w/ Like Roses, Taylor Acorn, Cartel, State Champs
State Champs Celebrate a Decade of Around the World and Back in Allentown
Like Roses opened things up and wasted no time trying to get the crowd on its feet. Fans were still settling in at Archer Music Hall, but the band had their attention, mixing newer songs with older hits. There’s something about an opener who plays like the room is already full, and Like Roses did exactly that. They left the stage with the crowd warmed up and ready for whatever came next.
Taylor Acorn came out second and the room lit up. The crowd sang along to every word, turning her set into something closer to a group effort than a performance. Midway through, she ditched the guitar and moved around the stage, singing straight to the audience and bringing even more energy with her. Guitarist Ricky Jab deserves a mention of his own. He’s a natural entertainer who puts on a show every single night, and this one was no exception.
Cartel stepped up next and powered through their set despite a run of technical problems. It would have thrown plenty of bands, but they kept their composure and still put on a good show. There’s a real skill in that, and the crowd stayed with them the whole way.
Then State Champs came out and the pit started to take shape immediately. From the very first song it got bigger and bigger, with fans packed in to hear Around the World and Back in full for its 10-year anniversary. Crowd surfing became more and more common as the set went on, and the energy climbed and never came back down. It was a decade of memories, shouted back at the band by people who clearly never stopped loving these songs.
When the album wrapped, State Champs took a short intermission, and plenty of fans figured that was it. They were wrong. The band came back and played a slew of encore songs, and the room got right back to it, singing, moshing, and surfing like the night was just beginning.
From the first song Like Roses played to the last encore song State Champs closed with, the night had a through line, a mood that never broke. Allentown showed up, and everybody on that stage showed out. The Around the World and Back Again Tour rolled through Archer Music Hall and left a real mark, a night the people who were there won’t stop talking about for a long time.
Photography by Trey Madara
