Live Review: The Wonder Years – The Hum Goes On Forever Tour – Electric Ballroom, London

What is Camden without a bit of Punk? The Wonder Years return to London’s music capital to play a sold-out show at the Electric Ballroom and they bring with them Beauty School and Save Face. As the time for the doors to open drew nearer, the atmosphere outside the venue was electric. Here’s what unfolded once the hoards were let loose inside the Ballroom!

Kick-starting the evening was Beauty School which brought their blend of pop-punk to the Camden crowd in a big way. Fans quickly grew interested in what the band was laying out and responded by dancing along to some of the infectious beats. Only having a short time to leave their mark, the band opted for quick and seamless transitions to squeeze as much of their music into the allotted time. This worked a treat as fans grew more and more interested as each song progressed and the end result was a lot of people heading over to the merch table once Beauty School finished their set!

Following them was Save Face. An eccentric band that takes no liberties when it comes to stage presence. Explosive movements matched with empowered vocals and beefy instrumentals to boot got the room moving quickly. If you were to unknowingly walk into the venue you’d have assumed they were the headliner with the way the crowd fed off their energy, which is a remarkable thing to see. Save Face bombarded the London crowd with fast-paced, high-octane tracks to ensure every muscle in their body was at the optimal temperature for The Wonder Years.

Speaking of The Wonder Years, They took to the stage by unleashing ‘Low Tide’ upon their London faithful. The musical assault was only strengthened by the likes of ‘Dismantling Summer’, ‘Local Man Ruins Everything’ and ‘Old Friends Like Lost Teeth’. Unsurprisingly, the entire dancefloor was resembling a pit so ‘Cardinals’ only added to the treacherous seas within the Electric Ballroom.

‘Flowers Where Your Face Should Be’ went down a treat while tracks such as ‘A Song For Ernest Hemingway’, ‘Wyatt’s Song (Your Name)’ and ‘There, There’ helped to keep the momentum going and spirits running high in Camden Town. One of the stand-out tracks of the night for me was ‘Passing Through A Screen Door’ as it captured the emotions and minds of each fan in attendance and it really seemed to just click. ‘Oldest Daughter’ and ‘Pyramids of Salt’ sounded near perfect from the band while ‘Summer Clothes’ seemed to reboot the energy levels within the building once more.

Not to be upstaged though, ‘I Don’t Like Who I Was Then’ was met with a huge roar of approval before ‘Sister Cities’ and ‘Raining In Kyoto’ tested the limitations of the crowd’s vocal capabilities. Nearing the end of the set meant it was time for some heavy hitters to reveal themselves which came in the form of ‘Lost It In The Lights’, ‘Don’t Let Me Cave In’ and ‘Cigarettes & Saints closing the main set before The Wonder Years took to the stage one last time for a stellar performance of ‘Came Out Swinging’ to sign off the night.

An extremely diverse set that had a bit for everyone went down as an absolute treat for the London crowd. The Wonder Years always bring energy and for this tour, they booked the perfect supporting acts to match their charisma and passion. Nights like these can be the match that lights the fuse for a band so I’ll be keeping a close eye on all three bands in the near future.