Live Review - State Champs

State Champs & As It Is @ O2 Institute, Birmingham 17/03/17

As It Is have a beatles-esque fanbase, and having seen them a few times now, it is understandable why. Patty Walters is, let’s face it- 100% adorable, and as enigmatic and colourful a frontman as any other. The rest of the band are a great addition to the presence of their vocalist, and as a band they perform together and with a sense of fun and unity. As It Is have a spunky and completely inoffensive sound, and some of their tracks are properly nice little bangers. They stirred The Institute up into a frenzy and invoked a wall of crowd surfers, each bouncing out of the stage gate like they’ve conquered the world! 

The first time we saw State Champs they were supporting The Wonder Years downstairs, in the Institute Basement, at this stage they were relatively unknown and it was their very first UK show. Having been fans from this day, we have watched State Champs, step by step, establish a following, develop their sound and move up the ladder. Having last met up with the guys at Leeds Festival, where they played Main Stage, it was great to see State Champs back with their own headline tour, and playing Main Room Birmingham Institute no less. Feeling like a proud Momma bird seeing her chick take flight, we couldn’t be happier for State Champs, success couldn’t have come to nicer guys. The entire room was bouncing, singing and sweating, every second of the show was passionate, enthralling and spectacular. State Champs don’t have a sound that is brand new, but they’re carrying the torch of Pop Punk on from their predecessors to a new crowd, and boy, are they making them proud.