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When I heard the tour with A Day to Remember, Pierce the Veil and All Time Low were coming here, I bought my ticket immediately. All three bands are huge in the rock scene. The “House Party Tour” came to the Pershing Center at 6:45 in Lincoln on Sept. 30.

All three bands’ lyrics set them a part from other bands. Through lines such as “All I want is a place to call my own, to mend the hearts of everyone who feels alone. You know to keep your hopes up high and your head down low” (A Day to Remember’s “All I Want”), these bands send life-changing messages.They’re the right amount of hardcore mixed with inspirational aspects. This tour was a great way for A Day to Remember to promote Common Courtesy, a new album set to release on Oct. 8.

I went in not knowing who The Wonder Years were; I left wanting more. This opening band was a nice medium between the alternative rock of All Time Low and the post hardcore of Pierce the Veil and A Day to Remember. They came on stage with outstanding energy and kept it up throughout their entire performance. They by far had the most energy of all the bands and empowered the audience with their frequent but brief inspirational speeches.“Dismantling Summer” was performed with such emotion.

I was pleasantly surprised that Victor Fuentes was just as amazing live as he is on their albums. Because in all of their songs he sings so high-pitched trading off with screaming, I thought for sure his voice would give out by the end of their set. The fact that he can sound like an angel, scream and play guitar all in one night just shows the true talent of this band.

Compared to the other three bands, All Time Low seemed out of place. Their music style isn’t as hardcore as the other bands. While I liked their performance, a lot of people only listened to All Time Low or only listened to Pierce the Veil and A Day to Remember. The crowds, for the most part, clashed.

I love when bands involve the audience anyway they can. All Time Low let two audience members come on stage and sing with vocalist/lead guitarist Jack Barakat. I envied them.

Out of the whole night, A Day to Remember’s display was the best. They had an almost life-size house with fake grass and brick walls. They entered the stage through the garage door opening. I’d have to say, this was was the most unique entrance and set up I’ve ever seen at a show.

All aspects of their set of and performance were impressive. Artificial fire periodically shot up on the house, heightening their fierce performance. Streamers were shot into the sky. At one point it started snowing while Santa Claus and an elf came on stage shooting t-shirts into the crowd. Mckinnon even walked on top of the crowd in a huge hamster ball. Every minute of their performance was filled with something memorable.

Songs they chose to perform made the experience that much better. Most of the songs were from older, more popular albums everyone knew the words to, which helped the crowd become more involved. Halfway through their show they sang two acoustic songs, which was a nice change from the consistent hard rock music that’d been played all night. They also covered “Over My Head” by The Fray, which was a way to get everyone to sing along, even those who didn’t know A Day to Remember.

Honestly, I was disappointed in how they sounded live. Mckinnon couldn’t hit nearly as many notes as he could in their albums and was often out of breath. Maybe if he hadn’t jumped around so much he would have had enough energy to sing.

Though not every aspect of the concert was perfect, it was, overall, lively and engaged the crowd. The time they spent creating their sets and planning every minute to be spent to it’s fullest showed all of the band’s dedication. It was one of the best $36 I ever spent.

Hailey Stolze
Editor-in-Chief