Lineup: August Burns Red/Silverstein/Silent Planet ("Ten Years of Constellations Tour")
Venue: House of Blues, Boston, MA
Silent Planet: In a metalcore scene that isn't exactly loaded with excitement at the moment, LA's Silent Planet has made waves with a distinct sound that combines elements from all over the musical spectrum. There's gloomy atmospheric sections, ultra-technical spazzouts and of course, some soaring melodic hooks. Not all of it clicks (particularly vocally-where polarizing styles like spoken word and pseudo-rapping play a big part in frontman Garrett Russell's arsenal), but their experimentation and overall talent definitely commands attention. My respect for them only went up after seeing them live for the first time last night. Russell is a tremendous perfomer that brings an old-school DIY hardcore sensibility to the stage by jumping into the crowd or handing the mic to a fan to scream the words at every possible turn and some of the more emotional passages that left me cold on record are much more resonant when you get to see just how personal those lyrics are to Russell. Silent Planet is a terrific live act and I expect them to continue to rise up the metalcore ranks over the next few years.
Silverstein: The previous time I saw post-hardcore/emo act Silverstein play with August Burns Red on the Leveler tour in February 2012, I thought their live show was among the shittiest things that had ever graced my ears. 19-year old edgelord me was still harboring a baseless grudge that had formed sometime around when they first blew up in 2005 or 06 and silently mocked them the entire time they were stage. Now that those "lol I'm too extreme for this poppy shit" days are well behind me, I actually enjoyed Silverstein's set quite a bit. They had the cohesion and assured stage presence you'd expect from a seasoned act, a lot of the songs they played were pretty catchy and the crowd was popping off the entire time they were on stage. Apologies to these fine Canadians for illogically hating on them for such a long time.
August Burns Red: Anniversary tours might be favorite trend in music right now. Nostalgic sentimentality paired with getting to hear a bunch of songs that an artist never or rarely plays during a normal set is a beautiful combination that makes for fun-ass concert experiences. August Burns Red's 2009 LP Constellations is easily one of the finest albums in their impressive catalog and the majesty of this record was fully on display last night. With its dense songwriting, seamless transitions from track to track and expertly-deployed breakdowns, Constellations is a powerful, triumphant piece of work that displays all of the technical craftsmanship and raw emotion that has allowed August Burns Red to become one of modern metal's most popular acts. Getting the opportunity to see it performed from front to back only reaffirmed the deep-rooted love I have for this metalcore classic as well as reminded me of the greatness of some songs that I hadn't paid attention to as much in recent years ("Ocean of Apathy", "Rationalist", "Crusades").
The only problems with their set stemmed from my dumb ass not accounting for the fact that the pits were essentially guaranteed to span the entire front of the floor. As a result of this inexplicable oversight, I ended up getting boxed into a corner for the first quarter of the set. By the time I freed myself from the confines of this overcrowded mosh prison, I had to settle for a garbage spot by ABR's merch table that rendered a decent amount of Jake Luhrs' vocals inaudible (although the drums and guitars sounded amazing from there). While these self-inflicted problems could've been easily avoided if I had just left the killzone before they started playing, it did nonetheless put a bit of a damper on the evening. Basically if you're a frail person who gets annoyed by getting pressed into a railing for a significant period of time, stay out of the front. Otherwise, you'll more than likely have a fantastic time when this tour comes through your city.
Grades:
Silent Planet: B+
Silverstein: B
August Burns Red: B+
Setlists:
Silent Planet:
The New Eternity
Orphan
Panic Room
Native Blood
XX (City Grave)
Psychescape
Afterdusk
Depths II
Silverstein:
Retrograde
Whiplash
Smashed into Pieces
Vices
Smile in Your Sleep
A Midwestern State of Emergency
Ghost
Massachusetts
I Will Illuminate
My Heroine
The Afterglow
August Burns Red:
Thirty and Seven
Existence
Ocean of Apathy
White Washed
Mariana's Trench
The Escape Artist
Indonesia
Paradox
Meridian
Rationalist
Meddler
Crusades
Encore:
Dual Drum Solo (Matt Greiner and Dustin Davidson)
Ghosts
Invisible Enemy
Empire
Composure
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