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The Wonder Years Rock The Waiting Room!


Story and Photos: Spencer Fleming


It was an emo pop punk party on Wednesday (7.17.24) last week when The Wonder Years hit the Waiting Room in Omaha. The band brought along a stacked linuep of Knuckle Puck, Like Roses and Good Terms. The near sold out crowd brought the energy and had The Waiting Room walls shaking all night!


The first band on the bill Good Terms from L.A. had a fun set to kick things off. Their guitars were shredding and they even pulled out a wicked cover of Van Halen's "Jump". Their singer kept yelling "Hell Yea Brother!" and asked the crowd to run it back. They threw out a shirt to the loudest "Hell Yea Brother!" in the crowd. Good stuff!





The next band up was one of the main reasons I was so excited for this show. In 2018 I was on a work trip to San Fransisco for a conference. Any time I travel I try and get out and see some type of live music. I scrolled through Facebook events and found a pop punk band called Like Roses. I went to their show at the legendary Gilman Street where pop punk forefathers Green Day played coming up. The show was a blast and I purchased every CD they had available. I told them I would come see them if they ever made it to Omaha. The day finally came and it was so much fun to see them on such an awesome tour package.


As I watched Like Roses tear up the stage I looked around the room and there were quite a few people singing along! The band has continued grinding in the six years since I first saw them gathering thousands of followers along the way. They've continued writing and are seeing the fruits of their labor with several big support tours and a spot on the "Sad Summer Fest" tour. If you've never heard of Like Roses do yourself a favor and check them out, you may just find your next favorite band!





Next up was Knuckle Puck, the first of the two headliners. Hailing from the suburbs of Chicago Knuckle Puck has been together since 2010. They've released four full length albums and several E.P.s via Rise Records and Pure Noise Records. They've toured with heavy hitters Neck Deep, Hot Mulligan and one of my all time favorites New Found Glory.


The band hit the stage with force and blasted into their first song "Gone" from the 2018 Shifted E.P. The barricade shook as everyone in the crowd pushed foward singing along every word. The energy in the air was electric as lead singer Joe Taylor held out the mic and captured everyone screaming the band's lyrics back to him.


I was told that if the room started crowd surfing I'd have to leave the barricde. I looked back nervously several times but luckily didn't see anyone coming over the railing. Dave Campbell and his crew were like trusty sailors scanning the sea of bodies, making sure the waters stayed calm. After the first three songs I retreated to the back and watched as Knuckle Puck destroyed the Waiting Room stage. With hit after hit the energy never let up. Playing a good 40 minutes the band was able to cover a lot of ground since most of their songs are two to three minutes. By the end of the set the band was drenched and most of the crowd was too. Knuckle Puck's latest album Losing What We Love is available now via Pure Noise Records!





The headliner for the evening was The Wonder Years from Philadelphia. As soon as they hit the stage the barricade was shaking as everyone pushed forward and screamed the song "There, There" at the top of their lungs. I scanned the room for crowd surfers and hoped they wouldn't crash my photo session. Lead singer Dan "Soupy" Campbell stood triumphantly upon the risers as the crowd cheered. During the set Dan spoke to the trials of the people in the Middle East and declared "Free Palestine!" which elicited plenty of excitment from the Midwest crowd. He would go on to say that the band hadn't played in Omaha for a long time but they were happy to be back. He said he would spread the word "Come to Omaha on a Wednesday night and the place will be lit!".


The band is currently on the "Sad Summer Fest" tour which is a festival slot so Dan said they don't get to play a full set during those shows. He was excited to play some deeper cuts and songs they don't normally play. For over an hour The Wonder Years blasted the Waiting Room crowd with big hits like "Passing Through A Screen Door", "Low Tide", and "Cardinals.


As the set came to a close the sweaty masses screamed the lyrics of "Came Out Swinging" like it was the last song they'd ever hear. The Wonder Years thanked everyone for coming out and all the years of support and exclaimed that they'd be back. This was a fun one. Make sure to follow The Wonder Years so you can catch them next time.


Huge thanks to Dave Campbell and the Waiting Room crew for keeping everyone safe during this awesome show. Thanks to The Wonder Years managment for photo access. Thanks for reading and we'll see you at the next one!


The Wonder Years



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