On Feb. 7, The Pageant hosted the St. Louis-based band, Story of the Year.

They have been together since 2003 when their debuted album, Page Avenue, came out to the public. However, after 10 years, Story of the Year has decided to end their careers as musicians. They went on a world-wide tour to celebrate the 10^th anniversary of their debut album and as a goodbye to their loyal fans. This show was sold out, and though there was a minor surcharge (as always) it was worth it. The tickets are usually around $30 either way.

The opening act was Pistols and Sisters, followed by Hawthorne Heights, and the headliner of the show, Story of the Year.

Pistols and Sisters sounds like a punk or rock band, but unfortunately it is not. They were the first band to go on, so they set the mood for the night, and the mood was not set well. I spent most of Pistols and Sisters’ performance talking to my friends and looking at the upcoming ­­­bands on the TV screens around the venue.

They were the typical opening act in any performance: people came into The Pageant as they played or even after they played, and those who were there didn’t pay much attention to them. There were those handfuls of people that sang every song they played and cheered them on, but most of the audience was not interested.

As Hawthorne Heights took the stage, there was a clear change in mood.

Hawthorne Heights had such energy on stage, it was contagious. They jumped around the stage, screamed into the microphones, and made the audience do the same in the venue. Some of the audience in the pit tried to crowd-surf, but it’s not allowed at The Pageant and those that did were forced out of the pit and into the back of the venue.

They joked about the weather being nice for their concert. Hawthorne Heights are from Dayton, Ohio and they get about the same amount or more snow than St. Louis does.

In some ways, Hawthorne Heights is even more popular than Story of the Year and some of the audience had only come to the concert for Hawthorne Heights. Hawthorne Heights have been together since 2001, an older band than Story of the Year, and they are still alive with world tours and new albums.

During their performance, they invited a couple onto the stage, were the man proposed in

Hawthorne Heights was a perfect predecessor to Story of the Year.

They had even more energy and expressed their gratitude toward their fans, especially the fans from home. Story of the Year spent a lot of their performance thanking everyone that supported them or had come to see them in the past or for the first time.

Story of the Year played their old songs, new songs, and covers of some of the most popular songs of the past year. They played a medley of these songs including “Royals” by Lorde.

Story of the Year had an amazing farewell to their fans. They will be missed.