The Starting Line at Starland Ballroom, NJ 6/6/25

The Starting Line is an American pop punk band from Churchville, Pennsylvania, formed in 1999. Known for their energetic melodies, heartfelt lyrics, and catchy hooks, the band gained popularity in the early 2000s during the rise of the pop punk and emo scenes. Their debut album, Say It Like You Mean It (2002), became a staple of the genre, featuring fan-favorite tracks like "Best of Me" and "Leaving."

They released their sophomore album, Based on a True Story in 2005 that featured “Bedroom Talk” and “Making Love to the Camera.” In 2007, they released Direction with “Island” and “21.” Their most recent LP, The Early Years was released in 2012 and The Starting Line haven’t released a full album since. In 2016, they released a one off single, “Anyways.” 

For the first time in 9 years, The Starting Line released a brand new single on June 4th, “Sense of Humor.” Even with a hiatus, they have continued to play select shows and maintain a loyal fanbase. 

The Starting Line recently performed at Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, NJ on June 6th, 2025 with openers Armor For Sleep and Oso Oso. Photographer here at Punk Pulse Media, Lara Ziccardi (born and raised Jersey gal), headed down the parkway to catch the show!

The Starting Line has always been one of those bands I’ve enjoyed but never really thrown myself into. I know their hits, “Best of Me,” “Bedroom Talk,” and (my personal favorite), “Island.” For those who don’t know, back when I was in college, I hosted my own radio show (shout out to the lovely WMSC, Montclair State’s radio station here in Jersey) called “My Emo Phase.” Not only would I play music from my own emo phase, I found a lot of older emo music that really kicked off the emo genre (and bands my 14 year old self seemed to miss). Apologies to any millennial that’s offended that I called it “older emo music” - but I’m talking about bands like Dashboard Confessional, American Football, The Starting Line, etc. 

I found The Starting Line when I was researching more emo bands to play on my radio show. This was also the time I was interning at SiriusXM and listened to their xtra channel on their app called The Emo Project. The first song I heard by The Starting Line was “Island” right off of The Emo Project. 

While digging through their discography, I was surprised to see only four albums and only a couple singles. They’ve been performing at a few festivals this late spring season and what I think piqued my curiosity more is that they were doing one performance in New Jersey at Starland Ballroom.

I have to be completely honest here - I was extremely worried for the crowd. During Armor For Sleep’s set, I noticed they were very low energy - which is such a shame because I really enjoyed their set! I had one person come up to me and tell me how lame the crowd was. Armor For Sleep, if you’re reading this, you guys deserved a better crowd!

To open up the set, the first three songs were “Almost There,” “Up & Go,” and “Surprise.” Luckily, the crowd seemed to perk up a bit. During “Up & Go,” and “Surprise,” we had about three of four crowd surfers that successfully made it over the barricade! To complete the first block of the night, they played “Luck” and “Are You Alone.”

Earlier in this review, I mentioned how The Starting Line released their first single in 9 years “Sense of Humor.” Well, “Sense of Humor” made its live debut at Starland Ballroom! “Hello Houston” and “Greg’s Last Day.” completed our second block.

I’d also just like to mention how The Starting Line has had the same members since 1999 - not to age anyone reading this, but that’s older than me! Anyway, moving on - up next was “21” and at this point of the set, I was really observing the crowd and what they were doing. The pit seemed to be really mellow and there were a few people that (attempted) to crowd surf. I took a photo of the setlist and started the songs that stood out to be the most - the first star goes to “Making Love to the Camera” . I enjoyed listening to the studio version but there was something about the live version that I absolutely loved. The next few were “Inspired,” “Direction,” “Cheek to Cheek,” and “Way With Words.” I made my way through the crowd and I was right in front of the pit for the rest of the set.

They started playing “Birds” and I noticed the pit not moving… not one bit. I remember thinking to myself, “this is not acceptable” and took matters into my own hands. I started circling around, pointing my finger in the air and moving my arm in a circle while saying, “open this shit up!” And oh did it open it up. Everyone started jumping around and to “Birds” while I snapped some photos. A girl in the pit gestured to me to hop in the pit and I went! It was in a perfect state of just jumping around and I felt safe going in with my camera. The pit continued to vibe right into “Blame.” 

Another one of my stars goes to “Island.” I might be a little biased because it is my favorite The Starting Line song. There was something about the energy of the pit that I really enjoyed as well. It has the same vibe of “Birds” and “Blame” where everyone was jumping around. To follow was “Drama Summer,” “Ready,” and “This Ride.” 

“Left Coast” was the moment we took a chill pill before the heavy hitters - it was a lovely little acoustic moment with Kenny Vasoli up there solo. And this truly was the calm before the storm.

“Leaving” is when the crowd turned the energy up to the max. The pit started to rock the boat and more people attempted to crowd surf. I honestly felt so bad and disappointed that people were dropping like flies. And of course for those who were dropped, people helped them back up. I was at a point where I had enough of the pit and moved to the back of the venue for the last song. Last song of the night was their hit, “Best of Me.”

The Starting Line delivered a high-energy performance that perfectly captured the nostalgia and emotion fans have come to love. With a setlist full of timeless favorites and a crowd that sang every word, the band proved their lasting impact on the pop punk scene. Whether you're a longtime listener or a newcomer, their live show is a reminder of why their music continues to resonate years later.