Boys Like Girls Are Speaking Our Language in Nashville

On a Monday Night in Nashville, Boys Like Girls brought The Speaking Our Language Tour to Brooklyn Bowl in front of a sold out crowd full of fans of all ages. Bringing with them LOLO, Four Year Strong and State Champs the show did not disappoint with all of the Pop Punk goodness you might expect from a lineup like that with a few sweet surprises along the way.

The night began with LOLO, who has an impressive social media following, taking the stage. The room was already filling even though it was early, and the early arrivers were in for a treat. Bringing a sound that skews more on the side of pop, she took the stage with plenty of energy and ready to rock out with the crowd. Her short set consisted of songs that talked about her own struggles with mental health and relationships and it was obvious that the crowd identified with what she was expressing. For her song Debbie Downer the crowd was in for a surprise when she was joined by Scene Queen and Marisa Maino for a raucous rendition complete with cheerleading cheers and pompoms being thrown into the crowd. This show was special to her since all of the songs were written in Music City, and she pointed out that she was joined that night with many people who made it possible.

The night continued with pop punk favorites Four Year Strong. Boasting a heavier sound that filled the room, they came out ready to rock everyone’s faces. There were quite a few OG fans of the band as they sang along with many of the songs that they played which included Get Out of My Head , Heroes, and Wasting Time. There was plenty of head banging and hands in the air as this band plowed through their set with ferocity and edge.

Next up was fan favorite State Champs. Let me start by saying, if you have never seen a State Champs show, you need to rectify that as soon as they are near you. These guys are balls of energy from the moment they take the stage and carries through until the end. This night was absolutely no different. They burst onto the stage with Outta My Head and continued through the set, making sure they hit many of the fan favorites that you would expect to hear. Throughout the night, you could hear the crowd singing along and waving and bouncing with the music. As mentioned before, it was a packed house so bouncing along was about the most movement that would be able to happen on the general admission floor. That didn’t stop those braver souls from crowd surfing though! As the songs were belted from the stage with lead singer Derek DiScanio moving and running from side to side- there was no shortage of energy from anywhere in the house. The band ended their set with Everybody But You, which happens to be one of my personal favorites, with the crowd singing along with every single word.

The night was a party for sure, but it wasn’t over yet! Boys Like Girls took the stage for their headlining set opening with Love Drunk. Claiming Nashville as their adopted hometown, you can tell they were glad to be back on stage in the city which was made only sweeter by the fact that this show was the first sold out date of the tour. Bringing with them an impressive LED setup as stage backing that resembled guitar amps at first glance, you can tell it was important to the band that the fans who attend this tour have the best show possible. Lead Singer Martin Johnson mentioned this fact during one of the few breaks between songs. I say few, because the songs seamlessly flowed into each other as the night progressed with the band only taking pauses to change instruments, grab some water and speak with the crowd. They made sure to hit all the favorites as the sang their hits, and boasting a set time of about 95 minutes not a fan left disappointed this night. They threw in some surprises, such as covering a small snippet of Bruce Springsteen‘s Born in the USA and being Boston originals- they also had to throw in some Sweet Caroline as well leading the Nashville crowd in the finer points on how to sing along correctly. Like had been the case for most of the night, there was even some crowd surfing going on! In probably the most poignant moment of the evening, Boys Like Girls played one of their biggest songs, Thunder, acoustic. You could feel the emotion permeating from both the crowd and the band on stage, especially when the band members took a moment to step back and look out at the crowd, taking it all in. Boys Like Girls has a new album coming out in October that will be titled Sunday At Foxwoods, which this tour is supporting. This tour continues throughout the fall supported by various acts throughout the duration.

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