On Tuesday, September 26, 2023, the “Alive and Loud” Tour made its way to the Space Ballroom in Hamden, CT. The lineup was headlined by self-described “Bay Area party people” band Just Friends, with support from Young Culture, Super American, and Save Face, other prominent bands in the pop-punk and alternative realms.

For me, this was a super special show because of how long I’ve been going to see some of these bands live, specifically Young Culture and Save Face. I saw both of them for the first time in December 2018, and they’ve each released tons of great music since then, growing exponentially as artists and as people.

Save Face took the stage first, with each member donning their signature red jumpsuits, playing mostly songs from their most recent album, “Another Kill for the Highlight Reel.” The band hadn’t played in this area of Connecticut since 2018, and it was clear that the Hamden crowd missed them with how they sang along to every word.

Frontman Tyler Povanda teased a new EP coming this fall including collaborations with other artists, which can be purchased on cassette at the SF merch table on every date of this tour. He also talked a lot about the importance of community and showing up for your friends before the band launched into its latest single, “Found Dead at the Crime Scene.”

Young Culture also played an extremely lively set, incorporating super fun interactions between the band members and members of the audience. Opening with a fan-favorite, “Holiday in Vegas,” their set consisted of a mix of newer tracks and older hits that had everyone dancing the whole time.

Personally, my favorite part of YC’s set was when they closed with “Drift,” the oldest song they played that night and, in my opinion, still one of their best. Vocalist Alex Magnan hopped off of the stage and into the crowd for the final chorus, and screaming the lyrics along with him and the rest of the fans was a beautifully cathartic experience.

We got the chance to chat with Robbie Roe (they/he) and Tyler Povanda (he/him) of Save Face and Alex Magnan, Gabe Pietrafesa, and Troy Burchett (all he/him) of Young Culture after the show, and there certainly wasn’t a dull moment during the entire conversation. Keep reading to see what the bands had to say!

WQAQ: What was it like getting to play Connecticut after not playing here for a while, knowing this is a market that some tours tend to skip?

Robbie Roe: It’s interesting here, I think we have a lot of dedicated people here because Connecticut gets skipped over a lot. We end up with Connecticut people in New York or New Jersey, so I think it’s really special when we get to actually be here. 

It’s great. I feel like it was even better than we could have expected.

Tyler Povanda: There were some changes with the tour, and I think we were nervous about attendance and people not coming out because new bands were added. It’s not always clear from social media who’s actually going to come out to the show or not.

It was honestly probably my favorite show. Boston the other night was so, so great, but it was so great that people came to see us play first which was unexpected, and actually knew the words and were down to have fun. It was really heartwarming for me.

Alex Magnan: This was our first time playing New Haven, we’ve played Hartford before. It’s usually not the best market, but I feel like a lot of really fun people come out, so tonight definitely exceeded my expectations.

 I wish we could’ve played longer! It was definitely fun, I saw a lot of friends and a lot of people I’ve been wanting to see for a long time.

WQAQ: For Save Face – Tyler mentioned on stage that you guys have new music coming out this fall. Could you talk a little bit about what we can expect sonically and lyrically from that?

RR: On this EP, we wanted to do it a little heavier and edgier. Doing an independent release post-being on a label, we had a lot of freedom to do what we want and say what we want. 

TP: There are songs that I was writing trying to make a new album for our follow-up record. During that I realized I couldn’t make a whole record the way I was trying to make it, which was combining all of the moments from our last record that were dark, heavy, fast, confrontational…that’s what I was trying to write.

I ended up having a handful of songs where I was like, “I don’t know if I can really do a whole record like this, it’s not speaking to me that deeply, but these are good songs.” I did find the vibe for the next record, and I’m really locked into it, but I didn’t want to not put out music; that’s the whole reason I started a band, was to put out new music.

I was like, let’s put out these few songs, let’s do it ourselves. Let’s not worry about how to figure it out and let’s just do it.

I think this first song is about longing for a greater sense of community within music and becoming disenfranchised with things the longer you’re pursuing them. It’s also about nights like tonight where people are coming out wanting to express themselves and find their place.

The chorus is speaking directly to them, and the verses are saying to them, “Even though this sh*t is f*cked, and there are people in it for the wrong reasons, you and me are here right now, and that’s the most important thing, and I love you.” There’s a lot of that kind of flavor lyrically.

WQAQ: All of the bands on this bill have a ton of energy and really great stage presence. Can you talk a bit about what the tour has been like behind the scenes?

Troy Burchett: It’s been crazy. We’ve been on a lot of tours with great packages and great friends, but this is the first time where I think everyone on the package is outgoing and has a strong personality on and off stage. That’s a lot of fun! 

We’ve been on tour with a lot of bands who have great stage personalities but they’re maybe a little bit more reserved. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s just been a lot of fun here. We just met Just Friends on this tour and they’ve already become family to us.

WQAQ: New Haven is known for its pizza, so I was wondering, if your band was a pizza topping, what would it be and why?

RR: Being vegetarian, there’s not many options right? Maybe [since we’re from New Jersey] we’d be like a capicola or something like that. I’d say that we’re like a mushroom because we’re not for everybody, but everybody who likes it is super passionate about it.

TP: We’re a band from New Jersey, so pizza is very very important to me. I have a couple favorite slices in Jersey near the recording studio we use, they have a chicken quesadilla one, they have a penne vodka one, they have a cheese tortellini one…if we were a pizza topping, it would be some f*cked up sh*t like that. 

The most maximalist kind of pizza possible, because we’re a maximalist band. We try to do the most things all of the time in our music and on stage. So we’d be pasta, chicken quesadilla, salad…all of that.

Gabe Pietrafesa: Is it actually known for its pizza? I was making a joke earlier that we left New York to get Connecticut pizza. [laughs] 

Can it be three pizza toppings? It would be a three-topping pizza, expensive toppings too, like a dollar each. Four topping? I’ll put five in there. 

Alex would be pepperoni because he’s the most popular and tasty. Troy would be mushroom because he’s upper echelon, onto the finer things in life, I feel like that’s a mushroom vibe. 

Simon [our drummer] would be green peppers because he’s vegan and eats a lot of them. Danny [our photographer] would be bacon because he’s delicious and everybody loves him. 

I would be extra cheese, ‘cause I’m part of the whole thing and you want a little more. I like that.

WQAQ: Is there anything else you want to add?

RR: I love Connecticut, I love everyone here, this has been the best show of the tour so far.

TP: We’re going on tour in the UK and we’re going to put out a new album next year, I think, and I’m so excited.