Nine times out of 10, shows by The Wonder Years involve a lot of loud guitar, thundering drums, and sometimes impressive acrobatics. But on their current Burst & Decay Tour the Philadelphia-based six-piece have, well, stripped things down isn’t quite right as they’ve added a string ensemble, making the band – at least for this tour – a nine-piece. Maybe “turned down” might be more apt, as distorted electric guitars have given way to melodically acoustic turns of some classic (and new) songs from The Wonder Years’ catalog.
Since their formation 20 years ago, the band has been expanding their sound from the scrappy, fast pop-punk of albums like Get Stoked On It and the break-through sophomore release The Upsides to more emotionally charged records like No Closer to Heaven and their most recent full-length, The Hum Goes on Forever. Starting with the EP Burst & Decay in 2017, The Wonder Years released a set of all acoustic takes on these heavy tunes, but it made for a great look into how the songs themselves are so powerful even when stripped down to their basic shapes. That was followed in 2020 by a full-length album of acoustic renditions replete with strings and some electronic elements. Rather than shouted melodies, singer Dan Campbell’s words take on a clarity that can sometimes get slightly obscured within the walls of thundering drums and distortion.
The Wonder Years continue their acoustically oriented series with Burst & Decay (Volume III) released earlier this month. In addition to acoustic versions of songs like “Came Out Swinging” and “The Ocean Grew Hands to Hold Me,” there’s new material like the single “June Bug” that makes this volume my favorite of the three.
The band rolled into Towson (the first time since they were there back in 2010) – along with singer-songwriter, Kevin Devine, and to a sold-out and enthusiastic crowd at The Recher.
I hadn’t seen Kevin Devine before that night, but armed with only an acoustic guitar he charmed the crowd with his humor and song craft.
As the lights dimmed in between sets, each member of The Wonder Years – Campbell, Matt Brasch on guitar, Casey Cavaliere on guitar, Mike Kennedy on drums, Nick Steinborn on guitar, and Josh Martin on bass – came out one by one, filling – what once seemed like a big stage – along with The Little Kruta String Ensemble. And while each musician took their place on the stage, Dan continued singing until he took a seat at the middle of the stage.
After that moving introduction, the band went right into “I Don’t Like Who I Was Then,” from No Closer To Heaven, which, taken from its punky staccato bounce took on an emotionally resonant tone which had everyone in the club singing along. I’ve never seen an acoustically oriented show keep that rock and roll energy, but The Wonder Years managed to do that without compromising any of the song’s momentum.
The strings from The Little Kruta String Ensemble laid over each song like a warm blanket, and there was even some vocal harmonies from the ensemble.
Although sometimes at big, loud rock shows the crowd singing along is a loud raucous affair with more than one off key note clashing with the singer, the crowd at The Recher singing along just seemed to amplify the sentiment on-stage. More like a pub sing-a-long that made the night all that more charming.
“I have to imagine that basically everyone in this room has seen this band before,” Dan told the crowd. “But logically somebody has not.” A kid from the front of the crowd raised his hand which prompted Dan to explain that “this is not a normal Wonder Years show. I know that I’ve been singing loud, but normally I sing louder.” After the song, Campbell gave the kid a plush pigeon the band had found from a previous tour.
The Official Video for “Junebug” by The Wonder Years on YouTube:
Although mostly acoustic, there were a few electronic elements woven in between the notes, like in “Washington Square Park” and even a bit of distorted guitar in “Junebug.”
Coming to the end of their set The Wonder Years played a very stripped down version of “The Ocean Grew Hands to Hold Me” finishing with a beautifully haunting string arrangement that closed out the song. And capping off the evening was a brilliant “Came Out Swinging.”
The setlist included:
Doors I Painted Shut
I Don’t Like Who I Was Then
Oldest Daughter
Dismantling Summer
Cigarettes & Saints
Thanks for the Ride
Teenage Parents
Washington Square Park
Wyatt’s Interlude
Wyatt’s Song (Your Name)
We Look Like Lightning
Coffee Eyes
The Devil in My Bloodstream
Cul-de-Sac
You in January
Cardinals
A Song for Ernest Hemingway
Hoodie Weather
Junebug
Passing Through a Screen Door
There, There
The Ghosts of Right Now
The Ocean Grew Hands to Hold Me
Came Out Swinging
More photos by David LaMason of The Wonder Years performing at The Recher Tuesday, May 20, 2025:
And more photos of Kevin Devine performing at The Recher:
