“This is the biggest headline show we’ve ever played in Massachusetts,” applauded Parker Cannon, singer of The Story So Far. The iconic Bay Area band set up outside the Worcester Palladium on October 2nd to ring in the autumnal equinox with Neck Deep, Origami Angel, and Pain of Truth.
The Story So Far have been touring for roughly 15 years, and they have made it clear that they have found their second home in Massachusetts. Despite being on the complete opposite side of America, the quintet has always given their performances a little extra oomph for MA. Ripping right into “Big Blind,” the lead single off their latest album, there was a palpable energy feeding from the crowd that reflected back off the stage. Palladium staff was immediately put to work with the waves of crowd surfers and the crashes only got larger as Cannon called out for “more stage dives, more circle pits.”
The setlist featured a great mix of songs from their entire catalog, even a reappearance of “If I Fall,” from their 2018 record Proper Dose, which they took out of their setlist for a period and brought back for this tour. There was a notable lack of songs from their 2015 self-titled LP, which the band only pulled one song from – the lead single “Nerve.” Despite this, the curation of the setlist was careful and methodical; plenty of front-loaded bangers transitioning toward a slightly relaxed back-half before their explosive encore ending “Quicksand,” their first hit song from 2011.
The most notable aspect of the show was the mixed bill lineup. All genres that comprise The Story So Far were thought of when putting the package together with Neck Deep, Origami Angel, and Pain of Truth. The ebbs and flows of hardcore/pop-punk cast a wide net of audience members, tying everyone together with their love of The Story So Far.
The fall tour wraps up on October 11th in Santa Ana, California. Be sure to check out I Want to Disappear in the USA, the first live album from TSSF.
Check out Cam’s photos from the show below:
