Even on “Hallo-weekend” you can find people going to concerts. This past Sunday, Oct. 27. the band The Wonder Years had their “3rd (occasionally) Annual Halloween Extravaganza” at the Royale in Boston. The Wonder Years did not want to do this show by themselves so they brought the bands Future Teens and Trash Boat along with them. The show featured a costume contest and all the bands did a short set in costume on top of their normal set. 

Future Teens opened the show with a Carly Rae Jepsen set. Of course they played her iconic song “Call Me Maybe,” but they slowed it down and encouraged people to sway to the beat. They had high energy throughout their normal set. They ran around the stage and sliding across it. It was their hometown show and they went all out. A crowd favorite seemed to be the song “Frequent Crier,” a song Amy Hoffman (vocals, lead guitar) wrote about all the times she cried in 2018. They are definitely a band to watch.  Their latest release “Breakup Season” is out now. 

Trash Boat came on next. The lead singer of Trash Boat, Tobi Duncan, performed a really good impersonation of Liam Gallagher, the lead singer of Oasis. They played Oasis classics like “Don’t Look Back In Anger” and “Wonderwall.” With their normal set they got the pit to open up. The crowd screamed the lyrics and started pushing other people. Later on in the set, Duncan explained how he dedicates their song “Old Soul” to his grandfather. During their last song Duncan went into the pit and crowd surfed. Their latest single “Synthetic Sympathy” is out now. 

Before it was time for The Wonder Years to perform, the costume winner had to be announced. The three candidates were Avril Lavigne and a skater boy, Miss Piggy and Hank the Pigeon — The Wonder Years’ mascot. Hank the Pigeon was victorious and got a picture on stage.

Then it was time for The Wonder Years. They took the stage dressed as members from the band Limp Bizkit. The lead singer Dan Campbell looked at the crowd and said “We are Limp Bizkit from Jacksonville, FL.” He truly stayed in character.

The crowd loved their Halloween set. They even started to boo when they were told some “posers” called The Wonder Years were coming on next. However, for all of that playful booing, the crowd was very excited to see The Wonder Years perform. The band opened with “There, There” from their 2013 release “The Greatest Generation.” It is not one of their faster songs, but the pit still opened up anyway.

Their set was very well rounded. They played a few older songs like “Washington Square Park” and “Local Man Ruins Everything,” both off of their debut album “Suburbia, I’ve Given You All and Now I’m Nothing.” They also played “Cardinals,” a song off of their album “No Closer to Heaven.” The song is about how Campbell was unable to save a struggling friend before it was too late. When performed live Campbell sings the second verse, which ends with the line “I want those years back” adding “me too.” You can feel the heartbreak through his voice. Yet, even with a sad song like that the energy was still there, and it kept going the whole night. It hit its peak during their encore, when they preformed “Came Out Swinging.”

At the end of the song, Future Teens and Trash Boat came out to sing along. It was the perfect way to end the show and this Halloween inspired tour. Their latest album “Sister Cities” is out now.