Sat Aug 20th - August Burns Red performed at Milwaukee's famous (or infamous) The Rave / Eagles Ballroom on Saturday night as part of their "Through The Thorns" tour. Support for this tour would feature two Michigan-based bands, We Came As Romans and Hollow Front, as well as the first ever US appearance of Australian band Void Of Vision, a band I've been dying to see live. The Rave / Eagles Ballroom is a massive venue with six stages, yes, six stages, and can accommodate between 400 and 4,000 guests depending on the stage. Oh, and it's haunted. Hence the infamous mention. It has a long history of mysterious sights and sounds throughout the 180,000 square foot venue, particularly in the basement, which has an old abandoned swimming pool responsible for multiple fatalities, that is the most active with paranormal activity, and where most bands will go autograph the pool wall on their tour of the venue. The crowd would start out small, but by the time the first band took the stage, the venue was filling up nicely and would continue to grow as the night progressed.
Void Of Vision would get the show started. Making their way to the US all the way from Melbourne, Australia, this would be the band's first tour across the country, and arguably with one of the best headliners to do so with. Their first trip to the United States was not without incident however, as they were unfortunately unable to attend the first three nights of the tour due to visa issues. After discovering the band for the first time earlier this year when I came across their track "Gothika," I knew I had to see them when they were in the area. I can confidently say that I was not disappointed. The band would take the stage shouting at the audience, followed by vocalist Jack Bergin walking out wearing old school pilot glasses and a leather jacket. Jack has an impressive vocal style, with a distinct rasp and power that transfers well from studio to live performance. The band proved they came to energize the crowd, kicking off the night with an electric performance of "Into The Dark" and continuing with "Vampyr" and "Year of the Rat." Stage presence is no issue for this band as they used all of the stage and their energy to play to the crowd. Fog machines and very dim red lighting gave the performance a horror movie-esque vibe. The band would fill out their 6 song set with "Dominatrix", "Ghost in the Machine" and a performance of "The Lonely People", where Jack absolutely went off with some acapella screams followed by a massive breakdown to close out the set.
Following up the strong performance would be Hollow Front, a metalcore band from Grand Rapids, Michigan, that appears to be finally getting the recognition I believe they deserve by being placed on tours such as this one as well as the Fit For A King-headlined Dark Path tour. The band was in peak form, sounding flawless on all fronts, beginning their set with "Comatose" and continuing with "Heritage" and "Treading Water." I first discovered the band in 2018 when I heard their song "Backbone" and fell in love with them while diving further into their discography. I couldn't believe they didn't have a larger following despite having an entire catalog of incredible songs, so it's great to see the band now being added to these big name tour packages. I've seen the band twice this year and each time they sounded fantastic, with my only complaint being that they haven't yet played any of my favorite songs (lol). "Self-Sabotage," "Changeling," and "The Price Of Dreaming" would round out their six-song set.
We Came As Romans would be the next band to represent the great state of Michigan. The Troy, Michigan-based band, which was founded in 2005, is still a force in metalcore despite the terrible passing of vocalist Kyle Pavone in 2018. Once the band took the stage the crowd was fully involved as they jumped and chanted along to the fast-paced, fiery title track from their new album, Darkbloom, which is slated to be released on October 14. They kept the energy high, launching into "Wasted Age," a 2015 single, and then straight into "Daggers," a more recent song added to their extensive discography. During "Daggers," frontman Dave Stephens stepped on the barricade and onto the audience, being propped upright by the crazed fans below as he belted out some screams before falling back and being hauled out by security. They went on to play "Plagued," "Hope," "Tracing Back Roots," and one of my personal favorites, "Cold Like War." This is a band I have followed since the beginning of their career, when they would come to Chicagoland and play small local bar venues, and it has been a treat to see the band's growth and explosion in popularity over the years, as well as their ability to work through tragedy and continue to put forth a product I believe Kyle would be proud of. They'd close out their set with "Carry The Weight," "Learning To Survive," "Lost In The Moment," and "Black Hole."
The evening's main attraction was none other than metalcore kings August Burns Red. This is one of those bands that, if you're a fan, you must attend a show whenever they come to town. Simply put, these guys are the gold standard for live metalcore performances. From smoke cannons to laser beams to their absolutely electric stage presence, they are without a doubt one of my favorite bands to see live. They began their set by walking out on stage in the middle of System Of A Down's classic "Chop Suey," before taking over and cutting right into their own cover of the song they released on December 15th, 2020, which set the crowd off, with crowd surfing and mosh pits erupting. They wasted no time in melting faces with one of their newest heaters "Vengeance" and a personal favorite "Paramount" from their previous album "Guardians." ABR is one of those bands that you can always count on to give their all. Jake, like the rest of the band, was completely drenched in sweat by the fourth song. They continued their assault on the crowd with "Invisible Enemy", "Beauty In Tragedy", "Back Burner", and "Dismembered Memory". Every song seemed to fire the crowd up more and more, with the aid of smoke cannons blasting in sync with the breakdowns contributing to the ambiance of pits exploding and bodies surfing across the crowd to the stage as lights and lasers danced around the venue and the iconic giant illuminated flaming "U" logo sitting behind drummer Matt Griner. The set would continue with "Ties That Bind" before Jake challenged the audience to send as many crowd surfers as possible to the front during "Bloodletter," which the audience did not disappoint. The lengthy (but welcome) 16-song set would be rounded out with "Ghosts", "Meddler", "Defender" & "Composure" before capping things off with a triple encore of "Kings Of Sorrow", "Mariana's Trench" & "White Washed".
With only a few dates remaining on this US tour, I would urge any fan of these bands to act quickly and purchase tickets if they are performing in your area. Void Of Vision will take a break after the tour to finish their current album. They had planned an EU/UK tour, but decided to cancel it in order to devote their full attention to finishing the album. Hollow Front doesn't appear to have anything on the horizon and will most likely take some time off after back-to-back tours. We Came As Romans will not be resting as they have recently been added to the third leg of the Trinity of Terror tour with Black Veil Brides, Motionless In White, and Ice Nine Kills, so make sure to check those dates! (Milwaukee you're up Sept. 13th!) After all these years, August Burns Red remains at the top of the metalcore food chain and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Having recently re-released their classics "Composure" and "White Washed," I'm excited to see what the band has in store for a 10th studio album in the future, as well as getting the chance to catch them the next time around, which I will not miss, and neither should you!
- Nick B.
*Updated Periodically
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