Spring Fever Tour
Sears Center – Hoffman Estates, IL
May 3, 2013
This is a classic example of what I like to call “Concert Withdrawal”. It happens every winter – when the festivals are quiet, the smaller tours don’t get Indianapolis dates, and I’ve been cooped up inside for too long. I spend weeks looking for a concert that I can go to, and finally, I convince myself to take a long trip to catch a show. The good thing about it is….usually, it takes a fantastic show to make me travel. 🙂
I spotted this tour on a blog I read and the lineup was huge. Pierce the Veil is a band that I have recently fallen in love with. All Time Low is a guilty pleasure of mine that I started listening to when I lived in California in 2007, and You Me at Six completely blew me away with their Sinners Never Sleep album in 2011. These three together, on one bill, had me salivating from the get go, and I just couldn’t let the thought of going out of my head.
So, on a rainy Saturday in early May, we found ourselves in a Chicago suburb at a hotel sipping on some Vodka Tonics, getting ready for an incredible show. Let’s do this!
Let me start off by saying that when I say “we” were in Chicago for this show, for the first time ever I mean my wife and I. As a gift to me, and on our anniversary no less, Mrs. Music Pill came to a show with me to see what all the fuss was about. What an awesome anniversary gift. AND – she even said she had a good time! 🙂 I digress….on to the music.
The opening show, You Me at Six, was fantastic. This is the second time that I’ve seen them, and they put on a great show. I like all their music, and while it’s hard to suppress the disappointment that Oliver Sykes isn’t on stage for the screams during Bite My Tongue, You Me at Six’s show is always high energy, well executed, and very entertaining. They were an absolutely perfect choice as an opening band for this show. If you haven’t seen them, please do!
On to the main acts. I flat out love both of these bands. Admittedly, I have only been a Pierce the Veil fan since their last album (thanks to JaWarnerBro and Tony Cal for the introduction), but ever since then I’ve been listening to them nonstop. This is the first chance I had gotten to see them live, and my anticipation was incredible.
All Time Low, on the other hand, I have been listening to for years. Most pop-rock music like theirs makes me cringe…but something about this band has me totally hooked. I started listening to them right after college when I was living in LA and driving around the coast of California with absolutely no responsibilities and lots of spending money, and ever since I have been a total fan boy (even though I’m a decade older than the band and 2 decades older than their fans).
So, that being said…..here are some notes from the two awesome sets.
Pierce the Veil:
In my opinion, in this genre, it’s really hard to separate yourself from the noise. There are so many bands in the post-hardcore genre, its completely saturated with breakdowns that are too thick and screaming that makes the ears bleed. Pierce the Veil stands out for two reasons: First – they write interesting songs that have multiple levels of interesting elements. Second, singer Vic Fuentes is a BEAST.
Their set featured both of those things – a great set of song choices really showed the bands range and allowed them to show off their hard metal side without ostracizing the All Time Low crowd that was there. In addtion to that, Vic absolutely crushed the vocals. Not only did he sound really good, but the band is a 4 piece and he plays rhythm guitar as well. Super impressive performance by that dude.
Quick mention of their set construction- it was intense…. I’m not sure how to explain it or what exactly it was, but it looked very industrial, and had moving gears and things flying everywhere, and definitely added an element to the show.
Musically – I thought the set was extremely well executed, and the song choice was really great. They played Besitos and Caraphernelia, off of their 2010 release Selfish Machines, which are both great songs and were cool to hear live. They also featured a ton of material off of Collide with the Sky, which is one of my favorite albums from last year. The highlight of the show for me was the last two songs they played, which were Bulls in the Bronx and King for the Day. Both of these songs are, in my opinion, strong enough to make or break a show for them, and they sounded great. I was extremely impressed with the vocals on King for a Day….I mean, Kellin Quinn from Sleeping with Sirens sings a major portion of them on the album, and lets be honest – he has the most amazing girly sounding voice that’s around right now (crazy high, and crazy awesome). Vic has to pull those high notes off live by himself, in addition to singing his part, and I was expecting a major drop off, but really I was quite impressed with his ability to hit most everything, and improvise when he couldn’t, to make the song still sound great.
During the set, Vic mentioned that this show featured the biggest audience that Pierce the Veil had ever played for. I would have never guessed that – with the talent this band has, and how well they pulled off this show – I would have believed it if he would have said that they had been playing arenas for years. They brought a ton of energy, and even all the way in the back (where my wife didn’t have anyone pushing her 🙂 ), the place STILL went crazy when the breakdown hit for King for a Day.
I really liked this band before I saw them live……and their show just reinforced their greatness. A+
All Time Low:
Not that I’m doubting anyone, but All Time Low is a completely different genre for me than Pierce the Veil. I anticipated a pretty drastic change in gears, and Pierce the Veil definitely left me wanting to Juggernaut walls. However, during a (very long) set changeover, my excitement for All Time Low took over and by the time they hit the stage, the shift in attitude from dark and serious to happy and goofy didn’t bother me at all.
Musically, there’s not a tremendous amount of analysis that can be done on All Time Low – they play relatively simple pop-rock that relies on catchy, well-constructed songs and happy-go-lucky lyrics to be relevant. The songs they write are short renditions that reflect the attitude of a carefree, talented group of young 20-somethings…songs about not wanting to grow up, learning how to deal with adult relationships, and partying just a bit too hard. The live show was a perfect reflection of that. Tons of energy, lots of crude jokes and bras flying on stage, and a long, steady stream of really, really great songs.
High points of the show for me were the older stuff they played – Coffee Shop Soundtrack and Dear Maria (which was their encore) – just because I love those songs. They slowed things down a bit halfway through with Therapy, and Alex’s voice sounded pretty great, but I was much more inclined to enjoy their upbeat stuff. The Reckless and the Brave was also great, and featured the bassist doing his best parkour imitation as he jumped off of everything he could find. My only disappointment – my favorite song of theirs, Six Feet Under the Stars, was on the set list and was written out. Suck.
Most people who listen to what I listen to (and read this blog) would probably hate this band, but if you get past the genre stipulations and actually listen to their music, I’m not sure how you can say anything but good things (even if it’s not “your thing”). In my opinion, this band is a true success story. Sure, they started in their parents basement in high school, they wrote great music and got popular quick. But, the fact that they are still around, after 5 albums, selling out shows and continually growing their fan base, shows that they aren’t just a fad, and are talented enough to make a career out of making music. Kudos to Alex, Jack, and the gang.
After seeing them live, I’ll stand by my opinion. I’m a 28 year old dude who’s married, has a son, owns a house, works a full time job as a Software Project Manager, and writes a Metal(ish) blog. And I’m a huge, HUGE, All Time Low fan.
I think Mrs. Music Pill is now too. 🙂
Until next time!
“I take a look up at the sky and I see red. Red for the cancer. Red for the wealthy. Red for the drink that’s mixed with suicide. Everything RED.”