Photography and Review by: Adam Rodrigues
It felt all too familiar…
The crowd, the energy, the songs.
MxPx rolled through Charlotte and it pulled everyone out, the 90’s kids, the early 2000’s crowd, and now the next wave right behind them. The same songs we used to blast in our cars are still hitting just as hard, just now it’s on the way to jobs, responsibilities, and everything in between.
They kicked things off with “Not Today” , Straight into “Party, My House, Be There,” then into heavier hitters like “Secret Weapon” and “Heard That Sound.” No drop in energy, no coasting, just a band that knows exactly what they’re doing.
Mike Herrera still has that same presence, somewhere between a spoken word message and a full send punk show. It works because it’s real. No pretending, no trying to be something else.
Formed in 1996, and it shows in the best way. Tight, consistent, and still clearly enjoying it. It brought me right back to seeing them at Warped Tour in 2002 in Los Angeles, except now it hits different. Same music, different stage of life. Mike Herrera (bass guitar, lead vocals), Yuri Ruley (drums, percussion), Tom Wisniewski (lead guitar, backing vocals), and Chris Adkins (rhythm guitar, backing vocals) who joined in 2016; he also matches the energy of the band along with stage presence.
Personal favorites like “Middlename,” “Doing Time,” “My Mom Still Cleans My Room,” and “Can’t Keep Waiting” had the whole place locked in. You could see it, people weren’t just watching, they were back in it.
Then “Punk Rawk Show” closed it out and it felt like everyone gave everything they had left.
Different ages, same reaction.
Still singing every word.
Still showing up.
“I’ll still see you tomorrow…
At the show.”
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