Four Year Strong rocks an appreciative House of Blues

Dylan Fair
Staff Writer

The Hollywood House of Blues is famous for its great atmosphere and stellar performances. On October 22, pop-punk group Four Year Strong took advantage of the venue in which it was performing and staged a powerful and emotional show satisfying even the most critical fans.

Since the beginning of the evening, the entire house was buzzing with anticipation. The sold-out House of Blues was filled with young, scrappy, bearded twenty-year-olds all avid to see Four Year Strong and their heartfelt performance. After opening acts American Fangs, The Wonder Years and Comeback Kid, and some minor difficulties setting up their instruments, Four Year Strong finally took the stage.

Almost immediately, frontman Dan O’Conner lead the group straight into the song “What the Hell Is a Gigawatt?” from their newest album “Enemy of the World.” The crowd took this as their cue to begin crowd surfing and forming mosh-pits.

The band’s interaction with their fans was exceptional. O’Conner climbed off of the stage to scream lyrics into the faces of die-hard fans and occasionally threw the microphone into the crowd to give members of the audience a chance to sing.
Four Year Strong started with a bang and maintained a high level of energy throughout the set. Fan favorites “Bada Bing! Wit a Pipe!,” “Wasting Time,” and “Maniac (R.O.D)” were highlights of the set.

After the show had seemingly ended, the crowd remained ecstatic for a justifiably-anticipated encore. The band played their popular song “One Step a Time” as an acoustic. This was immediately followed by a drastic contrast, their rather intense but arguably most popular song “Heroes Get Remembered, Legends Never Die.” The aggressive but fun track served as the perfect ending to a perfect show.

It was not just the energy or environment that made this concert so great; the musical precision of the band was unbelievable, and was only complimented by the acoustics of The House of Blues. The band sounded as clean as its studio recordings, only with heavier breakdowns and a more “metal” vibe.

Four Year Strong truly put on a show to remember, modestly priced at 25 dollars—a reasonable fee for the mass of sheer excitement supplied. While the band just left California to continue their tour, any fan would truly regret missing the next opportunity to see Four Year Strong.