Yellowcard, New Found Glory and Plain White T’s invited the Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre crowd into their 1990s basement on Wednesday for an all-nighter packed with Nintendo, pizza, chips, DVDs, Pepsi and a pop-punk caffeine blast.
“Thank you so much for packing this place out again for us. This is unbelievable. We’re supposed to be playing at St. Andrews, not here,” Yellowcard frontman Ryan Key told the audience.
“You guys just got to hang out with Plain White T’s and New Found Glory. You’re welcome. What year is this? How is this possible, the fact that we’re all here together still doing this? What a lineup, what a tour.”
The Florida-founded, Los Angeles-based headliners went all-in on the early-90s aesthetic, opening their set with the Ghostbusters theme song as the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man bounded around the stage while a “Ghostbuster” fired T-shirts into the crowd in front of a giant Nintendo controller backdrop.
The Ghostbusters soon made way for Top Gun, with clips from the classic film flashing across the screen before lead guitarist Ryan Mendez launched into the “Top Gun Anthem.”
“We’re so excited to finally have this show out on the road,” Key told the crowd.
“We’ve been working for many months to put all this together for you. We wanted to put together a show that really celebrated those formative moments for us, those first bedroom, garage band practices. Show you guys that we still love what we do up here more than anything.”
Key showered fans with praise during a pause midway through the set, crediting them for the band’s recent resurgence.
“We’ve been doing this for a long time and to look out there and see these songs still mean this much to you, it’s really special for us,” he said.
“When you write a piece of music, you never really know what someone’s gonna think about it. It feels like these songs really hold a place in your hearts and it means a lot to us. So, thank you very much for singing along tonight.”
The singer also touched on the success of the band’s new music, alongside the lasting impact of breakthrough album Ocean Avenue.
“Speaking of writing new pieces of music, has anyone had a chance to listen to our newest record, we call it Better Days,” Key said.
“One of the reasons that we have been so fortunate to have such a long and successful career up here on the stage playing music is because about 23 years ago, we put out a record called Ocean Avenue. A couple of the songs from that record, they went on the radio and it changed our lives forever.”
Key said the band still views radio success through the lens of growing up in the 1990s.
“I know that everything has changed now, you can listen to whatever song, whenever you want. But we are 90s kids. We went to high school in the 90s. We found so much of the music that made us who we are on the radio, and we went straight out and bought those fucking records,” he said.
“So, to hear Yellowcard on the radio, it’s still a really big deal for us. Even in 2026. We still have trouble getting our heads around it.”
Key added that it had been roughly 20 years since the band last had a song on the radio charts.
“But in less than one year, because of all of you and your support of this record, we’ve had not one, but two, back-to-back number one singles on the radio,” he said, drawing a roar from the crowd.
“So, thank you. I don’t even know how you ask a radio station to play a song anymore, but thank you so much for loving these songs.”
Key said the renewed momentum has changed the band’s outlook moving forward.
“I don’t know what happens after this kind of mountaintop moment. It’s kind of scary. But I think this time, it feels like we’re just getting started, and I love it, and we love it,” he said.
“Exactly 10 years ago, we thought that we were saying goodbye to you for the rest of our lives in 2016. It felt so real, but here we are together again tonight in 2026, singing along together. There are no better fans in the world. You quite literally have brought this band back to life, and we will never, ever, ever forget it.”
Key also encouraged the audience to embrace positivity for the night.
“Hopefully, tonight, we can get away from the outside world and all the things we may be struggling with in our lives and by the end of this, our throats are gonna hurt from singing. Our faces are gonna hurt from smiling. And there’s gonna be nothing but pure joy and happiness going home with all of you and all of us tonight.”
The enthusiasm started building from the opening set.
Plain White T’s were first to hit the stage, with lead singer Tom Higgenson wishing the audience a “Merry Christmas” while joking about the unseasonably cool temperatures and brisk winds at the outdoor venue.
Higgenson also asked the audience whether they preferred being referred to as “Detroit” or “Sterling Heights” throughout the evening. Judging by the reaction, Sterling Heights won easily.
The band closed its set with its signature hit.
“Let’s all sing ‘Hey There Delilah’ as loud as we can,” Higgenson said before launching into the song.
“Love you guys.”
The chaos button was fully activated when New Found Glory stormed the stage, as the Florida rockers pushed the energy level at Freedom Hill even higher.
“It’s a good ass time to be alive,” frontman Jordan Pundik told the crowd.
After climbing off the stage to sing among fans in the front row, Pundik still wanted more from the audience.
“I need more moshing, more stage diving, more crowd surfing,” he shouted.
“I want to be concerned for you.”
The ‘Up Up Down Down’ tour continues across the United States through the summer.
Here are SWOMP’s photos from the pit on Wednesday:
Yellowcard
New Found Glory
Plain White T’s
