I knew attending this show was going to be an experience of a lifetime, but what I wasn’t prepared for was the 2 hours of nonstop audible-ecstasy from an emotionally driven  double-header set.

The last time I’d seen The Wonder Years perform was 13 May, 2018 at The Beacham here in Orlando, FL when they were on tour for the release of their 2018 album ‘Sister Cities.’

At the time, that show in particular had been the most significant performance I’d ever seen due to the importance of the record being toured, and the openness of Dan’s lyrics had on me through times where I was struggling with life’s most difficult acceptances.

But it wasn’t until the show this past February when Dan “Soupy” Campbell managed to set the bar even higher than I ever thought w

as possible, imprinting me with a performance I didn’t know I needed as much as I did.

As I walked into the foyer of House of Blues Orlando the evening of 25 February, I saw the stage set up like an old MTV Unplugged session and figured the entire show was going to be an acoustic set to promote the week-old release of their second acoustic album.

The band started the evening with “Washington Square Park” without wasting any time before leading right into “Coffee Eyes” and then “We Look Like Lightning.” One by one, the band strummed harder and sang louder than the song before.

The show continued, and the building shook with hundreds of reverberating voices singing their bleeding hearts out, powering through the choruses of “I Wanted So Badly To Be Brave” and “Living Room Song” before ending the set with “You In January.”

As the show ended and the band walked off stage, the crowd stood there in silence, wondering “is that it?…”

With no intention of letting us go without hearing what we wanted, the band re-entered the stage, this time fully electric, and the room roared with a thunderous applause as the first 5 notes of “I Don’t Like Who I Was Then” poured through the FOH mix.

Blasting through “There, There” and “Pyramids of Salt”, the band exclusively left their most revered songs for last, ensuring the crowd received the full experience of their treasured favorites.

As Dan hopped across the stage in mutual participation with the crowd, the lyrics of “Passing Through A Screen Door” and “Dismantling Summer” echoed through the venue halls.

Closing out the night on the highest note possible, the band welcomed to the stage Christine Goodwyne and Andrew Anaya from Pool Kids to join on the outro of “Came Out Swinging”, ending the show the most blissful way possible.

In all my years of attending and performing shows, I’ve never seen such a captivating shows as I did that evening, completely surpassing every expectation I had walking in.

Compelling, emotional, and passionate only express a quarter of what a surreal experience this was from a night with The Wonder Years.

Below is the full setlist from show in order of performance:

Acoustic

Washington Square Park

Coffee Eyes

We Look Like Lightning

It Must Get Lonely

The Ghosts of Right Now

Hoodie Weather

I Wanted So Badly to Be Brave

A Song for Ernest Hemingway

Living Room Song

You in January

Electric

I Don’t Like Who I Was Then

Cul-De-Sac

There, There

Melrose Diner

Pyramids of Salt

The Bastards, The Vultures, The Wolves

Cardinals

The Bluest Things on Earth

Passing Through a Screen Door

Cigarettes & Saints

Dismantling Summer

Sister Cities

The Ocean Grew Hands to Hold Me

Came Out Swinging

By: Cory Comly / Felicity

We wish to thank Cory for his contribution to this issue! Ed.

Cory Comly