Show Review: A Day to Remember @ The Trocadero 2.23.08

Watching A Day to Remember perform their self-described “Pop-mosh” music at The Trocadero in Philly was truly an enlightening experience. It’s one thing to listen to their album get an idea of how they reached this description. It’s another to see it in action during a live show.

The sold-out show saw throngs of teenaged fans, obviously the band’s core demographic, eagerly await the chance to crowd surf, mosh and simply flail about senselessly (all of which happened with great frequency during the band’s performance), in a seemingly endless serpentine line that winded down Arch Street and around the corner. Lines so long, in fact, in caused a duo of music reporters to catch a quick quaff at the Hard Rock Cafe, of all places, waiting for the lines to shrink. Cliché alert!

The guitar riffs coupled with lead singer Jeremy McKinnons’s strong, angry vocals alternating between melodic and deep, grating screaming came together to create the pop-mosh atmosphere. McKinnon exuded charisma, and seeing the crowd scream, shove, sing along and bob their heads at his every suggestion was like watching a shepherd direct his flock. I even managed to catch some of the parents of the aforementioned limb-flailing teenagers nod their heads and tap their feet to the music as well.

A Day to Remember deserves a hearty “kudos” for bringing so much energy to a show and being able to get the crowd so involved. If they can break out and appeal to a larger demographic that doesn’t need to be driven by their folks to a show, they’ll only become more successful.

Posted by
Brian McCarthy