Night 3 (November 2nd)
(A Different Shade of Blue Tour @ The Palladium in Worcester, Massachusetts)
This was, by far, the scariest show of the weekend. They took down the barrier in front of the stage. I'm also not sure if you've ever been to a hardcore show, but the crowd is basically just a full-on brawl and it's not even fun. Let's get into it.
SeeYouSpaceCowboy...
This is one of the bands on the lineup that I vaguely knew. They played eight songs over a course of about 25 minutes. They were actually very good. Vocals were on point. Instruments sounded great. Everything was put together well. They're known as a "MySpace revival band," one of the bands that is bringing back the aggressive screamo of 2006, blending it with complex metalcore and mathcore songwriting, and giving heir own spin on the sound. Seeing them play their material live was definitely interesting. My favorite part of their set was when they played '911 Call; "Help I've Overdosed on Philosophy!"' I would definitely see them again.
Candy
This band was one of the ones I didn't know at all, despite listening to all their material prior to the show. Their performance was decent, but there was nothing that stood out to me. The vocalist had pretty good energy, and he had THAT gritty voice you'll find in a lot of hardcore bands that have been cropping up recently. They seemed to just flow from song to song, not really talking in between. They were probably aware of their short 25 minute set time, so they wanted to use as much of that time as possible to play their music. They did good, but I wouldn't go out of my way to see them again.
On Broken Wings
This band sucks. Straight up. The vocalist sounded dehydrated and he looked like he didn't want to be there. I couldn't understand a damn word he sang. He was so bad to the point where I, my brother, and our friend were all laughing All of their songs sounded exactly the same. The crowd was terrible for them. To add onto this, they're actually a band that's broken up, but they play shows every so often, still. They were added about a week before the show, and they only played this show of the tour. They were terrible, but I appreciated the laugh.
Rotting Out
This band was decent, though I also didn't know them. They had great stage energy, especially the vocalist. His vocals reminded me of the sounds a chicken would make if he had a gummy worm stuck in his throat. The instruments were definitely bangin', though. They gave me a 90s hardcore punk vibe, too. This is when the crowd started to get a little more into the music. Not sure I would see them again, but I'm glad I got to see them once.
Stick To Your Guns
I know this band! I actually own a maroon crew-neck sweatshirt from them, and I like to wear it a lot. It's probably ruining the print on the shirt, but whatever. Anyway, their performance was super sick. They played around 10 songs. I knew a good portion of them, one of those songs being 'Amber.' The vocalist called for stage diving during that song, so I went up and did a stage dive. Getting up on that stage that I've seen so many bands on before was weird, even though I was only on it for a little bit (for now). This band went hard, though. Incredibly tight performance, as usual. I could do without the short political speech the vocalist usually gives at shows, but other than that, I recommend seeing them.
Knocked Loose
This show was my 7th time seeing the boys in Knocked Loose. They're one of my favorite bands. Their first full-length album 'Laugh Tracks' is one of my favorite albums of all time. They just released their second full-length album 'A Different Shade of Blue' in September, calling for a tour to follow up its release. They played 10 of 12 songs from that album, plus about five from 'Laugh Tracks,' then just one from their 2014 EP 'Pop Culture.' They also played a song called 'Intro,' which is not a recorded song they have, and it was not played first. They actually opened with my favorite song from the new album, 'Trapped in the Grasp of a Memory.'
As soon as they started playing, the floor erupted. Everyone was losing their mind. It was a very violent set throughout. I somehow got to the front, and I was right up against the stage, front and center, for a few minutes. That was starting to hurt my neck, with all the stage divers, so I decided to stage dive and hopefully go back a little bit. I got pushed back right to the stage, so I just stayed there. It was all good. I was so tired from the last two days (and I was sick), so I kinda just chilled there. I was going nuts banging my head and screaming the words, though.
At one point, I did get a mic grab and screamed a couple words into the mic, and that made me feel powerful. I want to do that again. Unfortunately, I didn't know the words to the new songs all too much, but I did my best. I still had a good time, and I would love to see Knocked Loose again. They have my full support. Great group of guys making great music. I did find out after the show that I had a photographer take a picture with me right in the center. Very exciting!
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| Me in front of the stage, pointing at vocalist Bryan Garris |
Thank you all for reading! It's been a lot of typing across the three semi-consecutive blog posts, but I've been meaning to get them done. Until next time! No concerts until the 23rd, so maybe a different type of post in the near future.
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