So OMG I had such a great time last night! I REALLY needed a night out to enjoy some great live music energy with all the pain I have been having, so I treated myself and 2 friends to tickets to this show for my upcoming birthday! This was my first concert of the season and first time at the Palladium Times Square (nice venue!) and what a super line up – Youth Fountain was unfamiliar to me, but did a great job as the opening act – I really enjoyed their song – “My Mental Health”. The headliner was “Story of the Year” who I knew a few songs by, and they are doing a huge tour this year celebrating the 20th anniversary of their album “Page Avenue”. And yeah they were really great but I travelled all the way from CT to NYC in snow squalls to see “We The Kings”!

I had seen them twice before at Warped AC in 2019 and the first When We Were Young 2022 and both times I found myself liking them more and more! Not only is the music delightfully upbeat, energetic and fun – but so is their stage presence! They really connect with the fans and are down to earth and so personable – I loved some of the personal stories they shared and the dance moves Travis’ daughter wanted us to do. LOL! Bands that really make an effort to connect with the fans makes a huge difference to me and makes me feel so much happier to go see them.

Side note – One of my pet peeves is seeing a band that does the same exact cookie cutter shows day after day right down to the same exact banter with the same song in the same way. I won’t mention names but, I saw 2 bands who I really loved at WWWY do back to back shows and both shows were i- freaking – dentical. Ughh It just felt kind of staged or posed in an insincere way I guess and made me wish I had not bothered to see them do both sets. I suppose I just didn’t want to know that they had the entire show planned out to THAT much detail leaving no room for spontaneity or letting their real selves shine through or actually connect with the fans. 🙁

But not last night – they were fresh and fun and surprising and a great time was truly had by all. I went to the show with a young gal I know through my godchild and her bestie, who was also a huge fan of WTK but because I thought it wise not to spend the entire show on my feet I was offered a seat on the left “wing” of the club in the ADA section. I did have a great view but I really do kind of wish I could have been in the thick of it with the gals – I love the energy of being in the crowd but I also didn’t want to be in pain the whole time. Bleh!

After WTK finished playing I was enjoying the Story of the Year set and I heard a voice over my left shoulder say “Hey I like your shirt!” (Of course it was my new WTK shirt I had just bought) and as I turned to say “Thanks I just got it at the merch booth….” – I saw that is was Coley O’Toole the guitar & keyboard player of WTK! Took me at least a full 2 seconds to stammer out – “Holy Shit! Dude I freaking LOVE you guys!” I jumped up and he hugged me, and we chatted for a minute or two and he even let me grab this selfie:

When the show was totally over the gals and I even got a chance to do a meet and greet with WTK and they were so cool. Hugs all around signed our CDs exchanged pleasantries and took a few pics including this one –

And to finish of – here is a small gallery of pics from the show and a short vid or two. My phone is not the best to begin with and when I am bouncing around full of energy at a concert I tend to take crap pics – sorry. 🙂