A Day To Remember Kick Their Tour Off at The Ledge Amphitheater in Style

I couldn’t tell you why Ocala, Florida-based A Day To Remember chose to kick off their new ‘The Least Anticipated Album Tour’ at the beautiful Ledge Amphitheater in Waite Park, Minnesota, but I can tell you that I can not thank the band enough for it. Thursday night was full of excitement, new songs, old jams, and good vibes.

First up on this inaugural night of tour was the almighty Four Year Strong. If you’ve been following my words for some time, this will not be a new name for you. Four Year Strong is an act that I have truly lost count of how many times I’ve witnessed live, yet I keep going back repeatedly purely because of their energy and catchy tunes. Wednesday night was more of the same of what I’ve gotten used to from this band- a flawless performance of pop-punk tunes with a heavier leaning edge to them presented with an undeniable sense of energy and passion. Although they were first up on the stage and there were still people flowing into the open grounds of the amphitheater, I watched as everyone instantly got hooked on this band.

Obviously, Four Year Strong played their long-lasting hits like “It Must Really Suck To Be Four Year Strong Right Now” and their classic closing song “Wasting Time (Eternal Summer),” but they also surprised the audience with some brand new songs. Wednesday night was the live debut of “Uncooked” and “Daddy of Mine.” Although brand new songs, these two new bops are absolutely in line with all of Four Year Strong’s previous work, which made my heart flutter. This is far from the first time I’m writing about Four Year Strong, and it surely won’t be the last. I love that, even after all of these times of seeing the band, they can still fill me with the same excitement and energy they did the first time.

Following the explosive opening set from Four Year Strong was California-bred pop-punk band The Story So Far. This is one of those bands that has hit a whole generation of people super hard, but sadly, I missed that generation. Don’t get me wrong, this band has lyrics that will pull at even the coldest heartstrings, giving you relatable content to get all lost in your feelings, too. That being said, I wasn’t one of the people in the audience going completely crazy for every word. I really appreciated how clear the vocals from Parker Cannon filled the air. Every word hit like a pinprick but in a good way, as if really making sure you felt the comfort of the relatable lyrics rather than just hearing them.

Although The Story So Far sounded truly impeccable, I felt that their set lacked the amount of heart and fire that I wanted to see and feel from them. Parker Cannon spent the majority of the set with his hands stuck in his jacket pockets or gripping the microphone for dear life. I get it. He was hitting all of his notes perfectly and, truly, the vocals of The Story So Far are a bit more complicated and technical than other bands in the genre. Maybe his focus was on making sure the band sounded great. Unfortunately, I felt that this meant that the energy of the band fell flat. The audience was doing everything they could to make up for it, and the constant stream of crowd surfers and people screaming along to the lyrics like their life depended on it gave me something to watch, but, all in all, The Story So Far left me wanting just a bit more sparkle from their set.

Have no fear, though. Headlining act A Day To Remember instantly gave me that spark again as they kicked into what would turn into a super lengthy and amazing set. ADTR promised some curveballs in their set, and by the eighth track of their twenty-three-song set, we saw just what the band meant by that. Sure, ADTR played the hits, kicking the set off with “Sticks & Bricks” before moving into “All I Want.” They even played their song “Rescue Me,” which seemed to catapult this band into a different world as it was done with Marshmello. We also got their classic cover of Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone”. But these weren’t curveballs. The curveballs came when the band played “Violence (Enough is Enough)” and “The Danger in Starting a Fire”… the list goes on and on of songs that the band performed on Thursday for the first night since 2018. ADTR promised curveballs, and they absolutely delivered.

Although hearing these songs live I honestly didn’t think I’d ever hear live again after the band had seemingly retired them was great, I also loved hearing their standard. A heartfelt “Have Faith in Me” and an energetic “I’m Made of Wax, Larry, What Are You Made Of?” were just some of the highlights for me. I also thoroughly enjoyed the band playing through some new songs, including the live debut of their new single, “Feedback.” It didn’t matter what song the band was playing or where they were in their set; everything they did on stage was done with an undeniable sense of heart and passion that flowed onto the overly-excited crowd.

I have a lot on my bingo card for this week but definitely didn’t see a spontaneous trip an hour north of the Twin Cities to see the tour kickoff of ‘The Least Anticipated Album Tour’. That being said, I don’t know how on Earth I could have lived with myself had I missed this show. There are some nights where I have to kind of pinch myself to make sure this is all real and Thursday night was one of those nights.