Shred Till You're Dead and Episode III Tours

My first post in a few months brings you a review of my last two concert experiences and highlights some lesser-known hard rock bands.  Last night I went to Starland Ballroom to see Falling in Reverse, Ice Nine Kills, and From Ashes to New.  I had heard each of these bands on SiriusXM's Octane channel, but I didn't think FIR was big enough to headline.  I may have been mistaken as the show was nearly sold out and the venue was more packed than I have seen for a rock show in quite some time.  On April 13, I saw another show with a headliner I was less familiar with; the lineup included Alesana, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Veer Union, Avoid, Alive in Barcelona, and Cinema 23 all for $20 at One Center Square in Easton, Pa.

May 3 @ Starland
Some online sources said 7PM start and my ticket said 6PM, but since Starland doesn't always start on time and I was exhausted from the week, I decided to take a little nap before the show and ended up getting there just after 7.  Even though the show had started, it still took a few minutes to go through the line.  Ever since they started having people empty pockets and go through metal detectors, the check in process is so slow.  Unfortunately, I entered the venue right when the screen was coming down signaling the end of the set for New Year's Day.  I would have liked to see a little from them.  It was then I discovered that the beer prices have gone up again.  One $8 Guinness is all that I would have.  I'm not off to a great start.

From Ashes to New started with just drums and a rapper.  The beat was pretty hard and the rap had a good flow.  Then they were joined by a guitarist and another vocalist and the music started to rock.  The other vocalist, a blonde guy, stuck to "clean" singing.  The dark haired singer stuck to rap-style singing.  In that way they reminded me of Mike and Chester from Linkin Park.  Unfortunately, that's where the comparison ends.  They lacked the dynamic songwriting and raw emotion of Linkin Park.  They had good energy and the stage lighting was like that of a veteran band.  However, they came off a little hokey using every gimmick in the book including hand waving, asking for phones to be lit up, and even asking the crowd to get low and then jump up.  Pretty much everyone on the floor obliged, but I didn't think that the songs warranted that level of crowd participation.  I wanted to like them, and although they have talent and the stage presence was good, the songs didn't rock hard enough for me.  The drummer sometimes used an electronic drum pad, and when he did, the sound fell flat.  It added nothing.  He sounded good on the kit so I don't understand what the drum pad was necessary.  If I were giving them advice, I'd say lose the drum pad and add a bass player and maybe another guitar player.

Ice Nine Kills was up next.  They are heavily inspired by horror movies, so when the stage crew wore masks, a mic stand got a red "It" balloon, and the lead singer came out in a Freddy Krueger outfit I was thinking, now we're gonna see some stuff!  The band did not disappoint.  They had even better energy and musicianship than the previous band.  In fact, I was especially impressed with the strength of the backup and lead vocals.  The lead singer, Spencer Charnas, has a polished singing voice and great growls and screams mixed in.  Each of the guitar players also contribute vocals which lend harmonies or provide additional dynamics to the melodies.  Crowd surfers were pretty constant, including some females and children.  At various points Spencer wielded a broad sword and an ax.  When he was held up by the crowd I got the picture below which reminded me of a similar shot I took of Davey Havok (AFI) nearly two years prior.  This band could get big.  I'll have to check out some of their previous releases.  I suggest you start with their current album, the Silver Scream.  Standout tracks for me were "American Nightmare" and "A Grave Mistake."

An interlude which included somebody passing out and multiple guys getting kicked out for fighting reminded me of my early days of concert going.  Most of the crowd seemed cool and I liked that the people in the pit would hold up lost shoes, phones, and keys to help them find their rightful owners.  It felt like the venue switched from heat to air conditioning which was necessary due to the heat being released from all the bodies and equipment.  Finally, the closers Falling In Reverse came out.  Though I didn't know them well, a bunch of people in the crowd were singing along to songs like "I'm Not a Vampire" and "Bad Girls Club," including a bunch of female fans.  Lead singer, Ronnie Radke, was formerly the singer of Escape the Fate who, incidentally, I didn't learn of until after Ronnie was fired and they released their 2010 self titled album.  Falling in Reverse is not as hardcore.  Their songs are diverse and cover genres of rock, pop-punk, screamo, post-hardcore, hip-hop and electronica.  In fact, their latest single "Drugs" has several of these elements in one song.  Corey Taylor also contributes guest vocals on the album track and appears in the video.  The numerous lineup changes are likely part of the reason for the range of sounds, but it also appears that the driving force is Ronnie not wanting to be nailed down by any genre and just letting his artistry come out in various ways.  Last night he said that it meant a lot to him that the crowd was responding to the new band, and admitted he is doing different music and is a different person than he was in the past.  I enjoyed Ice Nine Kills' set better and I don't think Falling in Reverse will ever be one of my favorite bands, however, I think they are entertaining and are a legit player in today's evolving rock scene.

April 13 @ One Center Square
This was an early birthday present for my sister and the second time we both went to this venue in Bethlehem, PA.  It is a nice intimate venue with general admission standing.  There's kind of a rectangle shape floor space in front of the stage, going back to a raised level with a bar in the back, and then a second floor with a balcony and chain-link fence area where you can look down on the stage.  The upstairs is also where they host merchandise tables.  It is nice because each band is able to be spread out and lines are never an issue.  The downsides are that both times we went to One Center Square the floor was sticky from the opening act, and this time the sound man had issues that would be a recurring problem this night.

The first band up called themselves Cinema 23.  I got the impression that they were a local opener, but I can't confirm this since I can't find anything about them online.  They were a pop-punk band with two singers and two guitarists.  It was not a bad way to start, but they weren't anything special.  A couple of microphones were feeding back, especially inbetween songs.  This would be the beginning of the sound issues.  The second band was Alive in Barcelona.  They're from Spokane, WA and are more straight up rock.  I thought they were good.  They're pretty polished and tight.  The drummer's talent stood out to me, especially on a track called "Back to Life."  Their current single "Zombies" is pretty cool, but I think what they are lacking is raw emotion.  I hope they continue to get bigger and work on the songwriting and connecting with the audience.

The crowd was filling up and it looked mostly like college aged kids.  There were pretty much representatives from every "scene."  There was the emo kids, the nerds, the frat boys, the grunge kids, the ones with excessive tattoos and piercings, and a girl in a wheelchair.  Everyone had come out to play.  The next band, Avoid, definitely had the emotion that the previous band lacked.  They were also more hardcore, with heavier bass & guitars and screaming vocals.  They weren't bad, but it became comical when lead singer, Benny Scholls, kept yelling "let's open this shit up" when there were literally only two people slam dancing.  Shout out to the Asian dude with the long, silky locks.

Next up was one of the main bands I wanted to see, Veer Union.  I had previously seen them at Stanhope House where they rocked hard.  They were also great guys that signed all my merch.  They were having some issues with the sound monitors that delayed the start of the set.  Lead singer, Crispin Earl, said that their day had not been going well.  Earlier, they were stopped at a rest stop when a tractor trailer backed into their parked RV.  Thankfully nobody got hurt.  After the first song, which sounded pretty good, the guitars lost power.  Crispin filled time by asking if it was anyone's birthday and then we sang Happy Birthday, to some guy.  That's being a pro onstage and making the best out of the situation.  Once sound was restored they were able to play a few more songs in an abbreviated set.  They closed with a medley of Linkin Park songs, in dedication to Chester.  The crowd was into it and singing along so it was a cool moment.  An acoustic version of "Numb" can be found on the band's 2018 Decade II: Rock & Acoustic album.  After the set I went upstairs to the merch booth to buy a shirt, which for $40 also came with two discs and a poster.  I also got pictures with Crispin and drummer Ricardo, which was something I neglected to do in my excitement the first time I saw them.

Fifth up was Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, another band that I made the trip to see.  This was my third time seeing RJA.  The first was at a festival where their sound was crap and speakers kept going out.  Last time was at Stanhope House where they played their entire Don't You Fake It album for the 10 year anniversary.  That was spectacular.  This time they were also great and I got to hear a varied set list with some old and newer songs.  I didn't think the singer, Ronnie Winter, was on his best game, but he wasn't bad either.  The band sounded tight and I was especially impressed with the lead guitar work of Josh Burke.  He doesn't have a lot of solo opportunities in the songs of RJA, but when he does have his chance, he really shreds.  It sounded like he was doing some ad-libbing too.

The headliners were Alesana.  I didn't know much about them going int except that they were kind of post-hardcore hard rock.  They had a pretty rocking sound and the crowd was into it.  The singer mostly screamed, and while I don't mind that sometimes, I don't like when you can't understand the lyrics.  Furthermore, after a while all the songs sounded the same.  Not a bad band, but my sister and I didn't make it to the last song.  All in all, it was a worthwhile trip and a fun time out.  I hope they can work on the sound system and keep bringing in national rock acts at that venue.