All Time Low Mixes Nostalgia With Modern Pop Rock at LA’s Wiltern

It was a Wednesday night and a line of black-clad fans rounded the block for All Time Low’s sold out show at the Wiltern. Their clothes scattered with the band’s future hearts, symbols, and aesthetics of their various eras over the nearly two decades that spanned their career. Vocalist and guitarist Alex Gaskarth, lead guitarist Jack Barakat, bassist Zachary Merrick and drummer Rian Dawson had been veterans of the 2000s pop-punk scene, and they were now on tour to promote their newest modern pop-rock album Tell Me I’m Alive.

The first opener, Lauran Hibberd who hails from the UK, brought a sense of youthful energy to the stage through her upbeat pop-punk tracks. It was fun to watch her interact with her backing bandmates and rouse up the crowd at the barricade. She helped set a casual tone, thanking her mother for helping with the band’s travel costs and encouraging everyone to message her on Instagram with sweet words that she could show her later.

Grayscale opened second, bringing with them an air of professionalism that implied a great amount of experience on-stage despite not having the years on them that bands with that level of confidence do. They adhered to their electronic poppier tracks in their rock discography to help appeal to their headliner’s more pop-inclined audience. Catchy songs from their 2019 album, Nella Vita and 2021 album, Umbra were prominent throughout as guitarist Andrew Kyne temporarily swapped his usual instrument for a saxophone solo during the performance of “Motown.” Frontman Collin Walsh had a magnetic sense of confidence while drummer Nick Veno was all smiles on the clover-emblazoned drum kit. The band ended their set with one of their classic songs, “Fever Dream” off of 2017’s Adornment, and it was personally a welcome shift into a more grounded sound.

“You don’t come here to watch a show through a goddamn device. This is what you come here for. I want to make real memories tonight,” said vocalist Travie McCoy of Gym Class Heroes as cheers erupted in his wake. As performers, Gym Class Heroes were satisfyingly honest. McCoy bonded with the crowd not only through the live performance of major pop-rap hits like “Stereo Hearts” as well as “Billionaire” from his solo work, but also his personal detours like his story for why he was running around stage with a broken foot. The band uniquely had an ASL interpreter Trevor Shannon performing on stage with them and it frankly was great to watch any band make their live performance so accessible to everyone. After so many years of it, McCoy seemed like a born performer who loved interactions with the crowd as much as they loved him, with a blinding smile plastered on his face as he sent a heart-hand gesture back to where it had come from.

For headliners, All Time Low were still nothing if not casual performers, supremely comfortable with the stage, the crowd, and one another. Easy banter exchanged between Barakat and Gaskarth throughout, and Barakat took off across the stage to kiss his band members on the cheeks during the performance. Their set list was drenched in nostalgia, opening with 2007 and 2009 releases “Six Feet Under the Stars,” “Lost in Stereo" and “Damned If I Do Ya (Damned If I Don’t).” Newer songs were interspersed throughout including All Time Low’s collaborative track with Avril Lavigne titled, “Fake as Hell” and “PMA,” where Lauran Hibberd joined the band on-stage to perform Pale Waves’ vocal part on the track about postmodern anxiety. One of the most popular songs off of the new album live was the electronic number, “Sleepwalking” which had the entire crowd moving and singing along.

A special mention was the track, “Missing You” off of the band’s 2015 album, Future Hearts. As soon as it was announced to play next, the whole venue filled with cheering. Using isolated vocals and just an acoustic guitar, Gaskarth sang words of comfort to people who felt or remembered feeling lonely, and the sense of not fitting in while growing up. The venue was lit up by the glow of flashlights, and the atmosphere in the Wiltern was warm with affection and nostalgia then.

A very interactive aspect of All Time Low’s set was the “wildcard” slots in their set list. For the one that played first, the crowd had been given the opportunity to vote for which song was to be performed live out of four options–and 2017 single, “Last Young Renegade” was the winning vote for the Los Angeles crowd, to a slightly mixed reception from those who wanted songs that leaned toward pop-punk. However, they didn’t stay disappointed for long. For the second wildcard, a fan was pulled on-stage to help press a button that would select what older track would be performed. “Jasey Rae” from the band’s first album ever, 2006 release "Put Up Or Shut Up, won an abundance of cheers.

All Time Low’s The Sound of Letting Go tour was easily as much of an homage to their old work as it was an introduction to their new music. Joined by an upbeat and modern lineup of openers–with Gym Class Heroes’ viral songs by far taking the medal in energizing the crowd–All Time Low’s set list and the chorus that joined it really was the sound of thousands letting go of their worries for one carefree night in Los Angeles.

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