Hailing from New York, State Champs released their newest self-titled album State Champs on November 8th, 2024. The meritorious pop-punk band has been around for 10 years and counting. They have played countless festivals and large stages, and been openers for various big-name legacy bands such as Boys Like Girls, The Summer Set, Yellowcard, and Simple Plan, to name a few. With a freshly released record, it was time to hit the road to celebrate the release. With them on the headlining full US tour were Daisy Grenade, Meet Me @ The Altar, and Knuckle Puck. It is a stacked lineup with a diverse group of openers. The four-piece band found themselves in Seattle, Washington playing at Showbox SODO. This venue has slowly become one of my favorites after shooting multiple shows. Seattle brought the high energy, especially for a Saturday. "Shoutout to the weekend,” a line frontman Derek DiScanio stated throughout the show. Excited showgoers got one crazy setlist filled with songs new and old. Long-time fans were able to hear classic throwbacks such as "Losing Myself," a mash-up of three different fan favorites "Perfect Score," "Frozen," and "Fake It," as well as "Criminal," "Mine Is Gold," and "All You Are Is History" which was a live acoustic moment with a feature from Daisy Grenade, to name a few timeless titles. Of course, with the celebration of a new record, both new and older fans got to hear some newer songs off the record such as "Silver Cloud," which was the opening track of the show, and my personal favorite from the record "Light Blue." Getting to hear newer songs live was such a treat and validated how much this album meant to both the artist and fans. The self-titled album displays a big turning point for the band and where they are in their careers as musicians. While they wrote sappy lyrics, they also created high-energy, upbeat-tempo music. The audience was a mixed range of ages from young kids, teenagers, young adults, and elder-emos, as they call themselves, which are adults who have been in the scene for years. It is always heartwarming to see such young Champs fans as they have their parents attending with them for the experience. While there were some younger fans in the crowd, there were also a lot of older long-time fans. Showbox SODO was packed with fans of all ages. Concert attendees were caught surfing, creating dance pits left and right, and singing along to the live lyrics which made for an amped-up night of live music. State Champs stated that they felt a warm welcome from Seattle and would love to come back soon. Keep up with State Champs here.