State Champs and Knuckle Puck at the Academy 2, Dublin, Wednesday 16 September 2015

Pop-punk fans were treated to a three band extravaganza at the Academy 2 on Wednesday night, with three hot acts all managing to showcase an impressive and different take on the genre.

Verging on the heavier side of Pop-Punk, Roam are an up and coming band from the UK who are quickly making a name for themselves, and tonight they showed the Dublin crowd why. They put on a very impressive show, in some ways outshining Knuckle Puck. Most of this is Roam’s likeable stage presence on stage and amusing crowd interactions. Although by the end of their set, songs start to run into one another a bit and it’s hard to make any real differentiation, there is definitely a lot of potential in this band.

Knuckle Puck have been together for five years, but really started making a name for themselves this summer after their appearances at Warped Tour 2015 made music magazines, TV and radio on this side of the ocean sit up and take notice. As a result, the band’s first time in Dublin is received with a lot of love.

Although musically the set is quite enjoyable, Knuckle Puck’s conversations with the crowd leave much to be desired. It seems a lot like a back handed compliment when vocalist Joe Taylor says that he never wanted to come to Ireland, but now that he’s here, he thinks it’s great. After he continues looking for sympathy because Knuckle Puck “come a long way to be here”, it all becomes a bit much gets a bit much, and verges on unappreciative of the fans who’ve come here to see him.

Now, for some bands and some types of music this really wouldn’t be a problem (and maybe rightly so) but personality and on-stage presence has, at this stage, become nearly a staple of the genre. A little talk about the distance and where they have come from is fine, but when it’s so constant and you put it together with an attitude that seems vaguely arrogant, it causes a bit of a problem.

This is a pity, because Knuckle Puck are an incredibly promising band. It’s possible they’re still adjusting and maybe it wasn’t meant the way it came across, giving them the benefit of the doubt, we’ll hope that’s what it is.

Finally, State Champs come to the stage – putting on a set filled with high energy pop-punk anthems that get the crowd jumping and singing along with every song. Musically and personality-wise State Champs seem to have it all. Melodic, heavy tunes with drums that even a completely oblivious listener would take note of.

There is definitely a sense that their newer songs such as Secrets and All You Are Is History outshine the older material like Prepare to be Noticed, simply because they seem to be more mature and more intricate – which would make sense seeing as they have had time to grow up since their debut album. This is particularly exciting as State Champs are gearing up to the release of their next album in a month’s time, so tonight has done nothing but raise the anticipation and expectation for ‘Around The World And Back’.

State Champs end the set by promising to be back, and there is no doubt whatsoever that when they do return it will not be in a venue as intimate as tonight. The writing is very much on the wall for this State Champs. They’re on to big things.