Friday, March 10, 2017

Concert Review: Every Time I Die-- Cambridge, MA-- March 9th, 2017

Lineup: Every Time Die/Knocked Loose/Harm's Way/Eternal Sleep
Venue: Middle East Downstairs, Cambridge, MA
Date: March 9th, 2017

Eternal Sleep: Eternal Sleep was the only band on this tour that I wasn't at all familiar with prior to the show and after their performance, I don't regret not checking them out in advance. They're just another standard-issue beatdown hardcore band for hxC kids to karate kick and flail around to.

Harm's Way: 100% of the things I heard about Harm's Way live shows were true. These dudes are straight-up musical violence in its purest form. Everything from the thunderous drumming to the silent intensity of frontman James Pligge helps establish a sinister atmosphere that ramps up the raw, relentless heaviness of their music to a devastating degree. Harm's Way will never be a band I listen to on a regular basis, but they're great performers who've mastered the difficult art of making truly crushing hardcore/powerviolence.

Knocked Loose: I don't understand the fascination with Knocked Loose. The small amount of studio material I've heard from this beloved up-and-coming hardcore band is full of the type of fake tough-guy posturing and corny "WAKE THE FUCK UP" breakdowns that has prevented me from ever getting seriously invested in the genre. While their breakdowns and energy work better in a live setting, Bryan Garris' hilariously bad vocals single-handily prevented their set from having its desired effect. It boggles my mind that a band that is trying so hard to be the Pink Floyd of crowdkilling hardcore bands has a vocalist with such a whiny delivery. The dude sounds like a cross between Remi Rodberg from Arsonists Get All the Girls and Mickey Mouse, and his screechy-ass voice makes Knocked Loose's "drink creatine shakes and hit your friend in the face with a 2x4" shtick that much more fraudulent. Knocked Loose's live show is completely fine and I completely understand why hxC bros have embraced them so quickly, but gimmick-driven bands like this will never not drive me insane.

Every Time I Die: When you've been in the music industry for over 20 years, the identity you've established in your early years can begin to waver. Every Time I Die is not one of those acts. Even as a majority of their members approach 40, Buffalo's angriest sons are still able to send audiences into a full-fledged frenzy every time they take the stage. Since this was the smallest venue I've ever seen them play in (the Middle East holds just under 600 people), that chaos level was even higher than usual. The stage dives were frequent, the pits consumed at least 3/4 of the floor and there were even some crazy bastards hanging from the pipes that run across the ceiling of the venue. This type of wild energy is one of the biggest reasons metal shows are such a unique, beautiful experience and outside of the pair of Dillinger Escape Plan performances I saw last year, this was easily the most intense show I've been to in a while.

Every Time I Die's massive, riff-driven sound hits a whole new level of excellence in a live setting and last night's show was no exception to that rule. The focus on material from their latest record Low Teens served as a great showcase for the skills of riff lords Jordan Buckley and Andy Williams while Keith Buckley's vocals sounded as sharp as ever, even with some nagging issues throughout the set.  Every Time I Die's shows never fails to be amazing and I fully expect them to continue to be a top-tier love act for the foreseeable future.

Scores:
Eternal Sleep 5/10
Harm's Way 7.5/10
Knocked Loose 6/10
Every Time I Die 9.5/10
 
Setlist:
Every Time I Die (order may be a little off):
Underwater Bimbos from Outer Space
Thirst
Decayin' with the Boys
Glitches
We'rewolf
Wanderlust
Petal
The New Black
Two Summers
Bored Stiff
It Remembers
Romeo a Go-Go
Emergency Broadcast Syndrome
Floater
Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Battery
The Coin Has a Say
I Don't Want to Join Your Stupid Cult Anyway
No Son of Mine
Map Change

Encore:
Fear and Trembling
Awful Lot
Indian Giver

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