Hello everybody, and welcome back to the No Skip Show! Today, we have an exciting list of each band from local annual Washington, PA pop-punk music festival Four Chord day one! If you follow the channel and our socials then you may have already seen some of the interviews from said festival or shorts from it still coming out, but we also made sure to include something written and more specific towards the sets and performances. It may be almost six months since last year's fest but we figured everyone needed some time to process how amazing it really was, and that doesn’t mean you can’t relive the glory or catch up if you missed out. So without further ado, let's dive into each set of the day!

1pm - Boy in Blue Stripes

To start off the Four Chord weekend was none other than Washington, PA local boys, Boy in Blue Strips! According to our knowledge these guys have the awesome record of being the biggest local band to play Four Chord. And if you caught their set you will know why! For being the first band of the day they really gave the performance their absolute all, drawing the attention of any fan already in the venue or just entering. I bet it also helped starting their set off with classic covers from the pop-punk scene, sounding clear and crisp the whole set afterwards. The whole entire performance was short and sweet, around 25 minutes, being very standard but insanely catchy pop-punk. At the end of the day the band showed up and did what they were meant to, get everyone loosened up and ready for the rest of the day with their fun, energetic, amazing stage presence, and they did that beautifully! And how better than to end the set with a vocal feature from fellow PA local band bassist/co-vocalist, and friend, Amy McCullough on their single T-O-X-I-C.

1:30pm - Keep Flying

Now Keep Flying was certainly a change of pace and a band to really kick the festivities into gear, with not only being the only ska band the entire weekend, but also having a trombone be in the forefront of their production. The writing process and how they incorporate the trombone/brass is talked about in length in our interview with John from the band, check it out if you’re curious! If you know me though, you’ll know I’m a sucker for any type of brass in pretty much any song, especially the sax or trumpet. However, the trumpet wasn’t the only hype the whole set, the New York-based band brought a very high energy, amped to the max, exciting performance the entire time they played that would go on to wake the crowd up, introducing the first moshing of the day, and set the tone for the rest of day one. Their stage presence the whole time was through the roof while also sounding fantastic the whole set with fun, catchy, very up-tempo tracks that certainly relayed the same energy to the crowd for being the second band of the day.

2:05pm - Patent Pending

Natives to New York, Long Island to be exact, Patent Pending kept the high energy rolling right along with their fun, catchy, chill, whacky in a good way, classic 2010s pop-punk sound, keeping the crowd consistently hyped from Keep Flying's set. The band really knew how to keep the crowd engaged the entire time with their outstanding stage presence, and continuation of the moshing, but also made sure to keep the crowd active with participation throughout certain tracks, including the standard clapping, call and responses, and singing choruses. They even got me really amped up and ready to face the rest of the day. They even get the award for first crowd surfer of the day, not including the lead singer who jumped into the crowd near the end of their set. With the end of their set approaching, and throughout the set itself, the lead singer made sure to show immense gratitude and appreciation for everyone involved with the fest and all those who caught their set that evening, and we couldn’t agree more!

2:40pm - Charly Bliss

Another local New York band, Charly Bliss, had the extreme pleasure of being the only female fronted band from Four Chord day one, the frontwoman is an absolute sweetheart as well! Throughout the entire set she was very nice and polite with the crowd, even more so in the lucky interview we got with the band after their set, check it out! Her voice throughout the entire set was amazing also, especially being backed by such crisp and clean instrumentalists, bringing an almost opposite but welcomed vibe to the fest and chilling the mood out. I will say that after the first three bands it is nice to get a nice, calming break to kind of recuperate and prepare for what's left to come. While being the most smooth, chilled band of the day they did still have a handful of songs that were upbeat and moving. 

3:15pm - Eternal Boy

Right back to local PA bands, this one just so happens to be Four Chord founder and organizer Rishi Bahls! The man behind why Four Chord exists and why it is what it is took time out of his very, very busy schedule of running the whole thing to grace us with his presence and shred some tunes with his band and friends. He made sure to thank everyone and shout out to all those who make the dream possible behind the scenes throughout their whole set, as one would expect. But, they also put on an amazing show the whole time! After the great and calming performance of Charly Bliss, Eternal Boy drew the crowd right back into the fast-paced, high energy, jamming, straight-forward pop-punk party. Rishi demonstrated why he is a scene veteran and organizer/founder as his stage presence was immense, being very chill, funny, and engaging to the crowd but also showing off his great and crisp voice. They would even appease the younger or more pop leaning fans by playing a Taylor Swift cover, reintroducing that youthful vigor most of us are lacking nowadays.

3:50pm - Homegrown

Homegrown had the semi-unlucky fortune of being roughly in the middle of the day, but that didn’t stop them from killing it! The Orange County, CA natives really brought the welcoming mat out for the second half of the night, pushing the energy up with a great mix of chill and faster pop punk. For those of you unaware, Four Chord was the bands second live performance since reuniting in 2024. Of course with that the crowd was very much into the entire set, still going strong thanks to the fun, very catchy, and fast-paced energy of the tracks. It also helped that lead vocalist John Trans vocals were awesome the whole time with clean sounding production backing him. The entire band, especially Tran, had outstanding stage presence and were great with the crowd from the moment they took the stage. Homegrown really Rocked it their whole set and kicked it up compared to the other openers, showing why they were so dearly missed from the scene. 

4:25pm - Driveways

These Boston, Mass natives proved to be the heaviest band on the bill, spewing amazing energy right off the bat, beating the energy and sound for the day so far! I’d go as far as to say these guys were my favorite opener of the day. Being pop punk legends that just only makes sense, I mean the band rolled out the red carpet for the rest of the day. The performance of the whole set had absolutely great instrumentals, vocal sound, and delivery, bringing the high-paced, fast energy that woke the crowd back up. The band made sure to play all you could hope for, which managed to bring out the crowd surfers in force- finally. The crowd gave Driveways their all, singing along almost the entire set, showing that even the scene kids can get heavy and active for their favorite bands.

5pm - Knuckle Puck

Hailing from Chicago, Illinois, Knuckle Puck continued on the stretch of kickass bands, keeping the energy and pace very high their whole set. They had such a badass performance, the crowd was super into it and active since the first song, not slowing down for a singular second. The band made sure to play the hits, contributing to the continued surfers and moshing in the pit. Pretty much every band on this bill had amazing stage presence and crowd work, but Knuckle Puck made sure to blow your socks off and involve you at every moment!

5:40pm - Set Your Goals

Rolling along with the energy, keeping it fast paced and high strung, is another California native act and easycore legends! Set Your Goals absolutely killed their entire set, making sure the energy was nonstop and keeping the crowd going the whole time. The band demonstrated why exactly they are legends of easycore with their amazing performance and crowd work, making sure the lack of crowd surfers was nonexistent. Catching the set was worth every minute, each song was very catchy and jamming!

6:20pm - State Champs

Bringing in direct support for the Smartpunk stage, being the second to last to play the stage for the day, the Albany, New York act certainly spells out why they are billed this high! They put on an absolutely amazing performance from the very first song, the crowd sang almost every song back to the band. When you sound as great as they do, and with vocals as on point and awesome as Derek's then it's no surprise that the crowd was super into them, jumping and surfing the whole time. I’d say as a personal record they had the most kids to crowd surf out of any band the whole weekend, which goes to show you even the youth still keeps up with pop-punk. Speaking of, the band made sure to play a great mix of the older songs while slipping in some of the fresher, newer tracks. State Champs would also win my personal award of loudest set of the night, production wise, like afterwards it felt like you just came straight from an AE indoors show with no earplugs. But, I will say that wasn’t any negative, in fact I would say this is the best time I’ve seen them so far which is shocking for a festival setting.

7:05pm - Bowling For Soup

For some reason I always forget that Bowling For Soup is from Texas. But it makes sense when you witness them perform live as they are truly larger than life their whole time on stage. Most of it can be attributed to their vocalist, Jarrett, for his awesome crowd work and being genuinely hilarious between songs. You would also be surprised to know that he is very much still a great singer for being an elder in the scene. But that's not to say that the band behind him was lacking, they were clear and on point right behind Jarrett the entire set. Of course it helped that they started off with a classic that everyone would know in the way of the Today is Gonna be a Great Day, better known as the Phineas and Ferb theme song. Right from this start the crowd was really into it, singing along and even producing some surfers throughout the set. These guys deserved every minute they got, proving to be the most fun set of the day with an insanely interactive and invested crowd from the entire night so far. Ironically as State Champs were the loudest sounding of the night, Bowling For Soup was the opposite but not in a bad way. It worked quite well with their mix being a little more soft and calmer compared to the rest of the high strung performances before them. And of course, they ended their set with the banger of mid 2000s radio and MTV, 1985! 

7:50pm - Hot Mulligan

Who knew a band all the way from Lansing, Michigan would blow up the way Hot Mulligan has? Although, with an amazing performance like theirs, Tades is killer as always, and some incredible stage presence and crowd work, with a little mix of peak sounding instruments and production it is not a shock whatsoever on why they are where they are. A testament to this is how the crowd was into it from the very first song all the way till the end, singing and just generally rowdy the whole time. From our firsthand accounts, it even looked like Hot Mulligan drew the largest crowd of any band from day one outside of the headliners themselves. They did an amazing job at getting everyone ready for the last two bands, making absolute sense as to why they were the ones to close off the support stage. The band made sure to play a balanced mix of their hits while also giving some love to their newest music at the time, giving a great mix of slower, sadboy-like vibes and the faster, more hyper bumping songs. The only complaint I had for the whole set was that it could have definitely been longer, but one can only hope for this year!

8:35pm - Jimmy Eat World

Everyone may think of Blink first whenever you mention the scene or genre itself, but many might not know that Jimmy Eat World is the longest active, touring band on the whole bill. That may seem crazy but it's true, and makes me feel old for only 25, but the upstanding gentlemen from Mesa, AZ have kept things running continuously smoothly since the mid 90s. They are scene legends however, right beside Blink and Bowling, so it only makes sense that they deserve to be directly supporting longtime friends for day one. It may have been a definite tonal and vibe shift following Hot Mulligan, but that didn’t stop the band from sounding both vocally and instrumentally fantastic. Their wonderful stage presence also helped out to keep the crowd attentive, cementing why they have been doing it for so long. They played all the hits and even some lesser known songs from their discography, however the crowd seemed to be more into the set during their hits. It happens but the band still gave it their all the entire time regardless if the crowd was into it or not.

9:45pm - Blink-182

Now what you have all been waiting for, the biggest band to play Four Chord ever, accomplishing Rishi's very own dream, all the way from California, Tom, Mark, and Travis! I will say for a band that’s been doing it longer than the rest they still sound incredible both vocally and instrumentally, I’d go as far to say as good as the arena tour for the reunion show I graciously got to witness them on. Of course they kicked off the set with Girl at the Rock Show, it's only fitting all things considered, but got the crowd to show up through and through all the way till the end. You’d think for veterans long in the tooth like Blink they’d be a little lacking, but their performance was absolutely banging with crowd work from both Tom and Mark being just as fun as the songs themselves, proving that even at their age they can still rock out and have fun. Some of the best highlights of the set weren’t even the songs, but instead Tom drunkenly spewing nonsense as Mark hounds on him, funny ask fuck. The amazing and highly entertaining banter in between songs really made you feel like you were watching a local DIY pop-punk band sit around and bullshit while still making kickass music. I would even say that their set would only be topped by Hot Mulligan for performance and crowd energy.

Fourteen bands in less than twelve hours is insane for anybody, but it was definitely worth it to see such legendary bands and amazing performances. The experience itself of being at Four Chord, only my second time, with the opportunities we were given and it being in my home state, has made it all feel surreal. I am very thankful for all involved in helping our team out but also for being able to make this an annual festival! Who was your favorite of the night? Did you go to just this night, both, or just day two? As always, thanks for reading and happy listening!