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Venue

Jack Rabbits Live

1528 Hendricks Ave, 32207, Jacksonville, FL, US

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Hit the Lights biography

Hit the Lights (formed in 2003) is an Ohio-based American emo-influeced pop punk band known for their high-intensity live shows.

Prior to Hit the Lights, vocalist Colin Ross and guitarist Omar Zehery had been members of the local band The Goodbye Session. Guitarist Nick Thompson previously performed with the band the Summer Departure, and along with former Hawthorne Heights bassist David Bermosk and drummer Nate Van Dame, formed Hit the Lights in 2003. The band made their recording debut on the EP “Leaving Town Tonight” released in 2004. Hit the Lights’ subsequent EP “Until We Get Caught”, was issued on Silent Movie Records a year later in 2005, and reissued by Triple Crown Records shortly after.

The band’s debut album “This Is a Stick Up… Don’t Make It a Murder”, was issued by Triple Crown in 2007 and reached No. 41 on the U.S. Heatseekers chart. Hit the Lights had earned a significant fan base which led the group to headline the Let It Ride Tour 2007, supported by Just Surrender, All Time Low, and Valencia. September 2007 marked the last performance for vocalist Colin Ross, with guitarist Nick Thompson taking over the reigns. Thompson’s first album as lead vocalist, “Skip School Start Fights” arrived in 2008 and spawned the videos “Stay Out” and “Drop the Girl”. The album reached No. 97 on the Billboard 200 and was supported by the band joining the roster at 2009’s Warped Tour and a U.S. headlining tour.

After embarking on a tour of Australia alongside New Found Glory and Fireworks, Hit the Lights signed with major label Universal Republic Records. Amidst the pressure to write a Top 40 hit and label restructuring the band later asked to be freed of their Universal Republic contract, and subsequently released the teaser EP “Invicta” in late 2011. The album, also entitled “Invicta” arrived in January 2012, and was supported by a East Coast tour which included former singer Colin Ross.

Live reviews

“You’re gonna need a body bag” … the audience cheers, and then sing in return “I’ll break bones you didn’t know you had” at the top of their lungs, lapping up this nostalgic pop punk sensation that is Hit the Lights. Their sophomore vocalist, Nick Thompson leads these pop punk lovers on a journey back to 2007 singing all of the biggest songs from their full length album “This is Stick Up… Don overdriven guitars from Kevin Mahoney and Omar Zehery riffing into the mid-set peak.
The quintet also performs songs from their latest release, “Invicta”, an album produced by Mike Sapone who has worked with Taking Back Sunday and Brand New, which debuted at number 129 on the billboard 200, selling over 4000 copies in its first week. “Earthquake” is the song that has everyone with their hands in the air swinging them backwards and forwards singing the chorus word for word, leaving a lasting impression on Hit the Lights’ faces as their encore of “Invincible” and a song called “Faster Now” which was in fact written with Ryan Key of Florida natives, Yellowcard.

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Lannistaar

For me, pop punk is the perfect fusion of two genres to create a sound that’s not too heavy, yet not too mainstream, and Major League have nailed their music with this combination of sounds perfectly. The show opened with the feedback ringing out through the monitor across the auditorium as the band ran on stage to the cheers of the audience. Before introducing themselves, the band launched straight into Need I Remind you, which immediately showcased all of their musical skills, from their guitar and drumming skills, to the beautiful harmonies that Brian Joyce and Matt Chila sang around each other.

They played a really good selection of their music from over the years, and even performed some short improvised sections within their tracks, so that we could hear some original material that wasn’t even recorded which was super exciting. They played through Hard Feelings almost in its entirety, and they were really good at encouraging everyone to sing along with them, and had us all crowding to the front to dance along with them. They were incredibly humble, and even stuck around for photos and autographs at the end of the show, which I thought was a lovely touch.

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