Officially Stefny

Friday night was craaaaaazy. It was my first time back hosting Beat Happenings since September AND I got to see Yellowcard and A Day To Remember bring their Maximum Fun Tour to Austin!

Since I was hosting BH, I didn’t get to see the two opening bands Dinosaur Pile-Up and The Wonder Years (😭) but we made it just in time to descend the stairs to Yellowcard absolutely shredding the Top Gun Anthem.

Cinema was actually a huge part of this show from both headliners, Yellowcard especially. They played clips from various 80s films, Ryan wore a big brown duster and held a boombox over his head, and the centerpiece of the stage was a giant VHS tape sporting the title of their new album Better Days.

I’ve never actually seen Yellowcard before (shocking, I know) but holy crap they were incredible. I absolutely lost my mind when they played “Breathing” because that song was my jam in 2005 (as seen by this 19 year old YouTube video).

I believe this is also the first show I’ve ever been to where the band had to stop for a medical emergency in the crowd. According to someone on Reddit claiming to be the attendee, he’s doing fine now, but it was really scary!

After Yellowcard, ADTR continued the cinema, coming onstage to “Also Sprach Zarathustra” and accompanying visuals similar to the opening scene of “2001: A Space Odyssey.” The stone “A Day To Remember” stayed behind the band the whole set, changing slightly with each track and incorporating elements of the songs and/or activities going on during the show, with flowers, basketballs, and toilet paper rolls popping up.

The last time I saw ADTR was at the AT&T Center in San Antonio opening for blink-182 during the Matt Skiba years (2016?). They had to start “The Downfall of Us All” over because someone goofed, and this time, they opened with it. This band actually has so many legendary songs, even if they do just describe themselves as “pop punk with breakdowns” as Jeremy said during the show. They also had fans on stage behind the platform! I’m not sure how people got to go back there (since I missed the beginning of the show) but I’m pretty sure the couple next to me during Yellowcard popped up on stage for ADTR.

Long story short, the penultimate stop of the Maximum Fun Tour was, indeed, maximum fun, and despite the long day, it was a perfect way to cap it off!