KNUCKLE PUCK AND REAL FRIENDS IN ATHENS

Photos and Writing by Audrey Wilson

On March 20th, pop-punk bands Knuckle Puck and Real Friends brought their spring co-headlining tour to the 40 Watt Club in Athens, Georgia. Supporting the bands on this date was pop-punk band bearings, a band I have never paid much attention to but ended up loving.

The first band for the evening was Ontario band Bearings. Bearings played eight songs including their new single “Scenery” that was released in February. Contrary to me not paying much attention to Bearings in the past, the crowd sang along and set the tone for the rest of the show. The played songs from each of their released albums so it was a good mix of their discography. Their set introduced me to a band that I would love to see again and that I have kept on repeat since the show and I am sure other people feel the same way.

SETLIST:

Next to take the stage was Real Friends from Chicago, Illinois. This was my second time seeing Real Friends since the change of their vocalist to Cody Muraro, former member of bands Youth Fountain and Parting Ways. The band played a solid mix of old songs that were released with the former vocalist and new songs from the last two EP’s. We got to hear songs from their newest EP titled There’s Nothing Worse Than Too Late that was released a month ago. A surprising aspect of their set was that the drummer, Brian, had an injury to his ribs; however, he still played as if he wasn’t hurt which was super impressive. For sixteen songs, the crowd was energetic and we saw many first time crowd surfers as the vocalist made it a point to have new ones participate. As an avid lover of Real Friends, I was excited to get the chance to see them again for another headlining show.

SETLIST:

The last band to take the stage was Knuckle Puck. Honestly, I don’t take the time to listen to Knuckle Puck often but their set was one of the most fun pop-punk sets I have ever seen. The energy was brought in song one and kept till the very end. Both Real Friends and Knuckle Puck made it known to fans that this was their first time playing in Athens and even asked who had class the next day since Athens is a college town. Needless to say, most people raised their hands (including me). In addition to Bearings, their set helped me to discover a band that I genuinely like to see live and will be listening to more. They played their newest single “Groundhog Day” and the majority of their set came from their record “Copacetic”.

SETLIST:

KNUCKLE PUCK

REAL FRIENDS

BEARINGS