There are truly so many great venues to take in a concert in the world. Even as you start to zoom in to the New York/New Jersey/Pennsylvania area, each state has at least a handful of places you're sure to have a great time in, regardless of who's playing. For New Jersey residents, despite the myriad of options in the shore destination of Asbury Park, a couple larger-sized arenas, and two different amphitheaters for outdoor shows, there's only one venue you're likely to hear listed as someone's favorite: The Starland Ballroom. Despite a great deal of the Garden State being paved into highways, Starland is a bit off the beaten path in Sayreville, but that hasn't stopped it from becoming one of the most sought-after destinations for tours since its opening. It's attracted some of the biggest names in rock music, too: Nickelback played there this year; Chris Daughtry has made a couple different stops. Just before they left club shows entirely in their rearview, The 1975 played there in an unforgettable one-off performance. Chances are, your favorite band has played Starland.
Still, when you think of the quintessential Starland Ballroom show, you're not likely to list off one of those a-list names that I just mentioned. While it's awesome that they took the time to play there, the legacy of Starland Ballroom lies in its ability to draw bands back to the stage, even if it may not make much sense logistically. Mayday Parade makes it a point to play Starland on any US headliner they do. Taking Back Sunday have had a long history of playing shows in the Sayreville club around the holidays. Thursday seems to have an open invitation to play there whenever they feel the urge.
However, the one band that comes to mind when I think of those *special* shows at Starland Ballroom is All Time Low. The Baltimore, MD pop-punk princes have seen damn near it all across their twenty-year career, and they've have check-ins with the stage hands at Starland every step of the way. As the band flirted with mainstream success in the late 2000s, came back to Hopeless with their return-to-form Don't Panic!, and found their perfect fit of a label in Fueled by Ramen to attempt their second ascent, they've always found their way back to Starland. First, there were the So Wrong, It's Right shows, where they played the album front-to-back on three consecutive nights, and then did it again in 2019 to celebrate the ten-year anniversary of Nothing Personal. While the 10-year show has become essentially expected for seminal releases, it's worth noting that All Time Low didn't take those anniversaries out for a full-fledged tour, but did carve out time to host three shows for each album at Starland. They've been playing the venue since 2008, and if All Time Low's weekend at the legendary venue on their The Sound of Letting Go Tour was any indication, it's likely we see the band and venue together again (and again and again, and probably again after that).
As All Time Low's diehard fans filed into Starland Ballroom just after doors opened, they were greeted by an energetic set of opening acts. Up first was Lauren Hibberd, whose rambunctious pop-rock anthems have her positioned to (hopefully) be the UK's long-awaited answer to Avril Lavigne. Swapping between bounding onstage to hype the crowd up and playing guitar, Hibberd did a great job engaging with a crowd that went into her set unfamiliar, but grew more and more enthused by the end of her set. A surprise cover of Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl" was a highlight, and did away with any lull in the crowd during the midway point of Hibberd's set.
Among the many experiences I have while watching a band play live for the first time, one of my favorites is when I see a band live for the first time and instantly understand what makes them unique. That's exactly what happened as soon as Grayscale took the stage to play their brand-spanking-new song "Not Afraid to Die." While I did give the band's 2021 full-length Umbra a spin when it came out, but didn't end up connecting with it like I expected to. Seeing the band take the stage, however, seems to be the best way to experience their music. Despite being constrained to a small portion of Starland's stage due to the production pieces set up behind them, the band were still able to bring their own energy, and seemed to thrive off of the big reaction their songs were getting. I couldn't help feeling a little reminded of The Cab while watching their set, as the band's pop-leaning pop-punk seemed to produced excellently. The Philadelphia band may have benefitted from playing close to home when I caught their set, but something tells me the big reactions they got at Starland were going to happen throughout this tour.
Speaking of bands I got to see for the first time this weekend, the inclusion of Gym Class Heroes on this tour was more than welcome. Often viewed as not quite emo enough for emo kids, and too emo for the hip hop crowd, the band never really had solid footing in one genre or the other, and ended up using that as their superpower as they churned out chart-topping hits. After being away for a while, Travie McCoy has been forging his path as a solo artist, but has now come back to Class for this tour and a few festival appearance (including When We Were Young, coming later this fall). However, now that McCoy is the only remaining original member from the band, the group he's assembled is also playing material from his solo work, including perhaps his biggest hit ever, "Billionaire." I've got to be honest, I was kind of hoping to see Bruno Mars make a surprise appearance, but there was no such luck. Either way, it was great to see McCoy take such command of the stage and crowd, with an infectious smile on his face the entire set.
Once it was All Time Low's turn to take the stage, blasting into "Lost in Stereo," there was no doubt whether or not Starland Ballroom had another sold-out show on their hands. This sing-along would be the first of many, and nowhere near the loudest. The band's set was certainly career-spanning, as nearly every one of their full-length albums had a least a song or two played from it. However, there was a clear emphasis on playing new songs from the band's 2023 release Tell Me I'm Alive, with a light fixture of the emoji-esque face that graces the album's cover adorning the stage. With so many songs to choose from at this point, it's tough for All Time Low to please everyone, so they broke out a few tricks to keep fans on their toes. We got our first glimpse of this when the band added the chorus of "Stella" to the end of "Modern Love", which followed with the band's front man Alex Gaskarth heading to a keyboard to play a stripped down version of Tell Me's title track. The band also opted to skip the final chorus of "Dark Side of Your Room" to kick right into "Favorite Place," a perhaps forgotten track from 2020's Wake Up, Sunshine.
Towards the end of their set, the band revealed that they had a voting system in place where fans in attendance got to choose which song would be played before the band wrapped up with their biggest hits. It was tough to decipher which songs were able to be chosen, but on this night, it would be "The Irony of Choking on a Life Saver," which ended up having some of the night's most enthusiastic crowd-surfers. The band also revealed during their encore that they would be choosing a song at random before their customary sing-along of "Dear Maria, Count Me In," where the band was treated to "Vegas," a personal favorite of mine. With all their tricks laid out now, it's clear to see that there was a lot of care put into this setlist, so even if you didn't see All Time Low at Starland Ballroom, you're in for a great show.
However, just as the night was winding down, there was a very real, very powerful reminder that there's something extra special in the air when the band plays their favorite NJ venue. It seemed innocuous at first: a t shirt was thrown at the feet of guitarist Jack Barakat. Many will note that this is common practice at All Time Low shows; Barakat was known for collecting bras on his mic stand in the band's early career, a tradition that has since passed. As he held the shirt up to show off to his bandmates, true to his wild-card personality onstage, he briefly walked off to change into the shirt. What happened next was somehow both heartbreaking and heartwarming. As Gaskarth gave the shirt a look, he noticed the band's skull and crossbones logo, and a replica of a Spotify track being played. To his surprise, it wasn't an All Time Low song title there. It was just a name: Courtney. Once Gaskarth read it aloud, a smattering of chants calling Courtney's name broke out. "Is she here? Where is she?" Alex asked toward the group who was chanting. They were all wearing the same purple shirt that Barakat just put on. Courtney was nowhere to be seen.
As Gaskarth walked up to the group, he had a brief discussion with the group. After a momentary silence, he asked if they would mind sharing what they discussed with the singer. After a nod, a young man took the mic: "Courtney is my sister. Sadly she passed away recently, and All Time Low was her favorite band. We were hoping she'd be able to go to this show, but sadly that didn't happen. We wanted to come here anyway to honor her." The crowd erupted in cheers in support of the family, and this time, the chants of "Courtney" were echoed by everyone in the sold-out room. As Gaskarth returned to the stage, it was clear he was very emotional about what had just taken place. For a band that has played as many shows as All Time Low has, I'm sure a lot of concert blend together. But that is seemingly never the case when this band plays this venue. It's not a knock on anyone else from anywhere else; All Time Low Starland shows just mean more, and now you know why. There has been a community built at these shows. The fans show up early to get as close as they can to the stage. They get tickets the day they go on sale, no matter what the opening acts are, no matter what day of the week it is. They find familiar faces, or become familiar with new ones. Most importantly they keep coming back--the band and its fans alike.
On a night when All Time Low was debuting new songs from an album that was released earlier this year, touring with a band that allowed them to open up for them when they were just starting out (Gym Class Heroes), the night ended up being about something much greater than that. It became a night of memories, happy or painful, and about emotions, in all their intricate messiness. It became a night honoring someone who should have been standing in the crowd with the rest of us, but instead was replaced by her loving family. You can think whatever you want about religion, or spirituality, or whatever you'd like to call it. But as "Dear Maria, Count Me In" reached its last chorus, in a set dedicated to her memory, I felt overwhelmed by the fact that wherever Courtney was now, in a place beyond the pain she'd been forced to endure, she was in Starland Ballroom that night, singing along with all of us. And she'll be there next time, too.
Comentarios