The Californian pop-punk outfit that is The Story So Far have been knocking about for over ten years.
Somehow I’ve missed seeing them play on one too many occasions even though I’ve come oh so close. Luckily I was able to catch their show at the O2 Forum Kentish Town.
The first support All Get Out quite literally played their hearts out to the crowd that was almost full already of eagerly awaiting The Story So Far fans. About halfway through their set, they asked how many people had been to shows in the States claiming that nobody shows up to see the support. So they were very grateful that so many people had come down early. I was quite impressed by them and they have a new album coming out at the beginning of next month that I may very well check out.
After a quick trip to the bar, I found myself a better viewpoint to watch the next band from just in time for them to come out on stage. Citizen, who I’d honestly never heard of, really got the crowd riled up. There were even one of those moments when you could be forgiven for thinking this was who everybody had come to see. It was also a great example of why it always pays to catch the support act because I genuinely enjoyed their set. I decided then and there that I would get on with diving into their discography at my next available opportunity.
When the main act The Story So Far came out to the usual whoops and cheers there was a certain sense of anticipation in the air. The frontman Parker Cannon swaggered out in an anorak that was bright blue and I remember thinking he reminded me of a brit-pop-esque frontman with that Oasis style walk down to a T. Throughout the show he regularly had his hands behind his back or in his pockets and his stance was so reminiscent of the 90’s indie-pop I was introduced to music with.
Though obviously musically they sound nothing like 90’s indie and that’s where their similarities with Oasis or Blur stopped. They jumped in with both feet and the high energy ‘Nerve’ from their latest album Proper Dose followed closely by the title track itself. Then we took a step back to their much loved and older song ‘Things I Can’t Change’ and the audience’s love for the oldies showed with the atmosphere hitting a high.
The set was pretty even-handed jumping between the classics and the newer songs and most of the fans seemed happy with that. Although I did hear grumblings before the show from fans that they didn’t want to hear the new stuff, as always some people just can not handle it when a band develops and grows, and inevitably their sound does too. In my opinion, the show proved that the newer tracks like ‘Upside Down’ and ‘Take Me As You Please’ do hold up live and The Story So Far still know how to put on a good show.
If I had one criticism it would be that when the crowd chants “one more song!” waiting for an encore we don’t literally want just one more song, a couple would be good, guys. They saw fit to play just one – ‘Clairvoyent’.
Photos by Imogen Bird.
Highwire Magazine 