In front of a sold-out audience of screaming teenagers, college-age fans and a mixture of 40-and-over parents toting along their young children, Switchfoot debuted their new album, “Hello Hurricane” live in a hometown show at San Diego’s East County Performing Arts Center on Sunday November 8.

Sunday night was a night of firsts for the band. It was the kickoff show of the band’s official “Hello Hurricane” tour, the first time the band played the songs for a live audience and, as Switchfoot frontman Jon Foreman confessed to the audience, the first time he had been nervous in a long while.

The instant the lights were dimmed, each band member came out including Foreman with a megaphone in hand to belt out the opening lyrics to the album opener, “Needle and Haystack Life.” It was an entrance that had the crowd cheering from the start.

In the two-set show, Switchfoot spent the first half of the night playing their entire new record from start to finish. Showcasing their many talents, Foreman showed off his mandolin and harmonica skills, while brother Tim Foreman put down his bass guitar for the timpani drum and even the xylophone. Guitarist Drew Shirley also added his own touch to the new record, providing back up vocals for the first time during a live show. And the night would not have been complete without an accordion solo by the multi-talented Jerome Fontamillas.

Even though the band slashed their way through upbeat and hard-rocking songs such as “Mess of Me” and “The Sound,” playing the entirety of “Hello Hurricane” also gave fans a chance to hear the softer sounds of “Sing it Out” and “Yet.” With the final guitar riff and clash of the cymbals, the fans knew they had just witnessed history as the first live playing of “Hello Hurricane” came to an end. But Switchfoot was not ready for the night to be over and neither was the crowd.

After a short break, the band was back at it again, playing favorites off of each album in a live musical discography like never before. Starting from their first album “Legend of Chin” all the way up to their last release “Oh! Gravity.,” Foreman and band members recounted each album’s release party in “remember when we did this” fashion, offering the crowd a look into the past history of the band.

To end the night, Jon Foreman leapt to the floor of the theatre and made his way through the crowd, allowing the audience to be a part of the experience by sharing vocals, high fives and handshakes, showing that Switchfoot really is a band that knows how to rock.