Raleigh burned red with metalcore titans August Burns Red and a powerful supporting bill as their twentieth-anniversary tour leveled The Ritz.
It was a perfect night to be standing in a very long line, waiting to enter The Ritz and tonight’s sold-out August Burns Red show. Raleigh was the second night of August Burns Red’s twentieth-anniversary tour and they brought with them two support acts more than worthy of such a celebration.
Bleed From Within hails from Glasgow, Scotland. They have a seventeen-year history, six studio albums, and three EPs, and tonight was the second night the band has ever performed in the United States. Their excitement burned brightly through every second of their fiery performance. With a sound that borders on metalcore and death metal, the band ripped through a six-song set with a confidence and swagger you’d expect from a headliner.
It’s rare to see a circle pit form for the opening band, but tonight, amidst a raucous audience, the pit emerged and the band fed off the energy. When vocalist Scott Kennedy crawled over the barrier and finished “The End of All We Know” standing tall upon the shoulders of audience members, there was no remaining question that Bleed From Within came with the talent and intention of making their first USA tour one for the ages.
The Devil Wears Prada came on next in the support slot. The bar had been set very, very high by Bleed From Within and The Devil Wears Prada did not disappoint. The Dayton, Ohio-based band and their emo-metal sound entered the stage to the shrieks and applause of an extremely excited audience with cell phones held high. The band members are unassuming, vocalist Mike Hranica gave off a shy vibe, but within moments after luring you in their heavy, electrifying sound punches you in the gut and leaves no doubt these guys are ready to stampede through Raleigh.Every member of The Devil Wears Prada crisscrosses the stage with the energy of a heavy metal dance troupe attempting to fill every corner of the stage with lights, sound, and music. Playing a ten-song set including “Cancer” from their latest album, Cancer Decay, the incredible number of fans in the audience sang along and screamed for more. The Devil Wears Prada’s sound can go in so many different directions. Their set careened between hard emo to metal to melodic instrumental interlude. Filled with energy and encouraged by excited fans, the band delighted with a powerful set.
August Burns Red is one of metalcore’s most enduring sounds and names. Nominated for two Grammys, the band are music veterans with a loyal and vocal following who completely filled The Ritz to capacity. Wasting no time, the band stood like giants on stage, perched upon risers in front of an expertly designed stage that added a perfect visual compliment to the band’s extreme and diverse sound. Powering enough laser light to blast through several feet of steel, the audio and visual intensity ratcheted the energy in the room to nuclear blast levels.The connection between the audience and the band was evident for all eighteen songs of their set. With just a motion of his hands, vocalist Jake Luhrs splits the packed floor into two, and without the need of saying a thing the wall of death collapsed in perfect destruction. Circle pits emerged, crowd surfers rose up, and everything happening in the venue just fit perfectly. Just before their encore, the band tore through songs “Paramount” and “Whitewashed” in front of huge, pulsing red lights as if at the end of a science fiction movie and the invading force has just finished demolishing everything in sight.
From start to finish, the evening was electric and perfectly executed. Bleed From Within and The Devil Wears Prada are perfect supporting acts for August Burns Red, both of whom deserve headliner status after giving Raleigh a beautifully devastating blast of metalcore awesomeness.AUGUST BURNS RED
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