By Chyrisse Tabone, Rock At Night Tampa Correspondent
Venue: The Orpheum, Tampa-November 18, 2015
State Champs is one hard-working band that has been touring non-stop this year so it is not a surprise their sophomore release is named Around the World and Back. The album was promoted hard on YouTube in July/August 2015 and was officially released through Pure Noise Records on October 16th. Looking at the band’s activity in 2015, they have toured Australia, Europe, USA and will be going back to Australia in January as support for Neck Deep.
Rock At Night caught up with the band during its stop in Tampa, Florida while touring with The Wonder Years and Motion City Soundtrack. It was a rainy night in Ybor City, Tampa, and I wondered how many people would actually make it to the gig. The concert was originally scheduled for The Ritz but was moved down the block to the concert hall’s sister-venue The Orpheum. When I arrived, there was actually a line at the door consisting of the college-aged, 20-something crowd. With it being the week before Thanksgiving, going out on a Wednesday night before exams seemed like the right choice for these kids.
Once I got inside…WOW….the venue was jam-packed and the first band was already finishing. I arrived just in time to see State Champs do their thing. As soon as the band started to play and Derek Discanio came out wailing, the crowd went wild. The crowd was certainly familiar with all of the songs from the bands debut album The Finer Things as well as the recent release—and Discanio knew it. He commented to the crowd, “Wow! We just released this album and you already know it.”
As the 30-minute set went on, the crowd became rowdy and constantly hopped onto the stage to do forward or backwards dives into the crowd. The band played even harder as they fed off of this constant, frenetic energy that filled the room. Discanio commented on how they needed to definitely come back to Tampa and said the crowd was “A-plus.” Song highlights included now “classic” hits like “Remedy” and “Elevated” as well as new releases like “Losing Myself” and “Secrets”.
After the end of the set many people screamed “Encore, encore” but the set was over to make room for the two additional bands. I have to say State Champs put on a top-notch set and showed The Orpheum crowd a lot of love. It is too bad the party had to end!
Members: Derek Discanio- vocals, Tyler Szalkowski-guitars, Tony Diaz-guitars, Ryan Scott Graham-bass, Evan Ambrosio-drums; Genre-Pop-Punk; Hometown-Albany, New York
PHOTO GALLERY
VIDEOS
Around the World and Back-Full Album
“Secrets”
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I grew up in a household full of rock music, studied journalism in college, and then became a scientist.Although my science career has served me well, music has always played a major role in my life. I grew up reading "Creem" magazine; I play several musical instruments as a "hobby";and it seems a camera has always been in my hand. Now, I am combining what I love the most--music and photography--serving as editor of Rock At Night. I travel between the US and UK seeking my dream! My motto: life is short...no regrets. Chyrisse
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