ALBANY, N.Y. – What a hell of way to kick off the summer.
Local organizers of the annual free Alive at Five concert series here in Albany scored a hat trick early on this season, kicking off the 2022 summer run with a performance by hometown pop punk heroes State Champs. It was almost too perfect that Albany-bred State Champs would play one of their first shows since the release of their brand new LP, Kings of the New Age, back here at home.
Technically held at Jennings Landing park, a temporary stage was erected for the show in a shady adjacent parking area, which was quickly filled with diehard fans clearly there for more than just the free admission. A perfect summer evening with a gentle breeze, Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan walked out to introduce the band and you could sense we were about to experience something special.
State Champs—singer Derek Discanio, guitarist Tyler Szalkowski, bassist Ryan Scott Graham and drummer Evan Ambrosio—were nearly as giddy as the crowd as they took the stage, like former kids revisiting their old high school as returning champions. (“We met the Mayor!” gushed Szalkowski, to which Graham jokingly replied, “She said we suck!”) Now, they’re champs in a far bigger league than just this area code and state.
Opening with the triumphant anthem “Here to Stay,” the leadoff track to Kings of the New Age, State Champs brought the energy from the very first notes of Szalkowski’s opening riff, immediately commanding the audience with a poise and mastery that shows how remarkably far this band has come in the decade-plus since its formation. State Champs have survived lineup changes and plenty of personal drama since their humble Capital Region beginnings, now boasting a string of undeniably phenomenal full-lengths. “Here to Stay,” sounded like a victory lap, perhaps more than ever on this night.
Thanks in part to the extended set time afforded by this headlining gig, the depth of the State Champs song catalog made an unmistakable impression as the band tore through its 19-song set, drawing fairly equally from debut The Finer Things (2013) (“Hard to Please,” “Simple Existence,” “Remedy,” “Easy Enough,” “Elevated,”), follow-up Around the World and Back (2015) (“Losing Myself,” “Slow Burn,” “Secrets,” “All You Are Is History”), Living Proof (2018) (“Frozen,” “Mine Is Gold,” “Criminal,” “Dead and Gone”) and Kings of the New Age (2022) (“Here to Stay,” “Eventually,” “Outta My Head,” “Act Like That,” “Just Sound,” “Everybody But You”).
The latter is clearly the band’s most mainstream, radio-friendly effort to date, signaling the group is now entering the Good Charlotte and Fall Out Boy level of stardom. That being said, it’s another killer effort by the band that fans are sure to love. The new material has just the sort of sound that was perfect for the outdoor pop-punk party the show quickly became.
Singer Discanio—a vocal force to be reckoned with by any measure—led the crowd through an hour-plus sing along, featuring waves of crowd-surfers of all sexes and sizes, while bassist Ryan Scott Graham twirled about with unrelenting exuberance. Meanwhile Szalkowski, now the lone guitarist since the departure of rhythm guitarist Tony “Rival” Diaz, showed off his nimble approach to crafting pop punk melodies, with a splash of guitar god pyrotechnics thrown in for good measure. The countless road miles and performances State Champs have logged clearly paid off, as this band is every bit as good in the flesh as on their recordings, and they’ve also learned how to become world-class showmen, to boot.
Ambrosio expertly kept the time, but looked lonely back there, all by himself. I couldn’t help but look for another guitarist in the back somewhere, as I could still hear rhythm guitar parts coming from the PA that Szalkowski was clearly not playing. Not seeing anyone strumming away behind the rigging, I was left to assume the band is employing backing tracks, at least until a replacement for Diaz is found. State Champs have stated they do not intend to enlist a full-time fifth member, but in this reviewer’s opinion they may want to reconsider that and hire at least another touring member, like New Found Glory has done recently, enlisting Dan O’Connor from Four Year Strong for the band’s recent Sticks and Stones 20th Anniversary Tour.
Still, that’s finding just a small fault within what was an otherwise electrifying performance. Honestly, there may have been even more energy in the crowd at the close of the set—as State Champs trumpeted “Secrets,” the last in an almost impossibly long, interrupted string of songs with fantastic hooks—and the audience rallied for one last sweaty run at the stage, Discanio slapping hands while fans streamed over the barricade into the photo pit, exiting just to immediately circle around and do it again.
As State Champs said their goodnights and left the stage as night began to fall, the crowd fell into a kind of chaotic disarray, like we all needed a moment to collect ourselves after what we’d just seen. One of the first big live events of the summer was now history, and you couldn’t have asked for a better show, made all the sweeter by the fact that it was a celebration of the great new album by State Champs, one of our very own.
All hail to the “Kings of the New Age.”
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State Champs – Alive at Five, Jennings Landing, Albany, NY, 6/9/22
