For almost as long as it has existed, there have been those who have claimed that punk music is dead and gone. But punk music is not dead, and Good Charlotte’s 2016 Youth Authority Tour is one of the reasons why.
Good Charlotte, formed in 1996 by brothers Joel and Benji Madden, is a five-piece pop punk band from Waldorf, Maryland. The band released six albums over 15 years before taking a hiatus in 2011.
In July, Good Charlotte released “Youth Authority” and soon began their tour of the same name. On Sunday, they performed at the Boston House of Blues.
Touring with Good Charlotte were three other bands, all of which are known and accomplished in their own right.
Big Jesus, a punk rock band from Atlanta, opened the Boston show. The young, four-piece band set the tone, playing music that had clearly been influenced by the bands that would follow.
Their set was refreshingly simple. There was no excessive showmanship on the part of the band. They just came out and played their music, and it was all they had to do.
Big Jesus closed their set with a fuzzy, guitar-heavy song called “Lock & Key” off their newly released debut album “Oneiric.” The band played with a sound full of talent and experience, despite having only released their first album in September.
Next to take the stage was Worcester’s own Four Year Strong. The minute the frantic strumming guitar signaled the beginning of “We All Float Down Here”, the crowd went crazy and did not calm down until the house lights came up for good.
The consistent and unavoidable moshing, crowd-surfing and jumping is part of what makes a punk rock show so unique and fun. Four Year Strong stayed energized through the entire set and kept the tempo up the whole time.
So did the act that followed, The Story So Far. From their first song, it was clear that the crowd was more familiar with the California-based band than the two before it. The level of excitement was met and raised, largely due to the band’s frenzied and thrashing songs.
Then it was time for Good Charlotte to take the stage. They were obviously the headliner, as the number of past tour shirts sprinkled throughout the crowd showed. However, Good Charlotte’s sound was actually a bit softer than the opening acts.
Good Charlotte started with “The Anthem,” one of their most popular songs off the 2002 album “The Young and the Hopeless.” An ode to losers and freaks, the song set the tone for the band’s entire set.
Playing only three songs from their most recent release and eight from “The Young and the Hopeless,” the band was obviously content to please the crowd and play whatever would encourage more dancing and singing. “The Story of My Old Man” and “Girls & Boys” were just a few Good Charlotte classics in the set list.
However, Good Charlotte was unafraid to let the energy die down so they could share stories about their songs or Boston memories. The members were quick and eager to thank the city of Boston for making it feel welcome after four years of being gone.
Good Charlotte has been making music for 20 years. There are fans who listened to their first album in middle school who now have children. The members themselves, who wrote some of these songs at the age of 17, are now nearly 40.
There lies something that made this concert all the more powerful. The band and its audience has been through a lot together, said Joel Madden, the leader singer, after asking the audience who had listened to Good Charlotte in middle or high school.
“So tonight,” Madden said, “I want us to remember what we want to remember, and forget what we want to forget.” It was clear that both he and his audience were eager to create yet another shared memory.
Around the same time, a note, scrawled on a sheet of notebook paper in marker, was noticed by guitarist Benji Madden and passed up to the stage. It addressed the band and read, “From 19 to 34. I’ve been to Iraq and Afghanistan, and you have been there with me.”
For that fan and for most in the audience, this show was an emotional and connected experience, and that is what live music is all about.
This was a lovely piece thank you. Too short of course, but that seems the way of things these days. Enjoyed your relating the mood and crowds reaction to each band. Loved the story about the note, very emotional, very GC.