American pop/punk rockers Story of the Year have kicked off 2024 with a tour celebrating and playing their debut album ‘Page Avenue’ in its entirety. It has been 20 years since the release of the acclaimed album ‘Page Avenue’ and about ten years since the last time the band has performed here in Toronto. It’s needless to say that fans in attendance waited patiently and when the band went out one by one on stage – the crowd welcomed them in with open arms, crowd surfing and a good old fashioned mosh pit. It was clear that emo was alive and well at the Opera House on this night (emo isn’t dead, we’re just angsty adults now). In between songs the band cracked a lot of dad jokes and their sound guy played a variety of different sound effects which included the classic Nokia ringtone as well as the Price is Right losing sound. Much like your dad’s humour, the crowd didn’t find that funny but the band didn’t care and were laughing along with themselves.
The show saw opening acts by Youth Fountain from Vancouver, Canada and pop-punk legends We The Kings who kicked off the night. If you’re a fan of the newer hardcore wave of bands coming up then you’ll really enjoy Youth Fountain. Their lyrics are heavy, and the instrumentals pull you in. Canada has a lot of hidden gems – blink and you might miss your new favourite band. We The Kings made their Toronto return for the first time since 2018 during the Vans Warped Tour’s final run. A performance so fun that even one of the security guards was singing along to every word. Lead singer Travis Clark led the crowd in a dance created by one of his daughters during their song Alien. Before walking off stage for their encore lead singer, Dan Marsala, jokingly said “we’re going to pretend to leave and then we’re going to come back on and play again!”. 
Story of the Year closed their show in Toronto with a loud pop-punk and emo medley which included songs Ocean Avenue by Yellowcard, Cute without the “E” (Cut From the Team) by Taking Back Sunday, I’m Not Okay (I Promise) by My Chemical Romance and The Taste of Ink by The Used along with their debut single Until the Day I Die. Roars from the crowd carried all the way out on to Queen Street East with fans still singing the lyrics on their way home. Hopefully it won’t take another ten years for the Story of the Year to come back to Canada to play live in Toronto once again. The 20th Anniversary Tour for Page Avenue is scheduled to continue through out January and has dates planed for various American cities on the east coast and the Midwest so check your local listings for future events.
Enjoy the photo gallery just below from the concert at the Opera House in Toronto on January 10th, 2024. Also be sure to follow Story of the Year on Instagram for more photos and future updates @storyoftheyear.
Article & Photos By San Veliz
