The Wonder Years leave the crowd wanting more in Mesa,

The Wonder Years
Live In Mesa.

(Vocalist Dan "Soupy" Campbell gets involved with the crowd)


On a semi cool Sunday evening in Mesa, Arizona. Philly PA's own The Wonder Years came to the Nile Theater as part of Four Year Strong's Tonight We Feel Alive tour. Proving to be one of the largest draws on this tour, The band came out on stage and started strong with Logan Circle.

Immediately the crowd erupted into one huge support group, Within 10 seconds of the bands opening lines stage divers went diving, moshers went moshing, and everybody was singing along. The band sounding tighter than ever, raced through the 30 minute set packing it out with solid tracks of The Upsides like Melrose Diner, Washington Square Park, My Last Semester, and old favorites like Six Dudes From The Keystone State, and Your Not Salinger. Its rare when a band can take control of the crowd like The Wonder Years did and make every single person there forget about whats going on around them. Everyone picked each other up when they fell, in the crowd was just a feeling of hope and energy.

The crowd never once stopped moving and the same can be said for Soupy and the gang in The Wonder Years. Positivity, Hope, and not being ignorant and diving feet first were constantly yelled to the crowd by Dan and the boys. The band knows how to keep everything transitioning live just like it sounds off the record, including I Was Scared And I'm Sorry off the re-release of the bands standout album The Upsides. Lets give the performance a quick breakdown.

Energy 10/10
Crowd Participation 10/10
Stage Presence 10/10
Live Sound 10/10
Ability To Keep The Crowd Interested 10/10
Musicianship in a live setting 10/10

Looks like the boys can pull off everything in perfect fashion just like they do with The Upsides. go see these dudes!

Thanks for reading, and a huge thanks to Mike over at Earshot media for allowing us the chance to do this.

Words by Codie Early and all Photo Credit goes to PMF's newest addition Nicholas Clermont. Please Do Not Use photos without permission.