Yellowcard’s Ocean Avenue 10 Year Anniversary Tour Hollywood

Last night I got to attend one of the top 10 shows I’ve ever been to in my entire life. Hands down. I’ve gone to about at least a show a week during the past 6 years of my life, but last night’s show of Yellowcard performing Ocean Avenue in it’s entirety really captivated what I value in live music. The clock strikes 8:50PM and the band hit’s the stage acoustic guitars in hand. Front man Ryan Key gives a greeting where he states the following “Tonight we have 2 rules and 1 request. First rule, have the best night of your life. Second rule, sing as loud as you can so when you leave this room tonight you loose your voice and the request, I highly recommend putting away your cell phones and enjoying this moment. I won’t judge you if you use it, but for the majority of the show, live.” RESPECT. I couldn’t agree more with the request. I snapped 2 photos (below) but for the most part, I enjoyed what was happening directly in front of me.

While the opening track ‘Way Away’ was being played, thoughts were running through my head. It’s crazy how I was 13 when this record came out and Yellowcard was the first band that introduced me to this scene of music, fell in love with Ocean Avenue and it helped me through my late middle school to high school years. I remember watching the ‘Ocean Avenue’ music video play on MTV and then ‘Only One’ and had a young teen crush on Key’s platinum blonde buzz cut. After a few songs went by, I realize that this record is a timeless record for me, most of the lyrics still resonate with me but towards different people, incidents, places and things.

What I really enjoyed about the set was between songs, Key & violinist Sean Mackin would share stories and reminisce about old times. El Hefe of NOFX came out to sing harmonies during ‘Only One’. The band’s first guitar tech came out and handed the band their guitars for a song. After they performed ‘Miles Apart’, Key shared the story on why you’ll never hear that song played live due to it being a hard to sing and how producer Neal Avron even questioned his abilities. Don’t worry Ryan, it sounded great!

I thought the set would end post final OA song ‘Back Home’ but to my surprise the band did a quick set change and came out rocking their electrics. The crowd switched momentums with the band by creating a mosh pit and crowd surfing for the majority of the electric set. It was quite a treat to see the band perform for two full hours and even little miss Tay Jardine of We Are The In Crowd made a special guest appearance for ‘Here I Am Alive’.

It felt good to dance around, sing along and get lost in the music. You could even tell the band was just as happy as the fans were, mid song Key even stated “You know we love you, thank you for tonight”. Was a special one for the books. Thank you Yellowcard for coming back to life and creating music that means something. You made me feel last night.

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