Before the Starting Line reaches its finish line, the band stopped by State College one more time.

Speaking of lines, the queue of kids waiting to get into the show at Lulu's Nightspot, 129 1/2 S. Pugh St., stretched down Pugh and around Calder Ave., all the way to Pita Pit.

The eager fans were waiting to get in to see the Starting Line play the first show of what looks to be the band's last tour (at least, for a while). The band did not disappoint.

After an obnoxiously (but not at all surprisingly) long set change, the Starting Line took the stage and played a retrospective set, throwing in songs from its entire catalogue. From its first full-length to the band's newest release and everything in between, nothing was off limits. Maybe the band is ready to take a break, but on the first night of its tour, nobody looked tired.

It would have been easy to phone in the performance, and the raucous crowd would have been sated anyway, but the Starting Line's set of songs pleased everyone at the show.

In addition to the Starting Line, three other bands were on the bill, and all were met with rather warm receptions. Steel Train, who opened the show, got the spillover energy of the people who had waited outside in some cases for hours--before the show. Four Year Strong, who went on next, got the most motion out of the audience, sparking some crowd surfers and a few pockets of mild moshing. Bayside was the last to take the stage before the headliner, but it got plenty of crowd participation, and it was clear that at least some of the fans were there for Bayside, specifically.

While the large majority was obviously there for the Starting Line, all four bands seemed to have a respectable following present.

Though all four bands could probably fall under the umbrella of "pop-punk" without anybody batting a made-up eyelash -- even though neither the Beatles nor the Clash (that is, the best pop band and the best punk band ever, respectively) would approve -- they all had a sound distinct enough to keep the sets from running together.

Steel Train featured a bevy of psychedelic guitar solos while Four Year Strong's more hardcore sound was thinner on instrumental breakdowns but heavier on aggression. Bayside was probably a happy medium between the two while the Starting Line was, unsurprisingly, the most talented.

The headliner had a stage presence and overall tightness that can only come from years of playing together. The Starting Line might have outgrown its sound (as evidenced by the relative change of sound on the band's newest release as well as its decision to go on something of a hiatus), and honestly, I outgrew it several years ago. That said, the band has every right to enjoy this last hurrah as did the hundreds of fans who so obviously enjoyed it, too.