Popular music fans never got a chance to hear how punk rock music of the 1970s and \u201880s would have sounded had it gotten a chance to grow up.<\/p>\n
The Sex Pistols and The Clash imploded after just a few years and The Ramones never changed.<\/p>\n
But those who, in the 2000s and 2010s, were fans of pop-punk music, that fast-paced, poppy genre filled with ephemeral moments of devil-may-care youth themes, saw precisely how their music has endured, and matured, in a show by chart-topping Maryland band All Time Low.<\/p>\n
Nearly 20 years past the release of its platinum major-label debut album, with members now in their late 30s, All Time Low presented a concert Sept. 5 on the Service Electric Grandstand Stage at The Great Allentown Fair that not only reminded how good its older music is, but made it still connect with a crowd that also has matured, and gave them solid new music, as well.<\/p>\n
That was evident from the start, as the 19-song, one-hour-and-25-minute set started with \u201cSuckerpunch,\u201d a single from All Time Low\u2019s latest disc, 2025\u2019s \u201cEveryone\u2019s Talking!\u201d<\/p>\n
Hooky, more rock, and more adult-oriented, the song nevertheless was still pop-punk, and the crowd, looking to be perhaps above 3,000, most of them crowded into the pit in front of the stage, immediately bought in, clapping their hands above their heads to the beat.<\/p>\n
All Time Low juxtaposed that with its platinum hit \u201cWeightless,\u201d which took the audience back to 2009, immediately singing along and loudly cheering.<\/p>\n
And that was the theme of the concert: The newer songs, such as the 2021 single \u201cPMA,\u201d are hooky pop-punk, but sounded more evolved, even \u201cadult.\u201d The crowd appeared to understand, jumping, dancing and thrusting their arms, and cheering.<\/p>\n
While the hits got the best reaction, the crowd from the start was loudly singing along on 2009\u2019s gold \u201cDamned If I Do Ya (Damned If I Don\u2019t),\u201d those songs sounded as if they had aged like wine, seeming richer and more nuanced.<\/p>\n
Part of the reason was lead singer Alex Gaskarth\u2019s voice, which not only has held up well, but in ways has perhaps gotten better with age. So when the band played newer singles such as 2017\u2019s \u201cDark Side of Your Room,\u201d still catchy pop-punk, or 2025\u2019s \u201cFalling for Strangers,\u201d they sounded like, well, an older, mature version of All Time Low.<\/p>\n
That meant the songs were uniformly good: the 2011 single \u201cTime-Bomb\u201d at a thundering volume, 2013\u2019s \u201cBackseat Serenade\u201d with Gaskarth\u2019s voice especially powerful, as he stood, wide-stanced, strumming his guitar.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the 2020 single \u201cSleeping In,\u201d while fast, furious and pure pop-punk as it tumbled forward, also has a more mature sound.<\/p>\n
It was seven songs into the concert before Gaskarth really addressed the crowd, telling them, \u201cWe\u2019ve played here quite a few times.\u201d<\/p>\n
The band played the former Allentown club Crocodile Rock Cafe at least seven times, starting in 2007.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe played Allentown when we first got into our van. How\u2019ve you been? It\u2019s been awhile,\u201d Gaskarth said.<\/p>\n
During that time, All Time Low clearly has had a resurgence, starting with its 2020 gold hit \u201cMonsters\u201d with Blackbear and Demi Lovato.<\/p>\n
Perhaps that\u2019s why the Allentown audience looked to be twice the size of the crowd when All Time Low last played the Lehigh Valley and, on a twin bill with Dashboard Confessional at Bethlehem\u2019s Musikfest, drew just 1,500, among the festival\u2019s smallest ever for a headliner.<\/p>\n
One of the group\u2019s last hits before that lull, 2015\u2019s \u201cSomething\u2019s Gotta Give,\u201d still resonated and didn\u2019t sound dated. Gaskarth added the lyrics, \u201cAnd Allentown is singing along\u201d … and the crowd was, and waving its hands, 10 songs into the show.<\/p>\n
The 2025 single \u201cThe Weather\u201d actually was better. It still fit in perfectly pop-punk, but seemingly from an older perspective.<\/p>\n
Gaskarth played the 2007 gold hit \u201cRemembering Sunday\u201d alone on acoustic guitar, slow and intense, with the crowd swaying. It again drew attention to how good his voice remains, hitting high and expressive notes.<\/p>\n
He also started the 2016 slower and lighter single \u201cMissing You\u201d on acoustic before the full band returned.<\/p>\n
The mixing of eras continued with the fan-favorite minor hit \u201cLost in Stereo,\u201d followed by the 2020 minor hit \u201cSleepwalking,\u201d to which the crowd also sang along. \u201cYou sound amazing,\u201d he told them.<\/p>\n
Perhaps even better was \u201cHate This Song,\u201d the 2024 single with rockers I Prevail, which was more rock-punk.<\/p>\n
The main set closed with the aforementioned \u201cMonsters,\u201d with the crowd again singing along, and Gaskath still displaying great energy.<\/p>\n
The encore opened with \u201cLittle Bit,\u201d another song from \u201cEverybody\u2019s Talking,\u201d and it was pretty good.<\/p>\n
The band closed with its biggest hit, 2008\u2019s four-times-platinum \u201cDear Maria, Count Me In.\u201d<\/p>\n
The crowd\u2019s reaction showed that pop-punk not only has endured, it has matured.<\/p>\n
The opening act was Los Angeles-based trio Kiss The Scientist, playing what lead singer Max Tomack said was the band\u2019s first-ever concert on the East Coast.<\/p>\n
The band also showed that new pop-punk also still is alive.<\/p>\n
While its eight-song, 30-minute set also touched on screamo on songs \u201cSmile\u201d and \u201cAfterglow,\u201d which the crowd cheered, emo (its new single \u201cLife You Want\u201d) and rock, its best were pop-punk.<\/p>\n
The speedy \u201cLightweight\u201d was good, the set-closing \u201cI Gave YouTen Dollars to Buy Pringles, But You Didn\u2019t Give Me Change Back (Pringles Aren\u2019t $10)\u201d even better, and the opening song \u201cHigh\u201d was pop-punk that might have been a hit in the 2000s.<\/p>\n
PRESS PHOTO BY SHERI BAYNELead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Alex Gaskarth, All Time Low, Sept. 5, Service Electric Grandstand Stage, The Great Allentown Fair.<\/p>\n
PRESS PHOTO BY SHERI BAYNELeft to right: Lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Alex Gaskarth, drummer Rian Dawson and bassist, backing vocalist Zack Merrick, All Time Low, Sept. 5, Grandstand Stage, Allentown Fair.<\/p>\n
PRESS PHOTO BY SHERI BAYNEBassist and backing vocalist Zack Merrick, All Time Low, Sept. 5, Grandstand Stage, Allentown Fair.<\/p>\n
PRESS PHOTO BY SHERI BAYNEDrummer Rian Dawson, All Time Low, Sept. 5, Grandstand Stage, Allentown Fair.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Popular music fans never got a chance to hear how punk rock music of the 1970s and \u201880s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":281571,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":["post-281570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281570"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281570\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/281571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}