On December 20th, State Champs took over Cleveland’s Agora Theater at the 7th annual Snowed In. This year’s lineup featured bands like Grayscale, Belmont, Jetty Bones, and Sleep On It.
One of the first bands I was able to catch were Chicago locals, Sleep On It. A week prior the group held a packed holiday show at Lincoln Hall in their, technically our hometown making Snowed In their final show of the year. In September of this year, Sleep On It dropped their sophomore album, Pride and Disaster, on Equal Vision Records. It’s been a long year, but it’s also been an eventful one for Sleep On It.
Next up, we caught up with Rise Records latest artist, Jetty Bones on the Sound Rink stage. The woman behind it all, Kelc Galluzzo, started making music back in 2016 with the help of her friends in her hometown, Urbana, Ohio. Galluzzo’s goal as an artist is simple, but impactful, create a supportive community and spread kindness. On song that sticks with me the most is “Better” off her latest EP – (Hyphen), which has been explained to be about the healing process,“The Rest Of Them” being where she is currently.
Then there was Belmont, another one of Chicago’s pop punk bands. The guys played songs during their set like “731,” “ Hollowed Out,” and “By My Side.” From start to finish Belmont’s set was filled with crowd surfing and stage-diving. Not to mention also watching the mid-size ballroom turn into one giant mosh pit.
Grayscale was next up on the Pure Noise stage, who kicked off their set with “In Violet” and “Baby Blue” off their latest album. In early September, the group released their second studio album, Nella Vita, on Fearless Records. Grayscale also played songs like “Palette” from What We’re Missing, and “Fever Dream” and “Mum” from Adornment. Personally, I really enjoy Grayscale’s music so I certainly couldn’t help but hop into the pit and crowd surf after their first three songs.
Finally, State Champs took the stage to bring a close to the 8 packed hours at 8 hours. The group kicked off their set with “Frozen,” “Eyes Closed,” and “Deadly Conversation.” During their set frontman, Derek DiScanio took a moment to thank their supporters for letting them have the chance to put together their run of holiday shows and play songs that don’t usually make the setlist. Alongside, they also performed their cover of “Stitches” by Shawn Mendes of Punk Goes Pop, Vol. 7 and “All I Want For Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey.
All in all, the night was packed with energetic performances and just all around a great way to start the holiday break.
