Massachusetts metal fans had several reasons to be thankful this Thanksgiving weekend as metalcore titans August Burns Red brought their first headlining tour for their recently-released record Found in Far Away Places to the Palladium in Worcester on Saturday night. W
Wage War: I arrived late and missed their set. Based on word of-mouth from the crowd, they apparently went over pretty well.
Polyphia: When this tour got announced in late August, I had no clue who Polyphia was. After doing a bit of research around my go-to music review sites, I read a ton of insanely positive things about this young instrumental group. Despite the fact that I read all of these glowing reviews of their music, I never actually took the time to check out their stuff before the show. After seeing them perform, I officially hate myself for not taking the time to listen to any of their work in the months leading up to the show. Polyphia is without doubt one of the most interesting, talented and badass instrumental groups I've ever heard. Their ability to write wildly technical compositions without delving into empty wankery reminded me a lot of fellow Texas prog metal instrumental act Scale the Summit. While their technical chops were certainly impressive, it was the soaring melodies and catchy riffs that really sold me on these guys. There's a solid number of instrumental bands in the scene right now that are more concerned with displaying their virtuoso musicianship than writing fully fleshed-out songs, so it's great to see a band with the songwriting chops to write dense songs that aren't just an empty excuse to play as fast as humanly possible. Based on what I saw at this show, I believe Polyphia is going to have a bright future in this scene and I really hope that touring with one of the most popular acts in modern metal will get them a lot of new fans.
Stick to Your Guns: It's something that I've said more times than I can remember, but Stick to Your Guns is one of the strongest examples of a band whose music was designed to be heard in a live setting. Their fast, breakdown-filled songs make their shows relentlessly energetic and fun as all hell. While the music itself is naturally chaotic, their live show wouldn't be nearly as crazy it is without the fiery presence of vocalist Jesse Barnett. Barnett brings a level of intensity and passion to the stage that hasn't been seen since the hardcore genre's heyday in the late 80's and early 90's. While their studio material rarely rises above decent, Stick to Your Guns is a special live act that is an absolute must-see for any diehard metal/hardcore fan.
Every Time I Die: Even with vocalist Keith Buckley in a visibly intoxicated state, Every Time I Die still managed to deliver one hell of a performance. This marked the fifth time I've seen these guys live and they never fail to blow me away. Every time they take the stage, they are a wrecking ball of destruction and they're never less than invigorating to watch. Their setlist lacked any real surprises, but still featured a nice mix of material that spanned across their entire discography and did a good job of displaying what the band is all about to the audience members who weren't familiar with their music. What did shock me about their set was how well they were received by the crowd. I was fully expecting them to get a lukewarm reception akin to what they got the first couple of times I saw them on Warped Tour from August Burns Red's predominantly young fanbase, but people were going absolutely insane for them. The pits covered about 90% of the floor and the volume of crowdsurfers was so large that it didn't stop between songs. In short, Every Time I Die slays live and you should probably go see them if they come to your city.
August Burns Red: Like Every Time I Die, August Burns Red is one of the most consistent live acts in metal and this show was no exception. Just like with their studio material, they continue to push themselves as performers and make noticeable strides as a live act with each tour they go on. While they were still excellent, their show did not get off to the smoothest of starts. The first third of their set was almost exclusively made of songs up that are amongst the weakest in their entire catalog ("Provision", "Meddler", "Beauty in Tragedy", "Salt & Light"). There was nothing objectively wrong with this stretch of the set as they played everything flawlessly, it was just disappointing to see them come out and play so many average songs in a row to start off the set. Thankfully, the song selection following "Beauty in Tragedy" was pretty much flawless and more than made up for any of the issues with the early part of the set. The material from their phenomenal new record Found in Far Away Places ("Identity", "Majoring in the Minors", "Ghosts") sounds even better live and older crowd-favorites "White Washed", "Empire" and "Composure" were great as always. August Burns Red is a band that I will never grow tired of seeing live and I hope they return to Massachusetts on the second leg of their headlining tour for Found in Far Away Places.
Scores:
Polyphia 8/10
Stick to Your Guns 8/10
Every Time I Die 9/10
August Burns Red 9/10
Setlists:
Polyphia:
Champagne
87
Impassion
Transcend
Finale
Every Time I Die:
Moor
Floater
Typical Miracle
Thirst
Decayin' With the Boys
We'rewolf
Ebolarama
The New Black
Roman Holiday
The Marvelous Slut
Idiot
No Son of Mine
Underwater Bimbos from Outer Space
Bored Stiff
August Burns Red:
Martyr
Provision
Back Burner
Meddler
Salt & Light
Beauty in Tragedy
Spirit Breaker
Identity
Carol of the Bells
Composure
Majoring in the Minors
Empire
Ghosts
White Washed
Encore:
Frosty the Snowman
Fault Line
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