On June 25 Yellowcard played a show in their hometown of Jacksonville Florida, marking the first time the band played a show in their hometown in over 5 years. Why the long drought of local dates? Well, it appears the city of Jacksonville has a bit of animosity towards their hometown boys. “We always go into hometown shows a little bit nervous because we don’t know what is going to happen,” lead singer Ryan Key told Alternative Addiction during a recent interview. “We’ve had shit thrown at us, we’ve had people show up with posters, and t-shirts, it gets really gnarly sometimes. It’s an adventure at our hometown shows, for sure.” Why all the hate from Yellowcard’s hometown fans? Key says that there is a group of fans who want the band to return to their earlier sound similar to when the band first formed and was playing the indie scene. “There is something about the Florida music scene where people are just different, I don’t know how to explain it,” said Key. “There is a lot of amazing support from our fans in our hometown but to be honest, most of the people who have really stood behind the band came on board just after One For Kids and Ocean Avenue but there is still this whole breed of people who want the band to be the band we were 15 years ago and can’t get over it.” Despite the mixed reaction from fans, Key insists this is not the reason that the band hasn’t played Jacksonville in 5 years. “[The reasons why we haven’t played there in so long] have all been completely circumstantial,” explained Key. “I had problems with my voice and had to have surgery which caused us to cancel some dates including one in Jacksonville, and then another time we had a problem with the venue. Either way it’s been completely out of our hands.” In the end, Key said he hoped that the band’s recent date could be the first of many that would lead the band back to being accepted by their longtime fans. “It’s frustrating, because I know for a lot of bands a hometown show is a glorious day, and we’re hoping that is what its going to be, but [getting to that point] has been challenging.” Yellowcard is getting ready to play a string of shows in South American starting July 24 in Peru, followed by a European tour that currently runs through late August. The band’s latest album When You’re Through Thinking, Say Yes is available now.