Thursday night Rick came up to see Atreyu and Unearth who were in town with Scars of Tomorrow and Walls of Jericho. I was definately pumped up for the show and Rick was too although he doesn’t have the same ear for Atreyu as I do.
I got off work and ran over to the skyway to meet up with Rick. Since we were on the guest list, we decided to head down right away, but when we got to the door neither of us had the balls or the heart to walk in front of the line which now ran around the corner and halfway down the block. So there we stood in the cold. I really am beginning to not like the Quest as a venue. It’s cool looking inside, but I have my doubts about its convenience.
Well, finally we got inside and to the ticket counter and Rick gave his name and the group we were with. “Nope” the bouncer said. Apparently somewhere along the way, our names were never sent off to the venue to be put on any list. It especially pissed Rick and I off since he got a confirmation email saying we were set to go. Reluctanly, we each dropped $15 on a ticket and headed on in.
Right away we made for the balcony. To our surprise, it was 21+ to get up there, so we were happy to find we didn’t have to fight with a ton of other people for a spot upstairs. We actually got a decent spot about halfway back right on the railing. You can see the entire stage and the sound mixes fairly well. The only problem is you have to stand to really see anything. There are chairs, but they’re so low, you can’t really use them. The railing, being made of unforgiving steel, isn’t the most comfortable thing to lean on for 3 hours. Anyways, on with the show!
Right on time, Walls of Jericho took the stage. I hadn’t heard any of their music before, but I’d heard they had a female lead singer. It surprised me to find out she can growl just as feirce as the boys in her genre. By the 2nd or 3rd song all of their material started sounding the same and I started getting bored. The pit was in full swing though and provided enough entertainment until they finished up. I am thinking they deserve a D, but their lead singer is kinda hot in the goth chick sorta way. So I gave them a little bump…
Grade: C-
After the set up time, Scars of Tomorrow took the stage. I was actually wanting to see these guys ever since I reviewed them last summer. They’re crushingly brutal on their CD, but I wasn’t sure it’d translate very well live. They put on a decent show, but not being too familar with their songs, I became bored once again and started watching the hardcore dancing in the pit. I did notice the quality of dancing had improved since last I saw a show. Looks like the hardcore kids have been practicing.
Grade: C
Going into the show, I was excited to see Unearth. Rick had been doing some Atreyu bashing which I was trying to ignore, but I think it got to me a little as I was more excited for Unearth than Atreyu. Unearth came out and busted right into “The Great Dividers.” The floor opened up twice as big as it had been all night. I was eating up every second they were on stage. Both guitarists managed to do a beer bong and then rip a fantastic solo immediately after. The best part was when the two guitarists and the bassist all stood in a circle and played each other’s guitars. From front to back their whole set was solid. They played a good mix of material from both albums although there was slightly more from The Oncoming Storm. These guys definately rocked my face off and then some. If you get the chance to see them and you are at all a fan, DO IT.
Grade: A
Finally at the headlining portion of the show, Atreyu took the stage. I’d had enough of just standing around for the night. I asked Rick to watch my jacket and headed downstairs. Right away I hopped into the pit and started hardcore dancing. About 20 seconds after I got in, I got kicked in the head and decided to just go up front. I pushed my way in, and was 3 to 4 people back from the railing for most of the rest of the show. I don’t know if it was Rick getting to me even more, but I just wasn’t into most of Atreyu’s set. They put on a good show. Very high energy with lots of crowd participation, but I just wasn’t feeling it. They played several songs off of Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses, but the majority of their material was from their latest album. They ended with “Lipgloss and Black,” but were cheered back onstage for the encore. Predictably, they closed with “You Gave Love a Bad Name” by Bon Jovi. There was something strange about a bunch of hardcore kids rocking out to a song from the 1980’s. For the last bit of the song, they did bring out all the bands on stage to help them sing. I got a good high five from Trevor of Unearth at the end of the song.
Grade: B-
All in all, the show was worth the $15 which I wasn’t too pissed about paying. It just bugs me that someone dropped the ball and didn’t send in the list. The opening bands, while more than heavy enough for me, just didn’t get me moving. The set Unearth played more than made up for any bad feelings I had about all of it though. I’d see them again 100 times at twice the price. Atreyu, right now, aren’t the band I thought they’d be. I think Rick nailed it when he said “They take themselves too seriously.” He couldn’t be more right.
Overall Grade: B+
Yeah! Fuck Atreyu! Unearth are metal gods and way too good to be touring with the fagcore band Atreyu!
In all honesty, though, Atreyu aren’t terrible, but they just do absolutely nothing for me. Their live set didn’t do too much to help out since they kinda weren’t all that interesting. They should just drop their lead vocalist and let their drummer do all of the singing and play only emo because they have the whole emo vibe going on, but try to be hardcore. Anyhow, that’s just my $0.02
so you’re saying Atreyu > WoJ? I’m going to have to go ahead and disagree with you on that one.