Crown the Empire impressed a sold-out crowd at the Baltimore Soundstage as part of their tour to celebrate their album Fallout‘s 10th anniversary.
The Baltimore Soundstage was the stop for Maryland’s Crown the Empire show. It’s hard to believe it’s been ten years since the Fallout album came out. As soon as the doors opened, the long line that stretched down the street made its way into the venue. By the time the show started, the Baltimore Soundstage was fully packed, wall-to-wall with excited fans.
The evening started with Until I Wake. They are a newer metal band that hails from Buffalo, NY. As soon as they took to the stage, the crowd’s chatter stopped and they were in awe. It was easy to see why they were picked as an opener. The heavy percussion, the screams, the clean vocals …simply amazing! While they were able to only play five of their songs, they most certainly gained tons of new fans by the time they were through. Be sure to check out their new brand new single, “Forsaken.”
Up next to take the stage was, The Word Alive. The Word Alive came out one-by-one to a frenzy of flashing strobe lights and screaming fans. The Arizona natives had nonstop energy from the moment they stepped on stage. It was an energetic seven-song set, which included songs from all six of their full-length albums. Touring guitarist, Hiram, told everyone how he has been still playing the guitar even though he broke his hand. What a true rockstar! After this tour, The Word Alive plans to head home and wrap up album number seven. Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows, who abbreviates their names as D.R.U.G.S., was next. Their sound is post-hardcore with melodic choruses. Lead singer, Craig Owens is no stranger to the stage, as he was previously in the popular band, Chiodos. While singing their newest single, “Outcasts Vs. Everyone,” they had Telle from The Word Alive sing Brennan Savage’s part. During “The Longest Road” intro, Craig asked the crowd to hold up their cell phones with the flashlights on and wave them from side to side. He said that this was a minute for yourself since life gets so hard. As the Soundstage’s light went dark, the sea of phones waving around in sync was such a peaceful and relaxing moment. They also mentioned that their new album DESTROY REBUILD is now available. Finally, after three great sets from some pretty amazing bands, it was Crown the Empire’s turn. As soon as the Baltimore Soundstage’s lights went out, the crowd went crazy. For this tour, the band went all out. There was everything from animation playing on the screen to smoke machines. While they played, there was a never-ending amount of crowd surfers and moshpits. There was just so much energy all around.During mid-set, there was an emergency in the crowd. Andy Leo made sure to stop the set, alerting the crowd and crew to the situation that was on hand. “We must take care of each other,” he told everyone, as the fans cheered and applauded his kindness. After the all-clear was received on the emergency, Andy Leo proceeded to play a game. Since the crowd was so packed, he asked one of the Soundstage’s bartenders to crowd surf over to the stage with a shot for him. Baltimore saxophonist, Saxal Rose even stopped by to play a song on stage with them. The band was very interactive with the crowd throughout the night. It’s no surprise that Maryland is surely one of the band’s favorite cities to play in, with how enthused the crowd was.
Be sure to catch Crown the Empire when they return to the road in September. They know how to put a show on to remember.
CROWN THE EMPIRE
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DESTROY REBUILD UNTIL GOD SHOWS
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THE WORD ALIVE
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