By Jordi F. Gonzalez
The Wonder Years’ concert at Baltimore’s Soundstage was an extremely electrifying event. The two openers, Macseal and Fireworks, were the perfect complementary additions to the night. Each group that took the stage amplified the walls with their hearts, chords, and singing.
Security guards struggled to stop concertgoers from throwing themselves on top of each other surfing, gliding, and inevitably crashing down from overhead. By the time The Wonder Years came on, with immense energy might I add, the entire venue was packed, sweating, and breathing down each other’s necks all for the love of sweet, sweet music.
The lead singer for The Wonder Years, Dan Campbell, had an incredibly powerful and commanding voice. The band’s vocal component from Campbell really adds so much to their music both sonically and emotionally. Their use of lighting, changing from aesthetically beautiful, sunset-like golden hues to stark and contrasting white-hot beams went along with the shifts of The Wonder Years’ songs perfectly. They definitely had the best stage preparations and overall performance.
The pauses Campbell would take to talk to the crowd were truly some of my favorite performer-to-audience moments I’ve ever felt from any concert I’ve ever been to. In one of these moments, he addressed nationwide social injustices in a collectively eye-opening speech; almost like spoken word. It’s evident how much he pours his heart and soul into every song and every performance. Plus, the incredibly talented band seals the deal for a fantastic show.
As a newcomer to Baltimore and it being this writer’s first time at the Soundstage, the experience was an impactful and memorable one. The Wonder Years gained many new fans that night and played a number of songs from their latest album “The Hum Goes On Forever”.