concert review: with Knuckle Puck + State Champs, everything is copacetic.
november, 13th 2024 • the house of blues • anaheim, california
full gallery can be found here
If you know me, you know I will pretty much do anything for music. Especially live music. In the morning of Wednesday, November 13th I was across the country in Boston, MA. I hopped on a flight all the way to Los Angeles to land at 6:30 pm where one of my good friends picked me up. We booked our asses all the way to Anaheim and made it to the House of Blues ten minutes before Knuckle Puck went on. I tend to plan trips specifically around concerts and I wouldn’t have it any other way, especially if it meant I get the chance to see Knuckle Puck and State Champs. Their shows literally never disappoint.
knuckle puck
Knuckle Puck started their killer set with “Want Me Around” off of their 2017 album Shapeshifter. After seeing these guys live over five times it’s extremely apparent how high energy they are and just how much fun they are to watch perform. They get better each time I see them. The band has a way of grabbing the audience’s attention and transforming the energy in the room into an event and feeling that everyone can experience together. Singer Joe Taylor uses the stage to his advantage and I don’t think there was one inch of it that he didn’t touch. Knuckle Puck’s older songs still resinate to this day and continue to sound incredible live. It’s always a special experience for myself personally to see a band I’ve been listening to since I was a teenager as an adult. The band has evolved and grown, much like myself, and being able to relate to those same songs I held dear to my heart as a kid but in a different way is an experience I will never be able to put into words. Their more recent releases also hit the mark: you can tell how well they have mastered their sound and style over the years.
Knuckle Puck is a pop punk/emo band that formed in 2010 in the suburbs of Chicago, IL. The term “knucklepuck” is an ‘almost impossible’ shot in hockey when the player flips the puck on the side and shoots it directly into the goal. The 1994 film The Mighty Ducks popularized this move. Contrary to popular belief the movie itself wasn’t direct inspiration for the band’s name, but American hardcore band Stick to Your Guns. The group had a shirt that said ‘Knuckle Puck Crew’ and in turn inspired the name of the band in question.
Knuckle Puck consists of vocalist Joe Taylor, lead guitarist Kevin Maida, drummer John Siorek, guitarist Nick Casasanto, and bassist Ryan Rumchaks. The group started off by covering songs that they liked. Their sound has been compared to The Story So Far, The Wonder Years, and more related groups. Towards the beginning of the formation of the group, they did a co-headlined tour with Canadian band Seaway in 2013 as well as releasing a split Ep with Welsh group Neck Deep titled Tour Split in the following year. They have released Eps over the years as well as four studio albums. Their first album Copacetic was released in 2015, Shapeshifter in 2017, 20/20 respectfully in 2020, and their latest released Losing What We Love that was released October 20th, 2023.
Their well known songs include “No Good” off of the Ep The Weight That You Buried (2013), “Untitled” off of Copacetic (2015), and “Double Helix” off of Shapeshifter (2017). Their cover of The 1975’s “Chocolate” was featured on Punk Goes Pop, Vol. 6 in 2014 and was extremely successful. Their most recent release was single “On All Cylinders” released on October 24th, 2024.
state champs
At this point in time, it would be a crime not to acknowledge State Champs as literal pop punk icons. Forming in Albany, New York in 2010, State Champs consists of vocalist Derek DiScanio, guitarist Tyler Szalkowski, bassist Ryan Scott Graham, and drummer Evan Ambrosio. As a group they have released five studio albums and five EPs, as well as appearing on Punk Goes Pop Vol. 6 and 7, Songs That Saved My Life Vol. 2, Rock Sound Presents: The Black Parade, and Dead Formats, Vol. 1. Their most recent released, State Champs, was released on November 8th of 2024. I honestly believe that this album has no skips on it, and I’m super stoked that I was able to see a bunch of those songs live already.
It’s been over two years since I’ve been able to see State Champs in concert, and I forgot just how incredible they are live. Last time I saw them was on a scorching hot summer day at Sad Summer Fest in 2022, and I unfortunately had realized I was starting to get extremely sick during their set (turns out it was a kidney infection) and wasn’t able to enjoy it nearly as much as I would have liked. Their sound is pretty much perfect live and I would argue that some of the songs and riffs hit better live than the do on the studio recordings (nothing against the recordings at all, this is just proving my point on how great they are as live performers). The guys started their set with my favorite song off of the new album, “Silver Cloud” and it instantly sounded unbelievable live. It’s a feeling I’ll be chasing for a very long time. Their setlist, in my opinion, was pretty much perfect. It was a wonderful even blend of all of their albums, all songs being absolute hits. I mean, it’s extremely difficult to go wrong with State Champs since they have so many strong songs in their discography. I left the show wanting more…not because their set was lacking but because their set was so much fun that I eagerly await the next time I can see them. I’ll be back in Boston by the time the tour makes its way over there, and I might just have to get myself a ticket.
