Whether you’re at the bottom of a pile-on at a basement show or in the nosebleed section at an arena, if you see A Day To Remember live in concert, the music will hit you like a ton of bricks.
Your participation is, of course, mandatory.
Bassist Joshua Woodard said the band is always ready to bring the atmosphere of a live show to a fever pitch.
“Sometimes we’re energized (by the crowd before the show), sometimes we have to go out and create the energy,” Woodard said. “We have a lot of gags in our set that almost force the crowd to get involved as well.”
While many heavy bands seem to go through the motions — in the studio and onstage, A Day To Remember seems to galvanize with every performance. Credit it to a perfect mix of melodious pop and the crushing riffs and breakdowns of hardcore and metal.
Lead singer Jeremy McKinnon’s voice soars with confidence on tracks such as “It’s Complicated,” while songs like “My Life for Hire” and “Welcome to the Family” contain brutally heavy passages ready-made for feet-first moshing.
This particular fusion of pop and hardcore has been dubbed “easycore,” with the Ocala, Fla., quintet cited as a pioneer of the movement, though ADTR doesn’t subscribe to the tag.
“We don’t link ourselves to any specific genre,” Woodard said. “We’re a group of dudes that like to listen to many different types of music. When people ask, I say we’re a rock band.”
Still fresh off the success of 2010’s “What Separates Me from You” and the hit singles “Have Faith in Me” and “All Signs Point to Lauderdale,” the group is plotting a new release later this year.
“We’re always trying to push the envelope, continuing to stay on the course we laid out for ourselves, and of course trying to get better,” Woodard said.
A Day To Remember’s current tourmates in crime, Rise Against, also bring a melodic approach to the hardcore punk aesthetic, though their lyrics veer toward more political and social issues. The Chicago group’s sixth and newest release, 2011’s “Endgame,” takes a stand against homophobic bullying (“September’s Children”), economic injustice (“Disparity By Design”) and civic apathy (“Architects”).
This is the pairing’s first tour together.
“It’s something both camps tried to get to happen for a while,” Woodward said.
A Day to Remember will perform with Rise Against and The Menzingers at 7 p.m. Jan. 29 at the Bryce Jordan Center, University Park. Visit www.bjc.psu.edu or call 865-5555 for more information.
