Story of the Year brings Midwest rock to Memorial Coliseum
By: Kendra Suchy
Issue date: 4/25/06 Section: Features
Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll.
These three things are often cited as requisites for being a rock star, but for Story of the Year, it's fans, music and moshing.
All these elements fueled their energetic concert at Memorial Coliseum Thursday night.
The five St. Louis rockers and special guests Greeley Estate and Adair played for the first time at UK to ecstatic fans.
"We just came from the UK, the collective countries, and we flew straight into another UK," said lead singer Dan Marsala, reflecting on the irony of his surroundings.
The band arrived back in the States last Wednesday, having just completed the Taste of Chaos Tour in Europe.
Story of the Year showcased songs from their second album, "In the Wake of Determination," which was released last October.
Story of the Year also performed their hit singles "Until Our Dying Day" and "Anthem of Our Dying Day" and a cover song medley with music from 50 Cent, Bon Jovi, Journey, Metallica and Guns N' Roses.
The band members themselves have an eclectic taste in music, especially drummer Josh Willis.
"I like so much different music," said Willis, who listens to everything from Deftones to the Dave Matthews Band to Jay-Z.
The band got its first big break in 2001 doing a radio show with punk band Goldfinger in St. Louis and caught the ear of producer and Goldfinger frontman John Feldman, who later introduced the band to Maverick Records.
The rest is history, or rather, Story of the Year.
Story of the Year went on to travel with the Warped Tour a couple of times and later debuted their first album, "Page Avenue," in the spring of 2003.
Now two years later, Story of the Year is continuing to rock hard with their sophomore album, "In the Wake of Determination."
In comparing their first album to their recent one, Marsala agrees that the band's music has become a much hard type of rock.
"We've put our songs on a strict diet on fatty food and they came out way heavier (on "In the Wake of Determination")," said Marsala, jokingly.
The band's love of music shows in the band's dedication to their fans and their music.
Marsala's advice to young rock band is simple: make music that makes you happy.
"Don't make music because that's what's cool," said Marsala. "We almost started out doing that."
Instead, Marsala and Willis said they focused on writing music that they themselves would want to go the store and buy.
Willis had some advice for inspiring young rockers who want to someday have a band of their very own - keep playing.
"Don't ever quit what you're doing if you want to be in a band," Willis said. "Keep practicing and make music you like to play."
Despite their success, Story of the Year is just your average group of friends, playing music and hanging out, Marsala said
"We're nerds," he said. "We don't do anything cool, really."
E-mail features@kykernel.com
These three things are often cited as requisites for being a rock star, but for Story of the Year, it's fans, music and moshing.
All these elements fueled their energetic concert at Memorial Coliseum Thursday night.
The five St. Louis rockers and special guests Greeley Estate and Adair played for the first time at UK to ecstatic fans.
"We just came from the UK, the collective countries, and we flew straight into another UK," said lead singer Dan Marsala, reflecting on the irony of his surroundings.
The band arrived back in the States last Wednesday, having just completed the Taste of Chaos Tour in Europe.
Story of the Year showcased songs from their second album, "In the Wake of Determination," which was released last October.
Story of the Year also performed their hit singles "Until Our Dying Day" and "Anthem of Our Dying Day" and a cover song medley with music from 50 Cent, Bon Jovi, Journey, Metallica and Guns N' Roses.
The band members themselves have an eclectic taste in music, especially drummer Josh Willis.
"I like so much different music," said Willis, who listens to everything from Deftones to the Dave Matthews Band to Jay-Z.
The band got its first big break in 2001 doing a radio show with punk band Goldfinger in St. Louis and caught the ear of producer and Goldfinger frontman John Feldman, who later introduced the band to Maverick Records.
The rest is history, or rather, Story of the Year.
Story of the Year went on to travel with the Warped Tour a couple of times and later debuted their first album, "Page Avenue," in the spring of 2003.
Now two years later, Story of the Year is continuing to rock hard with their sophomore album, "In the Wake of Determination."
In comparing their first album to their recent one, Marsala agrees that the band's music has become a much hard type of rock.
"We've put our songs on a strict diet on fatty food and they came out way heavier (on "In the Wake of Determination")," said Marsala, jokingly.
The band's love of music shows in the band's dedication to their fans and their music.
Marsala's advice to young rock band is simple: make music that makes you happy.
"Don't make music because that's what's cool," said Marsala. "We almost started out doing that."
Instead, Marsala and Willis said they focused on writing music that they themselves would want to go the store and buy.
Willis had some advice for inspiring young rockers who want to someday have a band of their very own - keep playing.
"Don't ever quit what you're doing if you want to be in a band," Willis said. "Keep practicing and make music you like to play."
Despite their success, Story of the Year is just your average group of friends, playing music and hanging out, Marsala said
"We're nerds," he said. "We don't do anything cool, really."
E-mail features@kykernel.com
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