Posted December 27, 2019 by Kailey Howell Concert Reviews & Galleries

State Champs – St. Andrews Hall – 12.19.19

State Champs, Grayscale, Better Love, Teddy Roberts and the Mouths
St. Andrews Hall – Detroit, MI – 12.19.19
Photographer: Kailey Howell

Kicking off their series of holiday shows, State Champs packed St. Andrews Hall with friends in Grayscale, Better Love and Teddy Roberts.

The stage was donned with festive lights and decorations as the band came out decorated in holiday outfits, jamming right into “Frozen.”

Michigan shows mark an important date for the band, being hometown show for bassist Ryan Scott Graham. Graham was full of smiles and energy on stage – as was the rest of the band.

After “Eyes Closed” vocalist Derek DiScanio announced that not only was the tour a celebration of their most recent album, but the decade of success that the band has had. This prompted the band to include a handful of old time favorites in their set like “Deadly Conversation” “Elevated” “Remedy” and “Easy Enough” off of their 2013 album The Finer Things.

In holiday spirit, the band included a cover of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” However, this was not the only cover the band would perform that evening. After a cover of Shawn Mendes’ “Stitches” the band performed their cover of Matchbox Twenty’s “Real Word.”

State Champs never gives a dull performance. Crowd engagement is genuine, and never forced. Each and every member on stage is full of smiles and visible enjoyment as they perform their work for fans.

The band gave a two song encore of “Dead and Gone” and fan favorite, “Secrets.”

Direct support for the evening was Grayscale, who released their sophomore album Nella Vita in September. Their set included a majority of the albums tracks including “YOUNG” and “Baby Blue.”

Vocalist Collin Walsh effortlessly serenaded the crowd as they sang his words back to him. Grayscale was perfect for direct support, encouraging the crowd to be rowdy and setting the bar for the headliner.

Chicago natives Better Love gave a wonderful performance, including the first holiday cover of the evening, “Last Christmas.” Jaclyn Heuser was full of spunk on stage as her vocals paired with Brad Harvey’s.

Teddy Roberts and the Mouths opened the evening. The group may not have seemed that they fit the bill with more a soft, country vibe. This was quickly proven wrong as they kicked into a spitfire of a jam session on stage.

Follow State Champs on Facebook to see what they have in store for 2020. You can stream Living Proof here.