Photos by Katie Holtzclaw ; Written by Katie Holtzclaw
On June 16, 2026, State Farm Arena in Atlanta turned into a full-on pop-punk party as 5 Seconds of Summer rolled through town with The Band CAMINO opening the night. From the second the doors opened, you could tell this crowd was ready to go all in, and the bands gave them every reason to.
The Band CAMINO set the tone early and did it well. They moved between their newer material and older fan favorites without missing a beat, giving longtime fans the songs they’d been waiting to hear live while still proving how far they’ve come as a band. It wasn’t just a warm-up set, it felt like a real performance in its own right, and by the time they left the stage, the crowd was already locked in for the rest of the night. Then 5SOS came out and immediately flipped the script on how these shows usually go. Instead of saving the big payoff for the encore like most bands do, they opened with an absolute confetti explosion, blasting thousands of star-shaped pieces over the crowd during the very first song.
It was such a simple move, but it completely changed the energy of the room. There was no slow build, no waiting around. The party started instantly and just kept climbing from there. At one point during the set, everyone was dancing and singing so hard that the seats were literally bouncing and shaking throughout the whole arena. The stage design played a huge part in keeping that energy going too. It was unique in the best way, built with bold shapes and structure that gave fans constant photo opportunities from pretty much every seat in the arena. It wasn’t just a backdrop, it felt like part of the show itself.
But honestly, the best part of the night was watching how the band used the production crew’s live cameras. Footage streamed straight from the stage to the big screens, and instead of just using it for crowd shots, the band ran with it. They put on a full mock awards show bit, answered “frequently asked questions” on the spot, and just leaned all the way into being goofy in front of thousands of people. The crowd was eating it up the whole time, laughing and cheering like they were in on a joke with the band rather than just watching a show.
And the crowd brought its own energy too. The pit had its fair share of characters, including one person fully committed to a banana costume, dancing through the chaos like it was the most. normal thing in the world. Little moments like that summed up the entire night: a band, an opener, and a crowd that all showed up just to have fun together, no pretense, no filler, just a genuinely great show from start to finish.
