Canadian pop-punk band, Seaway, has been touring across the United States and Europe for the last year and a half now. After being on the road for a while, the band took some time to recollect and play a few smaller bar shows. 

On Jan. 28,  the band played a free show at The University of Guelph, where some of the members had attended school. The show took place at Brass Taps, an on-campus restaurant and bar — a very interesting venue.

Initially, this event was just for students of UoG.  the only way to get in was to be accompanied by a student. The rules soon changed after the band and the campus received a lot of complaints about fans wanting to attend.

Opening the show was First Ghost, an “emo/rock/pop” band from Toronto. Although I had never heard of them before, their sound showed that they were heavily influenced by Jimmy Eat World and Yellowcard, both early 2000s pop-punk bands.

Before Seaway hit the stage, Selfish Things, from Mississauga got the crowd excited with their heavy pop-punk/hardcore sound.

Since traveling from the United States, I hadn’t heard of these two Canadian locals, but after seeing how many people there enjoyed them, I will definitely be listening to them in the future.

For the past year, Seaway has been opening up their sets with “Neurotic,” from their third full-length album, “Vacation.” At this show, fans including myself were pleasantly surprised when they brought back “Best Mistake,” from their album “Colourblind,” as their opener.

The band kept their set moving and fast-paced, just how the fans like it. Although it was in a restaurant/bar, this didn’t stop the moshing or attempts to crowd surf and stage dive.

To mix it up a bit, the band even played a cover, which is unusual for a headliner. Since the band played a Weezer cover set back in August, they have been notorious for covering Weezer’s “Buddy Holly.”

As of right now, there are no announced tours for Seaway, but drummer Ken Taylor said to keep our eyes out for shows in April.