At 5’o clock on a Saturday evening, Leeds University Union is not the busiest or loudest of places, so to think that in just a couple of hours the place would be filled with the sound of pop-punk band The Story So Far’s loud vocals and grungy instrumentals, and a crowd of almost 1000 people shouting back at them seemed almost impossible.
There was excitement in the air as fans waited in the queue of plaid-clad teenagers, all chattering and laughing with anticipation. This buzz continued as everyone was let into the venue, people rushing to get the best spot on the floor. People filtered in slowly, so slowly in fact that two boys decided to throw a frisbee between them whilst waiting for the show to start.
After support acts Turnstile and Drug Church began the show with their sets, the crowd were almost bursting with excitement waiting for TSSF to start.
Without an introduction, the band stormed on stage and went straight into fan favourite ‘Empty Space’ and the madness ensued. Bodies were flying everywhere as people crowd surfed and jumped around, adrenaline running high.
Alongside songs from the band’s new self-titled album such as ‘Solo’ and ‘Heavy Gloom’, the band played some older songs from their first record like ‘Roam’ and ‘Quicksand’, with frontman Parker Cannon stating, “This one’s for the oldies” before the crowd was treated to a performance of ‘Quicksand’.
One thing you can tell from watching Cannon perform is how humble and grateful he is for his fans, applauding the crowd after every song as if he should be thanking them for an awesome show, not the other way round. At several intervals during songs he pointed the microphone towards the crowd and the fans yelled the lyrics back with evident dedication.
The Story So Far’s concerts have a certain energy about them that can only be created by the punchy, adrenaline filled vocals and distorted, guitar heavy instrumentals that they bring. With lines like “Told me that you had to leave/But how the f*ck does that change anything” it’s hard not to shout them back with all the energy you can muster.
Although it was rather a loud and aggressive show it also had a chilled out feel to it, with the band singing song after song, not stopping to talk too often, focusing more on the music.
They also took a break from the friction and volume by playing slower song ‘Clairvoyant’ where people held up their phone lights and Cannon afterwards proclaimed “Aw, so emotional, I think I’m gonna cry” whilst pretending to tear up, much to everyone’s amusement.
The initial last song for the show was oldie ‘Roam’, but as the guitarists continued to strum Cannon turned back around and said “I would stop, but this is just too much f*cking fun” and jumped into ‘High Regard’, another from their first album to end the show on.
All in all, The Story So Far gave a whirlwind of a show filled with crowd surfing, loud vocals and pop-punk guys getting way too excited and having to be taken out. The Story So Far are definitely a must see for anyone looking for a high energy show they can simply throw themselves around at and have fun, and their music is something pretty special to hear too.
Words by Anna Gregory