Saturday, January 26, 2013

Fight The Silence Tour: For Today, Memphis May Fire, The Word Alive, Upon A Burning Body, and Gideon Birmingham, AL 1/25/13

It seems like every time For Today comes to Birmingham, I can never go. That was almost the case this time. For Today announced tour dates for the Fight The Silence Tour with Memphis May Fire, The Word Alive, Upon A Burning Body, and Gideon. The first stop on the tour? Birmingham, Alabama. I was so excited because I have always wanted to see For Today and Memphis May Fire because I missed both of them at Warped Tour. Then, my heart dropped. The Birmingham date was the day after Underoath’s farewell tour in Atlanta. From my house to Atlanta is a long four hour drive and I knew I would not get home until late and I would have school and work the next day before driving another two hours back to Birmingham. So I did the logical thing. I bought my ticket and left after work on that Friday. Since I left after work, I missed the local band, Meadows, and Gideon. But that is ok. I met Gideon afterwards and bought one of their shirts. When I got to the show, Upon A Burning Body was about to start. They were just ok. When they were over, I walked around the venue, which was a church gym, and found two of my friends. I talked to them for a little while and walked around the venue. The Word Alive was next. They were just ok too. I had seen them before and they were just ok. The next band was Memphis May Fire. I was so excited to see them. Matty Mullins is a really big inspiration of mine, and others as well. Their fans were awesome and that made me happy. The played
Without Walls
Alive In The Lights
The Sinner
Legacy
Vices
Losing Sight (First time they played this song, according to Matty)
The Victim
Red In Tooth & Claw
Prove Me Right

I really hope they will tour here again soon because I totally want to go see them again. After them, it was time for For Today. I was pretty stoked because I found a place on the side of the stage that I could stand and see and be away from the pit. They played
Fearless
Under God
Seraphim
Advocate
White Flag (My favorite song!!!)
Arm The Masses
Saul of Taursus (The Messenger)
Crown of Thorns
Foundation

For Today is good example of a Christian screamo band because all of their songs have to do with God and they are not afraid to show how they feel about Him or His Son, Jesus. If you are or are not religious, you should still respect the fact that they stand up for what they believe in and do not care if you listen to them or not. I would definitely go see them again. 


























Friday, January 25, 2013

Underoath Farewell Tour Atlanta with Let.Live., The Chariot, and mewithoutyou 1/24/13

When I first heard that Underoath was breaking up, I thought someone had started a rumor and was playing a practical joke to get attention. But when the band released the official statement regarding the break-up, my heart sank. At that moment I vowed to myself that no matter how far or what the cost, I was going to see Underoath one last time. I had only seen them once at Warped Tour 2009 when Aaron was still in the band. They released several dates and I saw Atlanta, which was feasible. Unfortunately, I waited too late to buy my tickets and they were sold out before I could get them. My heart was broken. I went to ticket scalper websites but the prices they were asking did not go over well with my mom, who would be paying for the tickets. I hoped and prayed that someway, somehow, a miracle would happen. It did. Since the Atlanta show sold out so fast, they added a second one, the only show on the tour to get a two-night date. My mom immediately bought me tickets to the second show for Christmas and all I could do was cry. I thanked my mom profusely because all I wanted for Christmas was to see Underoath one last time. When the day came, I was so excited, yet sad at the same time. It was another show to go to, but it would be the last time I would ever hear Underoath together as a band. On the day of the show, I checked out of school and my friend, Jessie and I, were off to Atlanta, which is at least 4 hours away from where I live. We got there about 2 hours before the doors opened and it was really cold. While we were waiting in line, we saw several members of The Chariot walk by and we saw Spencer Chamberlain from Underoath go upstairs. That was just the start to the craziness that would happen later in the night. When the doors opened, everyone rushed upstairs and ran for the front. I ended up by a speaker stack and I could actually see. I sat on that speaker stack the whole night. I could see everything and that is a rare occasion, since I am only 5 ft. tall. The first band of the night was Let Live. I had heard of them before, but I had never heard any of their music. All I can say about them is Wow. The energy that their singer had was phenomenal. He ran around like a monkey being freed from the zoo, jumped off of everything he could stand on, and crowd surfed. At one point during the show he started playing a song that was about his dad and I think he started crying because he dropped his mic and put his hands on his face for a while. But when it was time for the next song, he was back to his normal monkey-like self. During their last song, he even knocked over an amplifier and proceeded to kick it around the stage until their set was over. The next band was The Chariot. I had seen them once before and they were crazy. The second time was no different. To make it even crazier, it was a hometown show. I do not think I have ever seen that many people fly through the air at one time. During their first song, the entire crowd surged and went insane. I almost fell off of the speakers several times because people were jumping over me and bumping me. At the end of their set, their guitar player jumped into the crowd and their singer jumped out into the crowd with a drum and proceeded to hang from the ceiling and fall into the crowd. They were insane. The band after them was called mewithoutyou. During their sound-check, their tech guy said “Go Phillies!” The response was less than stellar. Mewithoutyou has been around for a while. They were oddly misplaced at this show. Their sound was similar to that of Scarlet Grey, Mumford and Sons, and Nine Inch Nails. They were a completely different genre than the other bands, but they still had many fans. It was finally time for Underoath. When they started, my heart was so heavy with emotions that I could barely sing. They opened with Breathing In A New Mentality. The energy that was given off from that crowd was something I have only seen at a few shows. You would have had to be there to truly understand every emotion that was going on in that room. The second song was It’s Dangerous Business Just Walking Out Your Front Door. The entire crowd lost it. That one song was probably one of the best concert moments that has ever happened in history. Everyone in the venue knew it and screamed every word. I even saw several people cry and that made me want to cry. It is so hard to put emotions into words because that one moment was one of the most beautiful experiences that I have been apart of. Throughout the night, they played
In Division
In Regards To Myself
Unsound (New song and one of my favorite songs by them)
Illuminator
Driftwood
Emergency Broadcast: The End Is Near
Young And Aspiring
Paper Lung
Moving For The Sake Of Motion
Who Will Guard The Guardians
Reinventing Your Exit (Spencer told us how they had not played this song since 2004 because they really did not like it but it was not about them, it was about us. And this is another one of my favorite songs!!!)
Everyone Looks So Good From Here
Casting Such A Thin Shadow
A Boy Brushed Red Living In Black And White
Writing On The Walls

By the time the night was over, I had been kicked in the head three different times, I had been punched in the face, I had been kicked in the neck by two different guys trying to jump off of the speakers behind me, and I had my foot turned in on itself because I sat were the washed up crowd surfers were being pulled out by security. If I had to do it over again, I would not change anything about that day. RIP Underoath. You will be greatly missed