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15 of our favorite ADTR moments over the past 15 years

2018 marks an epic year for the scene: Highly anticipated records, the last nationwide Vans Warped Tour and monumental anniversary shows, including A Day To Remember, who recently announced their 15-year anniversary tour with support from Papa Roach, Falling In Reverse and the Devil Wears Prada.

ADTR 15 years
[Image by: ADTR]

READ MORE: Our Most Anticipated heavy releases of 2018

Here are some of our favorite moments in the last 15 years that make A Day To Remember’s influence over the scene permanent—giving us more than a day, but a decade-and-a-half to remember.

When ADTR gaves us a tour of their hometown: Ocala, Florida

In 2015, ADTR debuted a retrospective music video for “City Of Ocala,” where they gave viewers a tour of their hometown. In the video, the band showed fans their first practice spaces, the shitty part-time jobs they had and where most of their first albums were written.

When Kelly Clarkson covered one of their first hits

Or was it the other way around? Just kidding, but the “Since U Been Gone” music video certainly brought in a large crowd of listeners for A Day To Remember. We also have to give them props for the acting, as they did a pretty spot-on reenactment of Kelly Clarkson’s version back in their For Those Who Have Heart days. Two years later, the boys successfully covered another radio hit and were featured on Fearless Records’ Punk Goes Pop, Vol. 2 with their cover of the Fray’s “Over My Head (Cable Car).”

When “The Downfall Of Us All” bridged the gap between pop punk and metalcore, giving birth to pop-core

The intro gang vocals are instantly recognizable as the opener for any ADTR show to this day. The heavy djent-focused intro that goes into a poppy verse blew minds when it captured the attention of fans all around the world.

When the band plays an epic game of kickball against youths

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[GIF by: Giphy]

The music video for “I’m Made Of Wax, Larry, What Are You Made Of?” consisted of the five members of the band playing a serious kickball game against a group of youngsters… and kicking their ass. (There’s a sick Night At The Museum reference, too.) The song title is what Robin Williams’ character, a wax figurine of Theodore Roosevelt, says to Ben Stiller’s character.

When all we wanted were cameos, and “All I Want” had all the cameos

Seriously, what a sick collab. This truly shines a light on the camaraderie in the music community. Members of Sleeping With Sirens, Bring Me The Horizon, Silverstein, MxPx, Trivium, August Burns Red, Parkway Drive and many more join forces on this punk medley.

When Jeremy bargains on the History Network’s Pawn Stars

So a Jeremy walks into the shop, and these huge dudes who run the business don’t freak out like teenage fangirls? All right, we’re not that surprised. Although it seemed like no one had a clue who he was (nor was his identity ever acknowledged), he did manage to haggle $2,500 for an old, four-string Martin guitar.

When the guys went back to high school

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[GIF by: Giphy]

How unoriginal, you say? Indeed, we’ve certainly seen the high school-setting music video dozens of times. But at this point, it is more of a rite of passage for rock bands in the 21st century than a novel creative idea of cinematography. Either way, the boys nailed it, almost as well as My Chemical Romance’s “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)” and Simple Plan’s “I’m Just A Kid.”

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When they created Mortal Kombat characters of themselves

In “2nd Sucks,” 16-bit graphics are used to transform the five band members into goofy caricatures of themselves. In the video, they battle in significant venues and settings, successfully defeating some of the personified adversities they’ve faced throughout their careers, such as bullies, keyboard warriors who hated on the band and “pretentious music critics” who have a hilarious scarf attack.

When they publicly expressed their frustrations with their label in a song

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[GIF by: Giphy]

As most ADTR fans know, the band dealt with a lot of drama with the record label regarding an alleged contract breach. The case dragged on for quite a while, and “The Document Speaks For Itself” from their 2013 release Common Courtesy provided listeners with a raw, unfiltered version of how the ADTR team felt toward Victory Records at the time. The best part? The last seconds of the song include live audio of the boys as they were sending the label an email expressing their disappointment, freaking out about it and immediately laughing about it. In late 2016, we learned that after five years, the lawsuit concluded in favor of the band.

When they reminisced about their favorite memories themselves—and captured all the recordings on a song

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[GIF by: Giphy]

The Common Courtesy finale track, “I Remember,” is a nostalgic anthem in which the guys channel their fondest memories with A Day To Remember. The final five minutes of the track is just a heartwarming conversation between the band members, talking about their first time in New York, and their first time seeing snow, when they crashed their van into a bank and much more.

When the band’s consistent album artwork theme blew our minds

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Each of A Day To Remember’s studio albums consist of a male character facing away from the viewer. That’s not to say that each one is a multilayered conceptual album, but we should wait to see what the band plans to do next. Is it the same character? We shall see. Talk about consistency, right?

When ADTR performed an Alkaline Trio song with Matt Skiba

In 2016, ADTR toured with blink-182 as their supporting act; and at their Chicago stop, Matt Skiba joined ADTR onstage for a special rendition of Alkaline Trio’s “Private Eye.”

When the boys were gifted with the keys to their hometown, Ocala, Florida

In March 2017, ADTR played a very special show in their hometown of Ocala, Florida. It was a truly significant moment in their careers, and even the mayor of the city attended. In fact, he granted the band the keys to the city!

When they put together their own hardcore festival

The Self Help Festival was founded in 2014 by the band themselves, who have headlined it alongside other punk and hardcore acts such as Rise Against, Falling In Reverse, Bring Me The Horizon, Of Mice & Men and many, many others. With rotating locations and dates, the festival has expanded to three dates in 2017. “We wanted the name to really sum up what the people who were coming to the festival felt about the music,” McKinnon says.

When Jeremy paid tribute to Chester Bennington at “Linkin Park & Friends Celebrate Life”

With the recent passing of the vocalist legend, Linkin Park put together a beautiful show that honored Linkin Park’s history and, specifically, Chester Bennington’s legacy. McKinnon joined Linkin Park onstage for a killer performance of “A Place For My Head” that would’ve made Bennington proud.

Here’s to another 15 years!

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You can pick up tickets for the 15 Years In The Making Tour on ADTR’s website.

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[GIF by: Tumblr]