Sticks & Stones Fest offers up a sense of warped familiarity at Palladium
There have been plenty of memories made at the Palladium’s outdoor summer venue over the past few years, but you may just be hard-pressed to recollect a time that unfolded as refreshingly and chocolatey smooth as Sticks & Stones Fest did this weekend.
Celebrating the two-decade-long reign of titanic pop punk quartet New Found Glory’s seminal album “Sticks & Stones,” scene kids of past and present generations flooded the parking lot behind the venue June 4 for a full seven hours of nonstop nostalgia, captained by the Florida-based band themselves, with more than a few fresh gems revealing themselves along the way.
Volleying between stages at separate ends of the space for most of the day, what you would think was supposed to feel like a festival in 2022 exuded something much closer to the Warped Tour spirit of the late 2000s that so many have longed for since the cross-country summer tradition’s final run in 2018, as bands like Bayside, The Movielife and, of course, New Found Glory took to the stage with a feverishly contagious energy that perhaps indicated they felt the same way.
And while it was largely something of a locally-sourced hometown gathering on the main stage with the likes of Andover native Piebald, Abington’s A Loss For Words, and the almost customary magical dash of Worcester’s own Four Year Strong, the show’s second stage harbored some local charm of its own with the colorful Boston-area group 5ever kicking things off in the early afternoon, as well as a smattering of unbeatable out-of-town talent with Buffalo hardcore group Spaced, Chicago’s Action/Adventure and multi-city supergroup Be Well also taking the stage with their own respective infectious stage presence throughout the day. Although each band brought something of their own to the table that made them stand out, one such band that truly took the stage by storm with a juggernaut force from the jump was Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Cliffdiver, whose powerful songs and positive messages could stand on their own, as was proven repeatedly over the course of their 25 minutes on stage, but they also have a saxophonist in the band and there’s virtually no way that could be bad — especially when mixed with their dangerously vibrant onstage chemistry.
On the main stage, where Piebald opened things up with the same potent, youthful energy and enjoyment they’ve exuded for years, while A Loss For Words arguably sounded their best since regrouping in 2018 following their three-year hiatus, and The Movielife showed that they still have what it takes to lay down a ripper of a set after 25 years in the game, it was the final three sets of the night that were true spectacles to behold.
Bayside, touting a renewed sense of intensity, went hard in the paint for the entirety of their 40-minute set, with a career-spanning offering that not only captured why their fans are some of the most devoted in the game, but also showed their artistic versatility in ways that made the 20-some odd year veterans feel like a fresh, new band on the scene.
Things were already moving swiftly in the pit as Bayside torched through their last few songs, but just as it has been the case countless times before, the chaos was cranked to 11 as Four Year Strong found their way back to a hometown stage for the first time in 2022.
With another display of creative agility, the bearded hometown quartet turned everything upside down from the start as the rattling opening riff to “Wasting Time (Eternal Summer),” which has generally been reserved as their customary finale since its birth more than a decade ago, kicked things off into high gear. From there, it was a smattering of fan favorite selections that kept the crowd surfers on a constant surge to the barricade for the remainder of the 40-minute throwdown, as the band found yet another way to not only sound as good as they have over the last few years, but to also consistently keep up the same kind of intensity that further explains, at least to those not already clued in, as to why they continue to be such a staple of local hardcore and pop punk shows. Having them back home more than once during the year is surely something we can get used to.
After six hours in the sun, and 10 bands worth of joyous audio assaults, the stage was set for the main event. While the anticipation leading up to, and sustaining, for Four Year Strong made it feel like they were the headliner, a burst of color and nostalgia quickly reminded the crowd that New Found Glory was just around the corner with a full-on celebration that destined to take us for a ride in ye olde time machine.
Wasting no time getting things going, there was no such thing as “easing in” as the band tore into a front-to-back listing of “Sticks & Stones” that had fans singing along at shattering volume from the second frontman Jordan Pundik raised his mic to the sky. Although it may not have been as chaotic as it was for other bands during the day, there was still a palpable energy and embrace of the milestone at hand, and New Found Glory reminded everyone why they were there in the first place and how the album of the evening has stood the test of time among a sea of other influential albums in the genre, as the band kept up a mind-boggling amount of energy and playfulness with the crowd well after they finished playing their 2002 album in full and had moved on to their “normal” set of tracks to close out the evening with a bang.
The star power of each band that graced the main stage had very little impact when it came to getting stuffed up or overcrowded as you tried to enjoy each band’s set, and the transition between stages was nearly flawless, even as set times were stacked almost end-to-end. Another glowing similarity to the days of Warped Tour was how there wasn’t much hesitation from fans to not only check out each and every band on the bill, but also get involved with more than a few circle pits taking shape for more than just the last few bands at the top of the show poster.
So in conclusion, a few things we learned this weekend are that, for starters, whoever is making deals with the underworld on behalf of the Palladium for all the nice weather they seem to get for these super fun outdoor shows needs a raise. Secondly, the ghost of Warped Tour is still alive, well and fully embraced. And last but not least, any pop punk band coming through the city needs to keep Four Year Strong on speed dial, as it never fails to add just the right amount of beautiful chaos to the mix.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: New Found Glory, Four Year Strong head Sticks & Stones Fest at Palladium
