The Wonder Years, which plays The Ritz in Ybor City, Florida on May 24, 2025. Credit: Photo via thewonderyearsband/Facebook

Usually, we cringe when our favorite bands and artists go back and re-record their material, because why milk it? But if you didn’t think it was possible to sob harder to “Cigarettes and Saints” and its damning mixture of religious guilt and a friend’s lethal overdose, guess again.

In between new projects, The Wonder Years has acoustically reimagined two albums and an EP’s worth of its material, and the Pennsylvania band is finally taking those reimaginings on the road this year.

The Little Kruta String Ensemble—an all-female orchestra that has appeared on talk shows and performed with the likes of Kimbra and Shawn Mendes—will add an extra layer to this acoustic career retrospective.

New York City bard Kevin Devine opens the show.

Tickets to see The Wonder Years play The Ritz in Ybor City on Saturday, May 24 are still available and start at $41.93.

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This article appears in May 22-28, 2025.