sets in both cities were identical, as was the dance routine for ‘We're So In Tune,’ which left me totally confused in Leeds but made sense in London. The shapes signifying an abbreviation of the title, W S I T, but by London, Zoe's confidence had grown tenfold, looking perfectly comfortable and at ease on a stage thousands of miles from home. New songs ‘Last Time’ and ‘Jesus Freak’ both packed a punch and were a nice touch of fire in a set that was quite sweet and sugary; the crowd in both venues seemed taken with them too. ‘Round Your Room' was my highlight. It's just a perfect pop song, easy to sing along to and blissfully happy and a ray of hedonistic love.

For me, there was nothing not to like about Kissy. Her vocals are wonderfully serene, her songwriting relatable, and her stage presence friendly and welcoming. Give it a few years, and I have a feeling she'll be headlining these venues in her own right.

On to Origami Angel. Now, following Leeds, I fully expected to be writing a scathing review as I couldn't get on board with Gami's shapeshifting sound. But in London, I had a eureka moment and realised that, in order to enjoy their sound, you need to accept it at face value and not try to make sense of it.

The shifts from prog-ish, complex musical structures to samba-inspired Bossa Nova with hints of jazz syncopation and swing, to the DIY ethos of indie with elements of jangle pop and simplistic song structures, to the beefy riffs of alt-rock and the fast tempos of pop punk. Their music doesn't rest on its laurels; it's forever reinventing itself, diversifying mid-song to become something unexpected. Standard song structures with added conceptual elements, utilising everything from raucous grit to synth-based EDM. One track (I forget the name) even sounds like it should be the next superhero show theme tune.

Origami Angel are different, interesting, unafraid to challenge genre boundaries and try something new. I can't say I'm a total convert to their style; some tracks definitely spoke to me more than others, but they certainly had a dedicated (bordering on obsessive) fanbase in both venues who sang and moshed to every word. A curious band who manage to achieve maximum impact with just a guitar and a drum kit.

Now for The Wonder Years. The sudden adrenaline rush as the lights dimmed hit the same at both venues, and the overwhelming emotions flowed as excerpts of interviews from around the time the album was released played and almost took my breath away. The words bellow about growing from the depression and anxiety experienced around time time of previous two records, how everything accumulated into “The Greatest Generation,” a journey of growth and progress. A journey that produced some of the fastest and slowest stuff the band had ever made, a journey that led them to a sold-out crowd in both Leeds and London (and most other dates on their UK tour) ten years later, everyone waiting in expectation to hear the record that shaped their younger years. A record that, in that moment, was the only thing that mattered.

As the murmur of ‘There There’ creeps in, the band filters onto the stage, and Dan starts belting out the now-iconic opening line “You're just trying to read, but I'm always standing in your light.” The crowd, at both venues, while alive with anticipation, also appears dumbfounded in awe of the moment. The encouragement to jump as the chorus kicks in sees the room ignite with energy.

Moving to a set staple, “Passing Through a Screen Door,” the surge of power from the crowd is electrifying, blasting into ‘We Could Die Like This,’ my favourite from the album, which is too often overlooked in their live sets. The crowd is in full voice, fist-pumping and bouncing at every opportunity, some looking noticeably moved while others have beams of joy on their faces. ‘Dismantling Summer’ is always a momentous live occasion, and ‘The Bastards, the Vultures, the Wolves’ was clearly a fan favourite with this high-octane moshability.

Ahead of ‘The Devil in My Bloodstream,’ Dan talks about how much of a risk putting a piano ballad at the midpoint of a frantic pop-punk record was, the fear at how it would be received, and the relief and how the fans welcomed it with open arms, embedding it firmly in almost every set the band plays. It's a stunning track, bursting with powerful emotions and cathartic beauty. Bringing Kississippi's Zoe on stage at both venues as the song ramps up into its eruptive finale was a magnificent touch, showing how engaging the band is with their support acts, how much they value them, and credit them as musicians. Dan even takes a step back, allowing Zoe to have centre stage. It was a beautiful moment.

Ahead of the next four songs, Dan tells the crowd it's a chance for us to make the band seem very foolish as these tracks are the ones when deliberating their setlist gets overlooked time and time again, with the idea that we don't give a fuck about them. This is greeted by a resounding boo, to which Dan tells us we can boo, that's fine, or we can prove them wrong by showing how much we love them!

Launching into ‘Teenage Parents,’ I was really surprised by the crowd's reaction, as I've always found this a very niche lyric that neither having nor being a teenage parent I've always struggled to relate to. So even though musically it's superb, it's the track from the album I've felt most disconnected with, but the London crowd, more so than Leeds, went crazy. ‘Chaser’ followed, which is another of my favourites, it fills me with emotions and takes me back to days when I felt my life was falling apart with the words “please don't make me feel like a disaster I'm learning how to put the pieces back together and turn the ache into composure” being one of the most important lyrics on the album for me.

‘An American Religion (FSF)’ is a fury-driven rant about Americans' misguided dependency on celebrity culture. It made me realise the complexity in Dan's vocal abilities. It was clear the crowd knew every word, but no one seemed to have the ability to get them out in time with Dan. Everyone singing around me basically just mumbling with no cohesive words coming out! Introducing the next song, Dan said, “this is a song about doing a raindance in traffic, it's called 'Raindance in Traffic',” which raised a chuckle from the crowd.

Bringing the pace down for the beautiful ‘Madelyn,' a song about the realisation that you can only help a person if they want to help themselves. It was a lovely tender moment in the set, a stunning crowd singalong, and a wonderful showcase of Dan's stunning voice.

Speaking of voices, something I must mention that has gone underappreciated by me many times while seeing The Wonder Years is just how incredible Josh's unclean vocals are. They seemed to get a little lost at the Leeds show, but they were incredible at the London gig – brash and abrasive, perfectly complementing Dan's more melodic tones.

Next up is ‘Cul-de-sac’, which sent the crowd into another frenzy. Ahead of ‘I Just Want to Sell Out My Funeral’, Dan assumed, as we were all there, that the album must mean something to us, and we must be familiar with the tracklisting (at which point I shamefully realised I'd listened on shuffle far too many times, so had no clue of the running order). He gleefully told both venues while this was the last song on the record it wasn't going to be the last song; they would take a short break and be back out to perform a second set, which was warmly received.

Launching into ‘I Just Want to Sell Out My Funeral’, I looked to the girl beside me in Leeds who was welling up with tears, while feeling a lump form in my own throat. The London crowd also seemed noticeably moved. The song started out as a track in its own right with poignant lyrics like “I'm scared shirtless of failure and I'm staring out and where I wanna be”, “I just wanna be enough for everyone”, and “bury me in the memories of my friends and family. I just need to know that they were proud of me” – perfectly encapsulating how I felt at the time the record came out, the feelings of longing and hopelessness perfectly summarised in a song. The song then skillfully shifts to reprise every other track on the album.

The band leaves the stage; no one in Leeds moves from their spot; however, surprisingly, a fair number of the London crowd filtered out. It was nice as it gave me more bouncing room and allowed me to sneak further to the front, but it was a shock given how word-perfect they'd been for the whole of “The Greatest Generation”.

Bouncing back onto the stage straight into ‘Oldest Daughter’, the continuation of ‘Madelyn’, then into my absolute favourite TWY song, ‘Local Man Ruins Everything’ – an epic live song that contains life-altering lyrics for me: “It's not about forcing happiness. It's about not letting sadness win” – a mantra I continue to live my life by.

Ahead of ‘Low Tide’, Dan confesses he knows that a portion of people in both rooms hadn't listened to their music since “The Greatest Generation”. He said he was fine with that, but they should know the band is the best they've ever been, explaining they put out a new album last year called “The Hum Goes On Forever,” and it's the best record they've ever made (a statement I'm not sure I agree with; it's great, but “The Greatest Generation,” “Suburbia,” and “No Closer to Heaven” are gonna take some beating). He then urges the ones that have been faithful to the band for the last decade to show the others what they've been missing, something the crowd happily obliged, going crazy as ‘Low Tide’ rages in with its signature “I'm growing out my hair 'cause who gives a shit” chorus. Another set staple, ‘I Don't Like Who I Was Then,’ is always sure to ignite the crowd.

In the introduction to ‘GODDAMITALL,’ Dan explains that to commemorate “The Greatest Generation” being ten, they resurrected a track from the cutting room floor, breathing new life into a song they'd rejected over a decade ago. The result is a slice of perfect pop-punk that should have always made the cut.

‘Cardinals’ erupted the room with its highly emotional beginning leading to an anthemic chorus and the lyric that progressively means more and more to me as the years pour by: “I want those years back.”

Leeds was then treated to an impromptu set addition of ‘Dynamite Shovel’ that the band played as a thank you to the Northern promoter who'd been putting them on for the last 16 years. It was so out of the blue; the band confessed it might sound awful, but it didn't. It was perfect and made my 10-hour train journey round trip worth every second.

The finale for both shows, and every show the band plays, was the now-legendary ‘Came Out Swinging’ – the band's biggest hit, a chance for the crowd to lose their minds! A full venue eruption crows surfers everywhere. The perfect jubilant, triumphant ending to both shows with Origami Angel singer Ryland joining the band on stage to share in the celebration.

Both shows were perfect. The humility the band shows, the gratitude for 18 years of performing, and 16 years coming to the UK is heartwarming. The joy in Dan's voice when he proudly announced Shepherds Bush was the biggest London show they've ever performed was like the feeling of watching a child come of age – the beaming moment a parent must feel when they watch their kids graduate. While I've not been there for the full journey, not discovering the band until 2011 (when I hated them!) and not falling in love with them until around a year later, I still feel I've grown up with them, matured with them, made peace with the world with them by my side. So, to share in this moment was beyond special.

Leeds just topped the two shows mainly for ‘Dynamite Shovel’ and partly because I realised after that ten years one day prior I'd seen them play at the same venue for the original “The Greatest Generation,” promo tour which made it all the more special.

As the band explained they're only in the UK once next year for Slam Dunk, so I'm left with the decision, Leeds or Hatfield.

View Scott’s Full gallery HERE!

Also, they’re not the best but here’s a few photos I (Amy) took on my phone at the London show: