The video is a way for the band to say goodbye to their devoted fans after the band announced their split last year. Yellowcard recently performed their final show in California, at the end of a farewell world tour.

The track itself is taken from their final, self-titled album which is available now via Hopeless Records.

Luckily, Kenneths manage to blow any cynicism away. Their stage presence is just class, the sincerity of their music and commitment to providing a killer punk-rock show despite the odds. When guitarist Josh Weller asks if we’re all quiet “cos uni’s out, or is it ‘cos we’re shit?” at the start of the show, it’s a poke of self-depreciation that is wholly unwarranted. They’ve got guts, especially seeing as drummer Aicha Djidjeli is playing with a broken foot tonight, and all throughout, Weller uses his charisma to brute force the audience over to his side. Their set finishes with him crowd-surfing from one end of the venue to the other.

Unfortunately, for all of the good that Kenneths do to loosen up the evening, Normandie undo this. Let’s just get this out of the way. If you’ve got your own lighting rig and you’re the support band, you need your ego in check. Their brand of derivative Bring Me The Horizon feels so out of place at this gig, and an overly produced, polished pop production doesn’t make up for their shortcomings. Singer Philip Strand tries to prowl the stage like Oli Sykes, but the band’s reliance on cringworthy vocal effects, pointless backing tracks and stale notes of prepackaged crowd interaction makes him just come across like a metalcore Harry Styles. It’s complete style over substance, an unwillingness to do anything other than play it safe, play it the same and play it stale. After the intimate passion of the Kenneth’s opening performance, this just feels cold, empty, emotionless.

So by the time Yellowcard come on, we need something special. And Yellowcard want to give us something special. After a funny but heartfelt request to ask audience members to put their phones away, arguing that “all of these songs are on YouTube anyway, and you won’t get another chance to see them,” Yellowcard jump onstage and launch into ‘Way Away’, the first song of their seminal album ‘Ocean Avenue’. Tonight, they’re here to play the album in full, as they intended to earlier this year at Slam Dunk North, before technical difficulties plagued the set and caused the band to abandon this idea. So tonight, they’re back with a mission – to give their most well known album, their career and their audience the send off they deserve.

Right from the start, this intense energy injects the entire audience, who sing along to every hook, melody and violin part with a fanatic passion. The first two songs alone contain more melodies than the two support acts combined, and Yellowcard’s penchant for catchy melodies have been well honed over the years. When ‘Ocean Avenue’ itself appears three songs into the set, frontman Ryan Key jokingly begs the audience to stay as “we usually close with this one, so people tend to leave after we play it.” This is the energy and passion that Yellowcard deserved, and despite tailing off a bit towards the end of the night, it’s due to no fault of the band, but simply ‘Ocean Avenue’ being front-ended by so many bangers.

As the band come on stage for a four song encore, drawing from singles from elsewhere in their discography and ending on a triumphant ‘Lights And Sounds’, it’s clear that they’ve earned their send off. Whilst the supports seemed like odd choices to celebrate Yellowcard’s legacy, the band proved that they only need to stand on their own accomplishments to be proud of what they’ve achieved. Their unique voice and take on melodic pop-punk is going to be missed, but tonight, they managed to get the entire audience wishing they could turn back time and run forever.

Matthew Wilson

The band will now play a show in Brighton on December 21st, and wrap up on the 22nd with their final UK show at the Brooklyn Bowl in London. Yellowcard released their final, self-titled album earlier this year via Hopeless Records.

Tickets for the extra shows are on sale November 4th at 10am, and you can see a list of the dates below.

December
11 BRISTOL O2 Academy
12 GLASGOW O2 ABC
14 MANCHESTER O2 Ritz
15 LONDON O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
17 NOTTINGHAM Rock City
18 BIRMINGHAM O2 Institute
20 LEEDS University Union (playing Ocean Avenue in full – exclusive)
21 BRIGHTON Concorde 2
22 LONDON Brooklyn Bowl – FINAL UK SHOW

Following their hiatus, Yellowcard certainly seemed to be building up some momentum with ‘When You’re Through Thinking Say Yes’ and ‘Southern Air’ both being emphatic returns to form, but 2014’s ‘Lift A Sail’ saw a shift in styles that left many feeling hesitant about which Yellowcard would show up for their final album.

Certainly ‘Rest In Peace’ wastes no time in offering forth all the classic Yellowcard elements, with solid riffs and drumming underpinning the weaving violin of Sean Mackin and the recognisable vocals of Ryan Key. The words tell a story of a relationship come to an end, but given the circumstances it could easily be a farewell to the fans. However, it’s the lyrics of ‘A Place We Set Afire’ that are among the most expressive, with Sean Mackin’s violin work adding an emotional edge and lines such as “We don’t have to say goodbye, but we can’t get lost in time” sounding more emotionally loaded than usual. ‘Got Yours’ is fuelled by an exciting urgency that recent material suggested Yellowcard were moving away from, and fans who fell in love with their older material are certainly going to appreciate it.

The infectious energy and burning desire present in the first set of songs doesn’t run throughout each track and ‘Leave A Light On’ is a thoughtful and composed strings and piano ballad that initially seems to split the album in two. That ‘The Hurt Is Gone’ stretches its ideas out over the course of six and a half minutes suggests that Yellowcard are set to indulge their more expansive and experimental side again. This impression is strengthened by the fact that ‘Empty Street’, for all its lyrical and musical positivity, lacks the punch that shaving a minute off the running time would have given it. However the split in styles isn’t absolute, with ‘Savior’s Robes’ providing a brilliant and fired-up dose of melodic punk that briefly evolves into a soundscape of drawn out guitars, strings, and echoey vocals before returning to form.

It’s been clear for years now that Yellowcard were never going to make ‘Ocean Avenue Part Two’ and every song is written and delivered with a self-confidence that must be applauded. The gradual shift in style away from pop-punk has never been for the sake of it, and album closer ‘Fields And Fences’, effectively the last song you will hear from Yellowcard, is, more than anything, the sound of a band completely and utterly comfortable in their own skin.

Self-titling an album can sometimes lead to accusations of laziness or arrogance, but in this case it’s very fitting, serving as a full stop at the end of a long and well-regarded career. Even though ‘Yellowcard’ may not be the career-defining swansong that it had the potential to be, every moment of it is played with honest integrity. There are some instantly brilliant songs here and some that will grow in stature over time. It remains to be seen what direction each member takes in the future, but Yellowcard have certainly left a musical legacy to be proud of.

CHRIS HILSON

The self-titled release is out on Friday September 30th via Hopeless Records, and will be followed by a final world tour that hits the UK in December.

“The motivation behind this was to make sure these songs came from a place that was deeply rooted in us,” explains the band of the album. “We wanted to push ourselves to create a lasting finale for this incredible story on our own. It is also why we chose to self-title the album. We were lucky to still have our friend and mentor, Neal Avron, on board as Executive Producer. We’ve made one of the strongest records of our career and a fitting final creative piece.”

Pre-orders for ‘Yellowcard’ are available now, and you can watch the personal videos from the band below.

Ryan Key:

Sean Mackin:

Josh Portman

Ryan Mendez

December
11 BRISTOL O2 Academy
12 GLASGOW O2 ABC
14 MANCHESTER O2 Ritz
15 LONDON O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
17 NOTTINGHAM Rock City
18 BIRMINGHAM O2 Institute

‘The Hurt Is Gone’ is the second track to appear from the record, following ‘Rest In Peace‘.

“We will be forever grateful to Yellowcard fans all over the world for the opportunities you have given us,” the band announced in June. “We have played shows for nearly two decades on six continents, and had the chance to keep recording the music we love year after year. While it is with sadness that we say goodbye, it is with gratitude and amazement that we look back on a career we can be proud of, and were so very lucky to have had.”

The band’s farewell tour reaches the UK in December.

DECEMBER
11 BRISTOL O2 Academy
12 GLASGOW O2 ABC
14 MANCHESTER O2 Ritz
15 LONDON O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
17 NOTTINGHAM Rock City
18 BIRMINGHAM O2 Institute
20 LEEDS Stylus (Exclusive full ‘Ocean Avenue’ performance)

“When saying farewell, it is hard to know where to start, especially when there are so many reasons not to say it, but the time has come to share this news,” said the band in a unified statement. “After countless discussions and months of thought, we have decided that it is time for Yellowcard to come to an end. This will be our last album and our final world tour.”

The sad news comes with the release of their final self-titled album, as and the aforementioned world tour, which begins in October in Texas, before reaching the UK in December. “We wanted to have the chance to share our farewell with as many fans around the world as we could, and now is the right time to do just that,” the band added.

“We will be forever grateful to Yellowcard fans all over the world for the opportunities you have given us. We have played shows for nearly two decades on six continents, and had the chance to keep recording the music we love year after year. While it is with sadness that we say goodbye, it is with gratitude and amazement that we look back on a career we can be proud of, and were so very lucky to have had.”

Yellowcard will release their self-titled album on September 30th via Hopeless Records, which is available to pre-order now from the bands official website. It comes with an instant download of ‘Rest In Peace.’ You can see the dates for the UK leg of the final tour below.

December
11 BRISTOL O2 Academy
12 GLASGOW O2 ABC
14 MANCHESTER O2 Ritz
15 LONDON O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
17 NOTTINGHAM Rock City
18 BIRMINGHAM O2 Institute

As the band unveil their new track, ‘Rest In Piece‘, and gear up for the release of their self-titled LP via Hopeless Records later in September, a rather ominous event has appeared on Facebook.

“Yellowcard – The Final World Tour at Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas,” is all the information it contains. Is it legitimate? If so, does it mean the end of Yellowcard? Is it an oddly titled tour, or one of those “we’re not touring outside of our home country” announcements?

We’ll keep you updated.

UPDATE (14:50PM BST): Event has been removed.

“It’s a huge honor to announce that we have started working on our eighth studio recording which will be released later this year on Hopeless Records,” they said when announcing the record. “We couldn’t be more happy to be working with the Hopeless family again.”

Yellowcard recently played Slam Dunk Festival, performing their iconic ‘Ocean Avenue’ in full.

This is what it’ll look like, and the full tracklisting. If you saw an earlier version elsewhere, rest assured that this is correct.

01 Rest In Peace
02 What Appears
03 Got Yours
04 A Place We Set Afire
05 Leave A Light On
06 The Hurt Is Gone
07 Empty Street
08 I’m A Wrecking Ball
09 Savior’s Robes
10 Fields & Fences