All Time Low was one of the most influential bands of my adolescent years. From the very first time I heard the chorus of “Stay Awake (Dreams Only Last for a Night)”when I was in middle school, I instantly connected with them on a level I hadn’t experienced yet as a child. With growing up in Baltimore, All Time Low was popular among my peers, given that they were from Towson. It wasn’t uncommon to meet a girl my age who didn’t listen to them or hadn’t seen them perform a local show. Along with classic Blink, All Time Low was what defined my love for pop punk when I was just learning who I was.
Formed in 2003, All Time Low has released countless records throughout the 2000s and 2010s, including the fan favorites So Wrong, It’s Right, Nothing Personal, and Don’t Panic. Several hit singles reached the charts, including their most popular song “Dear Maria, Count Me In”. The band just recently released a new single, “Some Kind of Disaster” in January 2020 with hints and rumors of a new album to be released this year.
On Saturday in Harrisburg, PA, XL Live was thriving with fans wrapped around the doors. Several groups had camped out all day anticipating the show, and it was entirely worth it. All Time Low broke the XL Live’s attendance record, thanks to Harrisburg University Presents. Students of HU and fans from all around came to fill the crowd, successfully selling out the show and giving All Time Low the warmest welcome to the venue.
HU Presents has partnered up with several venues local to the Harrisburg area to provide the best form of entertainment to the community. Ran by Music and Media Services Director Frank Schofield, the night couldn’t have gone more perfect.
All Time Low entered the stage and the entire room seemingly lit up. You could feel the love for every member, and those who had never been to a show before were surprised to see fans tossing bras on stage to Jack Bakarat, the lead guitarist of the band. He proudly hung them from his mic stand throughout the show which gave everyone a good laugh. Fans were happy to hear them play a plethora of songs, ranging from deep cuts to newer and more popular content. They even teased the audience with a brand-new song that hasn’t been released yet!
This band has a way of connecting an audience by their honest songs about love and growing up. Their music touches thousands, and you could feel the connection on Saturday night. I couldn’t believe it myself, how much one single band impacted my life so much. I couldn’t help getting emotional listening to them play the songs of my childhood, and towards the end of the show when Alex Gaskarth sighed, “All Time Low is growing up”, the reality that I, too, had grown up and it hit me hard. But as the night went on, crowd surfers filled the audience and there wasn’t a single moment of the show where fans weren’t singing along to every song they played. The energy was incredible and didn’t seem to stop until the very last song.
All Time Low brought something to Harrisburg that we haven’t had the pleasure of experiencing. HU Presents has worked with incredible bands like All Time Low, and they’re just getting started. Announcing their upcoming shows planned for the summer, the audience was ecstatic to hear the reveal of MisterWives, Young the Giant, and Of Monsters and Men playing within the upcoming months. HU Presents is able to provide an outlet for not only their students but also the surrounding population; an outlet that’s already working to connect and create a deep love for music unlike anything you have seen before.
Enjoy these photos of All Time Low performing at XL Live in Harrisburg, PA on February 1, 2020. All photos courtesy and copyright of Shantel Mitchell Breen.
