REVIEW: State Champs @ House of Blues 3/9

By Ali Audet

State Champs brought their Living Proof tour to Boston’s House of Blues on Saturday, March 9th. The tour is in support of their third studio album, Living Proof, released last June. Not only was this a sold out show, but it was also the largest headlining show the band has ever played.

They opened the show with Living Proof’s “Criminal” and “Frozen,” the first of nine songs on the setlist selected from the album. But just because they’re on the Living Proof tour doesn’t mean they overlooked their old material. They followed these two tracks with “Losing Myself” and “Shape Up,” two crowd-favorite sing-a-longs from their 2015 album Around the World and Back. It’s refreshing to see a band like State Champs give their older material as much respect and playtime as their newer material, especially on a tour in support of a new album. As State Champs lead singer Derek Discanio said, “We don’t want to be one of those bands who won’t play their old [songs].”

State Champs absolutely lived up to this sentiment. The night’s setlist included four songs from their first album, The Finer Things: “Hard to Please,” “Remedy,” “Easy Enough,” and “Simple Existence.” These songs were especially powerful, as the band remarked on the fact that in 2019, The Finer Things turned five years old.

“It’s starting kindergarten,” joked Tyler Szalkowski, the bands lead guitarist.

A particularly poignant moment came about halfway through State Champs’ set. Every member of the band left the stage except for Discanio, who grabbed an acoustic guitar for a rendition of “If I’m Lucky,” from 2014’s The Acoustic Things. It was a well-needed mellow moment to break up the otherwise high energy set.

The second half of the set saw four more songs from Living Proof: “Our Time to Go,” “Safe Haven,” “Something About You,” and “Dead and Gone.” Other selections included Around the World and Back’s “Perfect Score” and “All You Are is History”.

Something State Champs did particularly well on the Living Proof tour is pack their setlist full of music. There was very little banter or long-winded stories from the band, which left room for them to play a breadth of music from their catalog. Yet this didn’t take away from the bands crowd interaction. Discanio remarked about their time playing in Boston, calling it State Champs’ “second home.” The city’s close proximity to State Champs’ hometown of Albany, NY means it was a key city for the band to play shows in during their earlier years.

The main set ended with “Dead and Gone,” the lead single from Living Proof. After a short encore, the band returned to play their two biggest hits in an encore: The Finer Things’ “Elevated” and Around the World and Back’s “Secrets.” To State Champs’ credit, these songs had the most energy of the whole set. They were both exciting and engaging and rounded out the night perfectly.

Overall, State Champs does a phenomenal job of translating their music from album to stage. Living Proof tracks like “Mine is Gold” and “Lightning” may have even sounded better live than they do on the record. The band packs a serious punch with their live set, and when coupled with the raw energy of a sold out venue and a crowd of adoring fans, the experience is electrifying. It is clear that with every moment that passes, State Champs just keeps getting better.