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Live at the Wiltern
February 13th, 2026 by Amber Meyer
The mood for State Champs’ Celebrating 10 years of Around The World and Back at The Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles was… pure, unadulterated excitement!
This Albany five-piece pounded out energetic bubblegum pop-punk tunes with sing-along choruses. The band’s over-the-top, dedicated fans came out in full force to celebrate with them.
Derek DiScanio’s vocals have tons of melodic pop sensibility. Add in Tyler Szalkowski’s overarching guitar and break stops, Evan Ambrosio’s fast-paced drums, and Ryan Scott Graham’s solid bass lines, and this album is true to the pop punk formula: a quick three minutes that packs a huge punch!
Just Friends from Dublin, California, started the night with pop-punk, emo, and funk colliding to create their unique sound.
Washington, D.C.’s indie pop-punk band Origami Angel did a solid job of getting the crowd warmed up with songs like the melodic anthem, “666 Flags.”
They were super tight and so much fun!
Next on the list was LA’s own Honey Revenge. Dressed to impress, donning matching purple and black attire, topped off with a matching pink guitar and bass.
They looked great and sounded even better. Songs like “Risk,” with its dance and rock elements, make them unique.
Devin Papadol is a fabulous front woman with equal measures of skill, attitude, and sugar. Her vocal style is killer. Their fans in the audience were plentiful and definitely impressed.
Their song “Habitual” had the venue in an uproar, dancing and singing as crowd participation was encouraged and happily obliged.
When headliner State Champs took the stage with octane-level energy, starting with songs from the band’s most popular album, “All Around the World and Back,” a 2015 release, they opened with the first four singles in quick succession. “Eyes Closed” got the crowd hyped, and the hit song “Secrets” had fans going ballistic!
By the third song in the set, “Losing Myself,” the floor was literally shaking. I had never experienced that at the Wilturn, but sure enough, all the jumping and pogo-ing in place did the job, all while hands held high in the air.
It was infectious, and if you knew the words, you were definitely singing along! If you didn’t, you were jumping around like everyone else!
Playing the album in its entirety, the single “All You Are is History” was met with fan fervor…again!
Moving through the set, they slowed it down with the ballad “Around the World and Back,” featuring Devin Papadol of Honey Revenge on stage for this duet. A powerful performance, this love song was probably my favorite song in the set.
Fans were beyond stoked that songs from all five of their albums were performed, including the love lorne “Light Blue” and the anethematic “Clueless” from the 2024 self-titled release.
Also performing two new singles, “(For The) Hell Of It” and “Common Sense,” released in November 2025, fans were over-the-top receptive, and I’d say there’s a good chance we will see another album from the band, which would be a great thing!
Up next is Welcome to Rockville in Daytona Berach. A big stage for sure for a band that will bring their larger-than-life performance to the masses!
SHOW PHOTO GALLERY
by Red Hare Images
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SID 260214 | TRACI TURNER | EDITOR
