At first I thought Boys Like Girls seemed to be a hardcore band gone askew but then I began to realize they weren’t a hardcore band, but a legitimate rock band. They weren’t the bubblegum-pop band that everyone had pinned them as, but an overlooked, talented group of rock musicians.

The venue SPA picked seemed unfitting for the band with both seated on bleachers as well as chairs. The crowd in Rec Hall was too anxious to stay in their seats and by the time the the first guitar lick of “Love Drunk” those neatly organized rows of chairs were throw aside to get the best standing room. BLG is more suited for an open, jump-friendly atmosphere which the crowd began to take as their initiative to accomplish.

“Now, if it was up to me there would be no seats in this entire thing,” lead singer, Martin Johnson, said. Then he sang “can the Fire Marshall tell me why there’s people in the bleachers and open space on the floor.”

Following the energy of “Love Drunk,” they played “Heels Over Head.” Boys Like Girls not only belted their ballads but screamed as long as well. Climbing speakers and throwing guitar picks into the audience like a superstar, the tatted arms and alternative haircuts of BLG proved they were here for more than a cutsey pop-punk show.

After playing songs like “Hero/Heroine” and “5 Minutes to Midnight” they showed Penn State just how much they truly loved playing for them. During an instrumental from the band, the lead singer proceeded to climb atop a speaker and rest his feet on a cymbal while the drummer played a solo.

Lead singer Martin Johnson left the crowd with his perspective near the end of the show: “If you don’t have both our albums, go home and burn them from a friend or download them illegally. Because you’re here and it’s what matters.”

Ending the encore with, what else, but “The Great Escape” Johnson climbed into the audience with the final verses captivating the crowd leaving them with a great concert to remember. The night was also special as SPA announced that they would be bringing the Pringles Xtreme Campus Tour to the HUB on Oct 22 featuring rapper J. Cole and pop-punk band We the Kings.

Whether you were satisfied seeing a great modern rock band or loved seeing all the ladies swaying to “Thunder,” the night proved to be another successful showing from SPA and all those involved.