State Champs Perform at a Sold-Out Webster Hall with Daisy Grenade, Meet Me @ The Altar, and Knuckle Puck 12/7/24

Written by wmscweb on December 20, 2024

Review and photos by Amber Bintliff

Published on December 20, 2024
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State Champs returned to New York for a sold-out hometown show on December 7, 2024 with Daisy Grenade, Meet Me @ The Altar, and Knuckle Puck. It’s no secret that the band is one of the biggest pioneers of modern pop-punk, with their self-titled fifth album garnering over 7 million Spotify streams since its release in November. With members Derek DiScanio (vocals), Ryan Scott Graham (bassist), Tyler Szalkowski (guitar), and Evan Ambrosio (drums), they’ve been killing it in the scene since the band’s formation in 2010. As someone who’s introduction to pop-punk was State Champs many years ago, this tour proved that they are only getting bigger and better with each coming year.

Daisy Grenade was first to take the stage, igniting Webster Hall with their infectious energy. This was also the Brooklyn-based duo’s hometown show and my third time seeing them live. Every second of this performance was insanely good. Each time I see Daisy Grenade on stage I am completely enthralled by their performance and find myself screaming along to every word. I was also very happy to see that the crowd at Webster Hall was loving watching the band as much as I was. One of WMSC’s own music team members, Lee Ramrattan, was even the first crowdsurfer of the night during their set! Daisy Grenade have cemented themselves as a powerful and unstoppable force within the scene and I am so excited to already have plans to see them three more times in 2025.

Meet Me @ The Altar was next and had such a fun-filled set! I’ve seen them live once before, but this time was even better. My favorite part of the set in particular was the all-girl pit that they called for during “Hit Like A Girl.” They kept the energy going as they played on and it was cool to see how much the crowd really connected with their music and performance.

The amount of crowdsurfing I saw during Knuckle Puck’s set had to have broken some world record. The crowd was crazy during it, and rightfully so. Feeling the floor shake as the crowd jumped along to the songs was such an insane moment. I’ve seen Knuckle Puck three times now and each time they deliver such a crazy energetic performance. I also got to mosh during “No Good” at the end of their set and haven’t stopped thinking about how fun that pit was since.

The intensity once State Champs got on stage was a feeling I can’t even describe. The anticipation of waiting for them to come on, watching the barricade’s eager faces as the lights dimmed, and the adrenaline rush I had while the four-piece walked on stage is something I’ll never forget. They opened with “Silver Cloud,” the lead single from the new record, and you could already tell that this sold-out venue was about to go crazy (and crazy it did).

One thing that really stuck with me during this show was DiScanio saying that hearing the entire crowd sing along to songs they put out only a month ago was crazy because it made it feel like they were already classics. State Champs’ music was one of my biggest gateways into the pop-punk genre and the reason its had such an impact on my music taste and who I am. My first concert review I ever wrote for WMSC was for State Champs’ The Finer Things Anniversary Show last year and this show was a full-circle moment for me. The way that the band connects with their audience through their music is special and unlike anything I’ve ever seen.

As the set continued on, they played a handful of new and old favorites like “Tight Grip,” “Criminal,” and “Remedy.” They even brought Daisy Grenade out once again to sing “Around the World and Back” with them, which was such a sweet moment during the show.

Seeing State Champs live is an experience that cannot be put simply into words. Their live shows are truly spectacular and the energy they have while performing is unmatched. I found myself in the pit for both “Everybody But You” and “Secrets” and had the time of my life getting knocked around every which way at the end of the night. State Champs will always be one of those bands I grab tickets for as soon as I see they’re coming back to my area no matter how many times I have already seen them.