Last Wednesday, August 3, one of the most well-known bands in the punk world made a stop in my hometown, Greenville, South Carolina. This was exciting for people from Greenville because most of the time we have to travel to either Charlotte or Atlanta to catch a popular band on tour. Greenville is quickly growing, but we're not a big city - you could fit a little more than seven Greenvilles inside of Atlanta. So when an artist as popular as Blink-182 decides to come to Greenville with A Day to Remember and The All-American Rejects, it's a big deal.

When The All-American Rejects started the show, lead singer Tyson Ritter compared the show to a three course meal. They were the "freaky appetizer," A Day to Remember was the "fancy salad", and Blink-182 was the "really really good entree." Later, Ritter said he only used that analogy to make A Day to Remember mad about being compared to a salad.

The All-American Rejects has been a band for fifteen years, so they've had some popular hits, like "Dirty Little Secret" and "Move Along," that were essential to growing up in the mid-2000s.

A Day to Remember isn't played on the radio as much as The All-American Rejects or Blink-182, but I could tell they have a huge fan base because of how much A Day to Remember merchandise I saw in the crowd.

Although I wasn't as familiar with A Day to Remember's music, I really enjoyed their set because of how they performed and interacted with the crowd. The band tossed beach balls and balloons back and forth into the crowd during the first song which built up a wild atmosphere.

Lead singer Jeremy McKinnon is known to pose for the cameras in the pit as much as possible. Towards the end of the first three songs, he made a specific pose for each photographer.

One of Greenville's main sources of entertainment is our hockey team, the Swamp Rabbits (formerly known as the Road Warriors). During this set, they revealed a new jersey for the Swamp Rabbits and the drummer wore some Swamp Rabbits gear.

Blink-182's North American Tour is in honor of their latest album, California, which is their first album since singer/guitarist Tom DeLonge left the band to focus on researching aliens. Matt Skiba has replaced him. While their classic songs sounded different without DeLonge's unique vocals, Skiba did a great job filling in for him.

The theatrics were full of bright lights, fireworks, and pyrotechnics that matched the crowd's energy and passion. There were several mosh pits and too many crowd surfers to count. Every person in the crowd knew the lyrics to the old songs and new songs by heart and even though the music was loud, I could still hear people singing around me.

Every time I go to a concert in Greenville, the artists really seem to enjoy it. This concert was no exception. Hopefully, more artists will follow in Blink-182's footsteps and discover how wonderful it is to perform to a crowd in Greenville.