Welcome back boys!!! After a 5 year hiatus Blessthefall hit the road with a vengeance, with an anniversary tour celebrating their 4th studio album Hollow Bodies. Adding Caskets, Kingdom of Giants, and Dragged Under to complete a high energy lineup, this was one tour to be reckoned with. Outside the venue on a beautiful Saturday night you could just feel the anticipation for what would shape up to be a very exciting evening. Fans gathered outside the sold out House of Blues with the line stretching around the block. Many dressed in old school Blessthefall merch, and pumped to see the boys do their thing.
Courtesy of House of Blues
Dragged Unders’ punk rock/metalcore vibe has a way of taking control of crowds when they play. With influences such as Sum 41, The Offspring, and Rise Against, you can definitely see why they want to uphold their high energy vibe. As the fans packed the floor, Dragged Under took the stage with their opening song “Instability”, and took control of the crowd instantly. Lead singer Tony Cappocchi paced the stage during the second song “Suffer” looking for crowd surfers. He got what he asked for from the crowd, a huge wave of surfers hit the barricade like waves crashing on the rocks. The guys definitely set the tone, and got the crowd warmed up for the rest of the line up. The rest set included great songs such as, “Brainwashed Broadcast”, “Upright Animals”, “Chelsea”, and “Hypochondria”.
Kingdom of Giants hit the stage next and injected a lethal dose of adrenaline. Lead singer Dana Willax hit the stage like a ball of fire. Opening the set with “Burner”, it was time to take the crowd to the level of energy. The “pits” opened up in the center of the floor, crowd surfers surged to the stage during “Two Suns”. Wave after wave of crowd surfers overwhelmed venue security during the song. Dana was a man possessed during this set, from one side of the stage to the other. The crowd followed suit and gave all their energy back to Kingdom of Giants. Their set included old and new songs which included “Night Shift”, “Wasted Space”, “Sync”, “Bleach”, and “Wayfinder”.
After a short break, the boys from Leeds, Caskets took over the stage. Caskets sport a melodic, synth-heavy sound combining elements of post-hardcore and emo with a poppy edge. Frontman Matt Flood brings his vocal talent to the forefront of the bands sound, with distinctive clean live vocals which sets this band apart from their peers. Opening the set with “Guiding Light” off their recently released album “ Reflections “, Matt put his vocals on display for the fans. The emotionally charged set that was performed by the band captivated the audience to the point that even on their slower songs, the amount of crowd surfers was still intense. Caskets definitely knows how to connect with their fans and bring in the new ones too. Caskets played an beautiful 9 song set which included some songs from their new album. Matt made his way off the stage to the barricade during “More than Misery “, which triggered one of the most epic sing alongs for the set. Songs on this set were “Hold Me Now” , “Drowned in Emotion “ , “ More then Misery”, “Too Late”, “ The Only Ones”, “Lost in Echoes”, “Falling Apart “, and “Glass Heart”.
Up next was Arizona’s BLESSTHEFALL. Being on a 5 year hiatus, definitely didn’t slow this band down. Celebrating the 10 year anniversary of their 4th studio album “Hollow Bodies”, the band brought to the stage a whole different vibe. You could just feel the energy in the house change as soon as they took the stage. Opening up with “Exodus”, front man Beau Bokan and the rest of the band took the stage and pushed the crowd to the next level. Following next was “You Wear a Crown But You’re No King”, Beau took this one to the crowd on the barricade. With an epic sing along with the fans on the rail, fans got their chance to be up close and personal with their favorite front man. This was a set filled with numerous visits from the singer to the fans on the barricade, up close and personal visits from crowd surfers to the stage, and non stop mosh pits from the beginning of the set. The set carried in for 16 songs, with a 5 song encore including their newest release in almost 5 years, “Wake the Dead”. This song was definitely a show of “We’re still here, and we still got it.” vibe. The first half of the set was all songs from the “Hollow Bodies” album. Songs for the set were “Hollow Bodies”, “Déjà Vu”, “Buried in These Walls”, “See You on the Outside”, “Youngbloods”, “Standing on the Ashes”, “Carry On”, “ The Sound of Starting Over”, “Open Water”, “Cutthroat”, “2.0”, “What’s Left of Me”, and “Hey Babe, Here’s that Song You Wanted”. This was definitely one of those shows giving a statement of “Even though we’ve been gone 5 years, we can come back and still kick your ass”. We’d like to express our gratitude to the bands for letting us shoot and the House of Blues for being a gracious host. If you have not got your tickets for this tour, you need to soon, there’s not many dates left.
Review & Photography By: Jim Helmecy Jr.
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