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Biography
From the burning embers of the Lansdale, PA, band The Premier, came vocalist Dan “Soupy” Campbell, guitarist Matt Brasch, and multi-instrumentalist Nick Steinborn. Along with guitarist Casey Cavaliere, bassist Josh Martin, keyboardist Mikey Kelly and drummer Mike Kennedy, the line-up forms Philadelphia punk pop band The Wonder Years. Named after an essay of the same name lead singer Campbell wrote for his after-school education teacher, the band’s early years were spent releasing split EPs with other local bands.
After completing their first tour of the UK, The Wonder Years recorded and self-released their debut album “Get Stoked on It!” on October 30, 2007. The release, along with their touring schedule led to a swelling of the band’s fan base and signing with No Sleep Records shortly afterwards.
The band’s label debut came in spring 2008 with the EP “Won’t Be Pathetic Forever” followed by a split release with UK pop punk band All or Nothing titled “Distances” in 2009. Mikey Kelly subsequently left the band following the release to pursue other outlets.
With a devoted following for the release of their second full-length LP “The Upsides” (2010), the album performed much better commercially than the first, reaching No. 5 on the Billboard alternative artist chart. Shortly after the release the band announced they had signed to Hopeless Records and were releasing a deluxe version of the album with the added songs “I Was Scared and I’m Sorry”, “We Won’t Bury You” and “Dynamite Shovel (Campfire Version)” among others.
After following the release with an extensive touring schedule, The Wonder Years announced they were returning to the studio, the result of which was “Suburbia I’ve Given You All Now I’m Nothing”. Release on June 14, 2011 the album was inspired by the Allen Ginsberg poem entitled “America” and was led by the single “Local Man Ruins Everything”. Subsequent singles included “Don’t Let Me Cave In” and “Coffee Eyes”. In 2012 the band released a split 6-inch with pop punk band Stay Ahead of the Weather with the name “Punk Is Dead” and rereleased their debut “Get Stoked on It!”.
2013 brought four shows in less than 24 hours in promotion of the band’s fourth full-length LP “The Greatest Generation”. Sales for the album were more than double any of The Wonder Years’ previous releases and the success of which led to dates at the UK’s Slam Dunk festival and Vans Warped tour 2013.
Live reviews
Seeing The Wonder Years at Riot Fest last year in Chicago is one of my fondest memories in a long time.
Riot Fest ensured that the crowd was huge and enthusiastic, dancing and pulsating with The Wonder Year's pop punk anthems. The stage was mostly bare, save for the musicians and their instruments, as Riot Fest has multiple artists perform on the same stage throughout the festival, but that's what I was expecting, as I was there for the band and not the spectacle.
The Wonder Years had a killer set, and made sure that if the audience knew parts of songs that they were singing along. Matt provided some killer back up vocals amidst the three guitarist's solid performances, which was great to see as well as a fan of the super talented Matt Brasch.
Another thing that's great about seeing The Wonder Years live is seeing how each of the bandmates performs the sets on stage, aside from playing the instruments. For example, at Riot Fest Dan "Soupy" Campbell was dancing up a storm, and just seeing how his excitement translated into his body when performing pumped up myself and the rest of the audience even more.
Overall, seeing The Wonder Years at Riot Fest showed me that not only is there genre of music pop punk, but their performance is pop punk, too, which is a rare feat to see onstage.
The Wonder Years are so quintessentially American, so brilliantly pop punk and college rock that, if you know what you are getting yourself in for, they will never fail to disappoint. Personally, I am a huge fan of all old school American pop punk, from Sum 41 to Acceptance, I love the genre, in all its forms. The Wonder Years are wonderfully nostalgic, just as their name suggests, and their music is designed to get the audience pumped, dancing and singing along passionately. When confronted with such great tracks as ‘Came Out Swinging’, there is nothing else one can do apart from shout the lyrics passionately and dance crazily. The band themselves dance up a storm on stage and bash their guitars so passionately that they create a wild frenzy on stage themselves. They clearly loved every minute they were up on stage and the audience, in turn, loved watching them. Soupy’s vocals were as on point as ever and Matt Brasch’s guitar skills were a wonder to behold. The band ended with the mellow ‘Hey Thanks’ in a comic way of thanking the audience for coming.
sabraziz
The entire concert was stellar!
Specifically speaking about The Wonder Years' set...
They opened the set w/ Brothers & Cardinals...The anticipation during the Intro couldn't be put into logical words and The Wonder Years did NOT disappoint!!!
Dan "Soupy" Campbell put on the most inspired and emotional performance that I've seen in a LONG time. The entire band was ON THE BALL. The crowd was loving it. They interact great with the fans and play their songs well. The entire band, including the Bass Player Roulette (since Josh had to fly home for a Wedding) actually worked out. It led to some comedy from Soupy and made the show unique!
They had a 2 song encore, the first of which included Matt (One of the guitar players) playing drums (duel drums, to be clear) during one of their newer songs, Cigarettes & Saints.
The show ended on a high and I'm still riding high from being a part of the magical night.
Thank you TWY!
-Tony Tenerelli
tony-tenerelli
The most engaging show I’ve been to by far. Soupy (Dan) truly gave it his all and sounded just as good live as he does on the albums and he captivated the crowd turning it all into one big mosh pit several times throughout the night although as it was a co headliner it seemed that more than half of the crowd were there for the other band, Mayday Parade. He is a very hardworking yet underrated frontman and the most dedicated I’ve seen. The musicians all gave it their all despite several, especially the drummer, being obviously in quite a lot of pain. In short, you should definitely see these guys.
happycavy45
So far I've seen The Wonder Years live only twice, but I can surely say I enjoyed their performance each time. I've seen them once in Warped Tour, so only had a taste of their awesome stage performance for a very short set list. Next I saw them when they were doing their own tour with a couple other bands (which were enjoyable as well). Even though I was very tired from a long day about the city, I immediately regained the energy once they came onto the stage. Both times I saw them live they were great, and I hope they continue to bring forth more awesome performances our way. :3
llamacorn101
Every single band that was there was amazing. I really only knew Moose Blood, but that didn't matter. I was in the crowd until the end of The Wonder Years' set because I wanted to support them in any way possible. Even though I didn't know the words to any of the songs, they were a great band. They deserve more fans than they have; every band that was there does. They work so hard to play for their fans around the world just like any other artist does and that's what makes the experience special. I highly enjoyed this concert and would definitely go back to the venue.
anna-arrissa
WOW!
Simple word with such meaning. Every support band were awesome. I love going to gigs to add new bands to my belt. Tiny Moving parts were on as I arrived and they were on fire.
Trash Boat certainly fanned the flames further. Such angst and chaos on stage.
Pup were simply amazing. Slight guitar tech difficulties but they shone right through.
As for The Wonder Years they didn't disappoint. Storming set.
Shame I was skint otherwise the merch tshirt/vinyls would have been mine.
brent-henry
Great show, great energy! Could not be happier. Openers were really solid as well, definitely worth the wait though for TWY. Their setlist plays all the hits, plus a small acoustic set at the start of the encore to really show of their musicality. Will definitely come to another show next time they're in town!
BrijMSingh
They’re great, Dan Campbell is one the most dynamic front man in any pop punk/emo band out there and he only gets better after all these years.
You’ll defiantly run the gamut of emotions through the setlist, from existential dread to euphoric release of catharsis.
Zamir
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