Not too long after announcing the European tour last September, the Eindhoven show for State Champs got sold out already, proving how much people have been waiting for this band to come back, even if they hadn’t been gone for too long. The American band had been on tour not even a year ago in support of Simple Plan, but this time around they’re headlining their own tour in celebration of their new record State Champs.
The band didn’t hold back in putting together a strong lineup for the European Winter Tour 2025, as they brought along bands Broadside and The Home Team, making for a perfect pop punk party. The evening starts fairly early to give all three bands enough time to shine, and the venue is already packed before Broadside even starts their set.
The energy from the start begins strong from the first song of Broadside’s set. Since a lot of people had been queued up for hours, they had been complaining about the cold, but temperatures quickly rose when everyone started dancing throughout the first band’s set. The Home Team’s Brian Butcher joins them on stage to perform the song “Cruel” with them, and the favor is returned when Broadside’s Oliver Baxxter joins The Home Team for their “Somebody Else’s Face.” What Oliver lacks in height, the short king more than makes up for in energy on stage.
The ‘heavy pop’ from The Home Team is getting a little more steamy, and Brian’s hair makes a lot of girls in the crowd envy it. The energy from the first set is easily matched in both the crowd as the band, as guitarist John Baron and bassist Ryne Olson have some synchronized dances going on, on opposite ends of the stage. They mention having been on tour with Broadside a couple of times, and the friendly vibe on stage bleeds over into the crowd.
After already giving so much energy during the support acts, you almost would expect the crowd to be a little less spirited, but the opposite very quickly proves to be true when State Champs appears on stage. Everything gets even more hyped up, with an unending wave of crowdsurfers and stage dives, circle pits and more. There’s people blowing bubbles in between songs, and an inflatable pig that becomes a part of the show multiple times. From start to finish, everyone keeps the energy going as if no time is passing at all.
Even though the setlist was 21+ songs long, the show went by in a flash, with everyone completely wrapped up in dancing all throughout this Saturday evening. The show in Eindhoven went absolutely crazy through the entire set, which is also because the energy on stage reflects what’s happening on the floor. Derek DiScanio jumps around from left to right constantly, and Ryan Scott Graham spins around on the somewhat small stage like nobody’s business, as if he’s not wearing a bass as well.
They blast through the setlist without so much as a breath in between songs, and the crowd doesn’t yield either. The unrelenting enthusiasm gets the show crowned as ‘favorite show of tour so far’ by both Derek and Ryan (to be fair, it was only the 4th stop for them, but still).
Showing in the crowd response and how fast tickets sold out, they could’ve easily upgraded to a bigger venue, but the size of tonight’s show is part of the magic too. Most of the people in the audience today have seen them perform before, but they welcomes every new fan into the family with open arms, and it truly feels like a family. It’s a true testament to the pop-punk band, to be able to make everyone at their shows feel like they’re part of a community, and everyone is looking out for each other. Ofcourse there’s a couple squabbles, as there are within every family, but in the end, no one leaves the venue without a smile on their face.
The European tour continues through the UK for the duration of February. With a lot of the remaining shows either sold out or running low on tickets, don’t miss your chance to see these three bands show you how pop punk shows should be done. Tickets can be found on https://statechamps.band/pages/tour.
GALLERY: State Champs with Broadside and The Home Team at Dynamo in Eindhoven, Netherlands (February 15, 2025)
