By Wendy
For a band with a following as loyal as the Wonder Years, it’s easy to feel like a fair-weather fan most of the time. Shocking that they slipped through the genre cracks for this listener, when you consider that most of their lyrical fodder waxes prosaic about summers spent in Pennsylvania, and the ennui of growing older (a staple of the 00s emo scene, even when we were all still verrry young).
The thing that really sells them beyond their music, is frontman Dan Campbell’s innate ability to curate a banger of a tour bill. The openers are always as solid as the headliner, sometimes even moreso. It makes catching them on tour akin to a Pokemon Go Challenge. So on April 11, with Future Teens and Oso Oso reuniting on a bill (**I believe, for the first time since I first saw them on tour together in 2019?) I knew I had to make it all the way to Philadelphia for a special show. True to form, the whole room was vibrating off its axis as soon as the amps were turned on.
Future Teens played an earnest-if-not-demure set, playing singles “Unmade Bed” and “Bad Faith” off their forthcoming album for the first time live, with the setlist written on a paper plate. Several fans at the barricade, well familiar with their music, sang all the lyrics back at them.
Oso Oso kept it chill, with a setlist channeling many selections from their 2019 album Basking in the Glow. Jade Lilitri is as cool and collected as ever.
Night two of their sold out Philadelphia residency was nothing short of astounding. Having seen this band in several cities on this tour, it was clear the difference a hometown show makes. The energy radiating off of the band, to the fans, and back in a constant pool of crowdsurfing and sweat made every song memorable, even if TLA was so packed you could barely see if you weren’t on the barricade.
On a more personal note, when I last saw them in 2020, they were my final show before the world shut down. They had Spanish Love Songs and Free Throw on the bill. I remember seeing them and thinking:
1. Wow, a large number of my friends all like this band
2. gosh I hope this covid thing blows over
…anyway, how far we have come. Photos below.
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