Sun Feb 26th - After recently serving as a supporting act on the I Prevail True Power US Tour, Metalcore masters Fit For A King are now embarking on their own headliner, "The Hell We Create Tour," with support from fellow Metalcore genre mates Northlane, Alpha Wolf & Kingdom of Giants. The tour found its way to Chicago's House of Blues Sunday night after having to reschedule a few shows earlier this week due to the severe ice storm that ravaged portions of the US. The venue was established in 1996 and is close to Navy Pier in downtown Chicago along the Chicago River. Since then, it has hosted a wide range of celebrities, including Buddy Guy, B.B. King, The Rolling Stones, and Prince, among many others. The location has a striking appearance, with bright blue external lights and Gothic-style construction that makes it appear smaller than it actually is from the outside. Inside, The House of Blues Chicago features a modestly sized main stage, standing room only, as well as a number of bars and smaller performance spaces tucked away around the maze-like interior. Working your way through the crowd at sold-out events in the 1,800 capacity venue, like this one, can range from very challenging to near-impossible at times. Folk art, blues memorabilia, and religious iconography are just a few examples of the Southern American history and culture-inspired décor that can be seen throughout the entire venue. On the right night, it's a fantastic venue to see a show in the city. Unfortunately, without any of the bands' fault, tonight was not one of those nights for exuberant crowd surf enthusiasts and scene photographers alike. Throughout the years of attending and covering performances, the security personnel last evening was among the worst I've ever encountered. They decided to take it upon themselves to prohibit photography until the headliner, so I had to improvise. As a result, you'll notice that my photos are different from usual. Security also largely hindered the energy of the crowd throughout the night by being unnecessarily hostile with supporters who crowd surfed across the barricade, even threatening to eject anyone they caught doing so multiple times. Nonetheless, Chicago showed up prepared to battle and support all these brilliant musicians.
Courtesy of House of Blues Chicago
California natives Kingdom of Giants would be set to kick off the evening. This band was the very first I got the pleasure of photographing in 2019, and I instantly grew to love them. With the excellent combination of harsh screaming and clean singing, the band can expertly combine melodic Metalcore with elements of post-hardcore and djent. Their most recent album, "Passenger," which was released in 2020, quickly became one of my favorites, and in my opinion, there isn't a single bad track on the album. The band consists of vocalist Dana Willax, guitarists Stephen "Red The Shred" Martin, Max Bremmer & Julian Perez, drummer Truman Berlin, and bassist/vocalist Jonny Reeves. Reeves was not present on the night but I later learned via Reddit where someone shared a screenshot of one of his IG stories that unfortunately, after six years with the group, he had decided to leave the band (with no ill will toward either party). Justin Roebuck-Joseph would fill in for him tasked with the bass/supporting vocal duties, along with help from Red on the backing vocals as well. The band would start the show strong with the aptly named track "Burner" from the previously mentioned 2020 release, signaling to the audience to get ready for an evening of face-melting. They kept the intensity high by adding more tracks from the "Passenger" album including "Sync" and "Night Shift" before giving us a taste of new music with the unreleased track "Wasted Space," which had a promising sound despite Jonny Reeves' notably absent vocals. The band's brief six-song set would end with "Bleach" and "Wayfinder" before they left the stage to a warm ovation after expertly warming up the crowd. I am interested to see what the future has in store for the band after the recent lineup change and what direction they take with new material.
Alpha Wolf, the chaotic Metalcore five-piece from Australia, was scheduled to take the 2nd slot. The band has been making waves in the metalcore scene since the release of their debut album "Mono" in 2017. Over the years, the roster has changed several times, and the current members are vocalist Lochie Keogh, rhythm guitarist Sabian Lynch, lead guitarist Scottie Simpson, bassist/vocalist John Arnold, and drummer Mitch Fogarty. Starting off with "60cm of Steel" off their most recent release, "The Lost & The Longing," a split EP with Holding Absence, the Australian band brought the heat from down under, causing the crowd to instantly erupt into a frenzy with bodies flying everywhere. The band is masterful at getting the audience involved with Lochie consistently challenging the crowd to send more bodies over the barricades. Fans were more than happy to oblige until security would try to shut it down much to the dismay of the band as they continued to encourage fans to crowd surf and make security "fucking work for it" as Lochie so eloquently phrased it. The set went on at a fast clip as they played "Creep," "Hotel Underground," and "Acid Romance" before "Sub-Zero" raised the temperature of the pit even higher. I've seen the band several times now, and each time they seem to have more energy than the previous performance, keeping them near the top pf my list of bands that I think everyone who enjoys the bands material or a just a good performance in general, should check out. The subsequent two songs of the eight-song set, "Bleed 4 You" and "Black Mamba," would be followed by one of their most well-known songs, "Akudama," which would be accompanied by Alpha Wolf beach balls tossed from the stage by the band while they danced along the top of the audience who were giving the band all they had one last time.
Northlane, another Australian native band, would be next up to captivate the crowd, and that they did. Since releasing "Discoveries," their debut album, in 2011, the band has established a name for themselves and become a scene favorite, gaining a sizable fan base. The band has experienced some lineup changes over the years, with the most recent being the loss of lead vocalist Adrian Fitipaldes in 2014. The remaining members of the band, including lead guitarist Jon Deiley, rhythm guitarist Josh Smith, and drummer Nic Pettersen, have remained largely constant and since 2014 have been fronted by vocalist Marcus Bridge. The bands opening song would be "Clarity" from the newest album, "Obsidian," released in 2022. The band had originally planned for a headline tours across the US after the album's release last year, but they were forced to abandon those plans because of the headaches and hoops for the current travel visa process for international performers. The band would have no trouble matching the intensity of those who came before them and continued the attack on the audience while being shrouded in ambient stage lighting with strobes and some of the coolest spotlight designs shown throughout the stage floor. Fan favorites were riddled throughout the set, which also included the songs "Plenty," "Echo Chamber," "4D," and "Carbonized," while the crowd was engaged and singing along the entire time. Reaching into their deep catalog of music, they would bust out "Quantum Flux" off the 2013 album "Singularity" which would be followed by "Clockwork & "Bloodline". The 10 song set would end with the pace kept high as they rounded out with the title track "Obsidian," before sending the crowd into one final frenzy as they ripped through a favorite of mine in "Talking Heads," sending bodies flying around the pit one last time.
After a short stage transition the time had come for the reason we would all be brought together tonight, Texas Metalcore masters Fit For A King. The band has established themselves over the years as a top prominent act in the Metalcore scene, competing with acts like August Burns Red, fellow genre alumni who are among bands that consistently prove they're here to stay and continuously release some of the best music while putting on some of the most elite live performances the genre has to offer year after year. The band is currently on tour in support of their brand-new seventh studio album, "The Hell We Create." Having a few lineup shifts themselves over the years, the current lineup is made up of vocalist Ryan Kirby, bassist Ryan "Tuck" O'Leary, guitarists Daniel Gailey & Bobby Lynge (no longer touring just assisting in the studio), and drummer Trey Celaya. The band entered the stage to a round of applause from the audience and launched into the set's opening number, "The Hell We Create," which seemed to fuel the already energized audience even futher. The bands sets are often fast-paced and furious with very little pause, and they do an amazing job putting on a performance. The group's popular single "End (The Other Side)" would come next, with "Falling Through The Sky" and "Times Like This" following. Tuck would jet around the stage as he performed his trademark aerial jumps, as is customary during a Fit For A King performance, jumping off pretty much everything that wasn't at ground level. The bassist is undoubtedly one of, if not the most, entertaining in the industry. From stage jumps and spinning his bass what seems like 100mph, to strolling around the venue engaging with the crowd walking along bar tops whilst still playing the set, and even going for a crowd surf, bass and all, he just knows how to get a crowd going. Match that with the intense shredding ability of Daniel Gailey, including some of the nastiest pinch harmonics (and who also has some hops of his own), the precise and powerful drumming of Trey Celaya then top it off with Ryan Kirby's 24sec scream ability, and you can be rest assured you're in for one of the best Metalcore performances you will witness. They would flashback briefly to the 2016 release "Deathgrip" by playing the title track itself and following it up with the fiery track "Vendetta" off the 2020 release "The Path," sending an already sweaty and chaotic pit into overdrive. They wouldn't let up on the intensity in the slightest, as they let the crowd know the madness had just begun as the heaviest part of the set coming would include "Reaper," "Eyes Roll Back" and "Backbreaker" (24sec scream included) pushing the crowd to their limits. Things would mellow out a touch with "Reaching Out," followed by Trey transitioning into a short drum solo while the others adjusted before they threw it back to 2013 with "Bitter End" off their album "Creation/Destruction," which is a personal favorite of mine. "The Price We Pay" and "What You Left Behind" would be labeled as the "last songs of the night", but the audience knew better and wouldn't let up demanding more until the band returned to the stage to a standing ovation to really close the set out with "When Everything Means Nothing" and one last pit inducing track of theirs, "God of Fire."
If this tour is stopping in your city and it is not already sold out, I STRONGLY advise you to purchase tickets and head to your local venue. You hopefully can still manage to buy a ticket since the tour is still in its early stages, but move quickly because there are many low ticket warnings on this one for the shows that are not already sold out. Fellow musicians themselves are even making the trip out to see the tour, as Pennsylvania native and Motionless In White's own lead singer Chris Motionless was in attendance tonight enjoying the show! A night of complete Metalcore bliss and top-notch performances is what fans can anticipate. So gather your concert crew and head out to mosh while supporting all these amazing bands!
- Nick B.
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