Four Chord Music Festival 4

Each year, the pop-punk community puts on the Four Chord Music Festival in Pittsburgh that features well known bands as well as lesser known ones. The past few years it has featured the likes of Yellowcard, Anti-Flag, Against the Current, and Mayday Parade. This year, the main band lineup included the likes of The Dangerous Summer, State Champs, Punchline, and The Starting Line.

Being that the festival goes on all day, it welcomes fans to come whenever they please, with a start time of 11am all the way to close to midnight. It’s kind of a different form of Warped Tour. My friends and I went around 5 to catch the last 6 bands of the night.. yeah.. we were those people. Lol.

Our night began with local band, Eternal Boy. If you are familiar with the festival or even the local music scene, you would know that they have been a part of the scene for over a decade now. Lead guitarist and vocalist, Rishi Bahl, is the host/creator/promoter/recruiter of the festival as well as the owner of record label, Four Chord Music. Every single time I’ve seen them play, they’ve put on a fun, energetic, and overall awesome set and this one was no different. It did, however, include some songs from their recent album, “Awkward Phase”.

Next up on stage was pop-punk/rock band, Hit The Lights. They’ve played every Four Chord Festival I’ve seen and shot thus far and their fans are nuts. It’s cool for me because it gets me cool shots, but they are crazy. Lol. The band has always put on an awesome set and amped up the crowd, whose energy somehow never seems to waiver. This show was no different and the shots from it are definitely the best I’ve taken thus far.

The next band up on stage began the string of bands I had never seen before or shot before. The Maryland-local emo-pop/punk band, The Dangerous Summer was on next. They were cool and I enjoyed their set! The crowd was crazy, but that will happen at a pop-punk show… guaranteed. They had an awesome set and their photos turned out pretty great as well.

Local Pittsburgh pop/rock/punk band, Punchline was on next. Now when I say local here, I mean they originated from here. Having 26k likes on Facebook, they’ve certainly made their way around the country more so than a lot of other bands on the lineup before them in the couple years they’ve been a band. I know one of the friends I went with was coming just to see them, for the most part. I thoroughly enjoyed their set as well. Any band with a milder pop-punk sound I’m bound to like. They talked a lot and told stories between songs which was super cool. Overall, their set was dope and the crowd loved them.

The next band was probably the most eventful band of the night. Pop-punk New York band, State Champs was on next. They were probably the most anticipated band of the night as well, mostly by the younger part of the crowd. I said they were the most eventful because the second they got on stage the crowd stampeded to the very front of the barricade and it tilted over on top of the photographers (sort of.. not as bad as you’re probably picturing) but we were all good. Staff rushed out to hold it back and most of us moved over to the side. They got it all fixed, which was great. Needless to say, I didn’t get the best or a lot of pictures of them but I salvaged what I could. From what I did see of their set, they were awesome. I’d seen them once before when they toured with All Time Low a few years ago. The crowd obviously loved them. They were absolutely wild and there were people crowd surfing almost the entire time they were on stage.

Last on stage was pop-punk veterans from Philadelphia, The Starting Line. The older part of the crowd (not calling you old… just comparing the age differences.. lol) was most excited for their arrival on stage. Being so late, I assumed the energy and adrenaline of the crowd would have gone down, but it was just as crazy; just had less crowd surfers. Their set was pretty dope as well. The crowd lingered and enjoyed every second of their set. They used the stage, which created some cool shots for myself and the other photographers. Overall, their set was great as well!

As per ush, the Four Chord Music Festival was a success, yet again. Rishi always puts on a great show and gets some great bands year after year. If you haven’t been to one of these, you definitely should. Even come chill for a bit! Tickets are cheap, especially considering the duration of the show and the number of bands playing.

All links to the bands’ Facebook pages are linked above so go ‘like’ them! All my favorite photos are featured below so go check them out! You can check out the rest of my photos from Four Chord, not featured below, here!