One of the greatest joys is being able to watch a band or musician you’ve loved and supported for years find success. However, what’s even a greater joy is when that band or musician is one of your all-time favorites.
Two nights ago on Friday, Oct. 23, I was able to see that dream realized in downtown Detroit. My favorite band, The Wonder Years, performed its largest Michigan show to date.
Though the Philadelphia-based sextet has been a touring band for 10 years now, the band has only recently started to build a larger following in the last few years.
Since signing to Hopeless Records, a label whose roster features now-seminal acts like All Time Low, Bayside, New Found Glory and Taking Back Sunday, in late 2010, the band has seen a constant stream of success.
With three albums under their belt, all of which have received general acclaim from critics and fans alike, members of The Wonder Years have just now started to receive recognition for their strengths as artists.
Ever since discovering the band in early 2011, when its members announced they’d be playing that year’s edition of the Vans Warped Tour, I put their debut album “The Upsides” on my iPod. While I found the band’s music to be catchy and enjoyable, it just didn’t click with me for a while.
Oddly enough, however, I still remember the moment that the music clicked for me. I was riding with my parents in our car back from my grandparent’s house when the song “Washington Square Park” came on.
I don’t remember what the actual catalyst was, but I found myself turning the volume up, absorbing every emotive lyric and each powerful note until the final burst of energy exploded in the final chorus.
Every song from that moment continued to hit me in a similar way, and my devotion grew from there. Within three months, the band was my No. 1 act to see at Warped Tour, and I considered it one of my favorite bands.
The Wonder Years possesses something that you don’t often see in music: instantly relatable, yet non-pandering, lyrics combined with fun, unique, accessible music that practically anyone can find themselves returning to.
When you combine that with self-referential albums, a commanding live presence and an always-present support for progressive thoughts and ideas, what’s not to love?
Nearly 220,000 Facebook users ‘like’ the band; clearly, they’re taking notice, too.
This brings me to this past Friday: my 12th Wonder Years show in four years of knowing the band. With every show, I take away a completely new experience.
My third time seeing the band, I got a picture with the lead singer, Dan Campbell.
After my fifth time seeing the band, I interviewed Campbell for a music website I used to write for.
The 10th time was also the first time I ever saw the band outside the state of Michigan (at Warped Tour in Chicago). My 11th time, I got to see the band perform in an acoustic setting.
The 12th time I saw the band, however, was particularly special.
Not only did the band perform a co-headliner with Motion City Soundtrack, a band I’ve loved even longer than The Wonder Years (though not to the same level), but I also got to see the band’s name on a marquee.
I’ve seen “The Wonder Years” plastered all over flyers, tickets, Facebook invites and chalkboards outside of venues. But in all my years of Wonder Years fandom, I never expected to see the band’s name on a marquee.
But there it was: “Live Nation Presents: The Wonder Years & Motion City Soundtrack,” radiating from The Fillmore, shining brightly for the city to gaze upon.
It was a special, internal moment that finally hit me. The Wonder Years had made it.
Sure, it was the 12th time I’d seen the band, but the magic was all the same.
Here’s to many, many more.
