Hit the Lights, Forever Came Calling, und Fox Royale

“You’re gonna need a body bag” … the audience cheers, and then sing in return “I’ll break bones you didn’t know you had” at the top of their lungs, lapping up this nostalgic pop punk sensation that is Hit the Lights. Their sophomore vocalist, Nick Thompson leads these pop punk lovers on a journey back to 2007 singing all of the biggest songs from their full length album “This is Stick Up… Don overdriven guitars from Kevin Mahoney and Omar Zehery riffing into the mid-set peak.
The quintet also performs songs from their latest release, “Invicta”, an album produced by Mike Sapone who has worked with Taking Back Sunday and Brand New, which debuted at number 129 on the billboard 200, selling over 4000 copies in its first week. “Earthquake” is the song that has everyone with their hands in the air swinging them backwards and forwards singing the chorus word for word, leaving a lasting impression on Hit the Lights’ faces as their encore of “Invincible” and a song called “Faster Now” which was in fact written with Ryan Key of Florida natives, Yellowcard.

If the quality of a band can be measured off of crowd reaction, its clear that Forever Came Calling are pretty bloody good. The California Pop Punkers find die-hard fans wherever they go and the front row of their shows is always full of heartfelt sing-alongs. And it’s the passion of the crowd that really fuels FCC’s shows and helps to carry such a high level of energy through a 30 minute set.

With such confident and catchy lead vocals its not hard to see why these guys are a fan favourite but they back up the quality singing with some impeccable musicianship. The drums are played with a relentless pace that supercharges the whole set, especially when combined with powerful melodic bass playing and thick guitar leads. The dynamics are a huge part of their sound and every split pause and break in play is on the money, with the band’s tightness obviously honed over years of touring. So it’s easy to see why crowds love Forever Came Calling but if you’re still doubtful maybe the best thing you can do is get yourself in that crowd and see if your mind doesn’t change.