Silverstein played the historical Vinyl Music Hall in Pensacola, FL, uniting the elder emo crowd and the younger hardcore kids.
Opening the evening was hardcore band One Step Closer. With a garage band feel, vocalist Ryan Savitski did his best to hype up the early crowd. The band members had high energy. To engage the audience, Stavitski egged everyone on to move and started to raise the pulse for the night. He also dedicated “Chrysanthemum” to the straight-edge folks, and “The Reach” to the attending Pensacola hardcore fans. The set by One Step Closer was short, but sweet enough to gain a larger following in the audience and a long line to the merch table.
The second act of the night was See You Space Cowboy. With some seemingly technical difficulties, the band kept powering through and delivered a fantastic live performance. Due to these technical issues, the band did not interact much with the audience. They seemed to specifically affect singer Connie Sgarbossa who repetitively tried to speak to her fans.
Despite the problems, the band was like a well-oiled machine and made the crowd go nuts making it extremely difficult for security with the number of mosh pits that kept coming. With melodic variation in the songs, it made for an interesting hardcore performance that was thoroughly enjoyed.
With two heavier openers, the night then took a slower turn as Dayseeker took the stage. The band members were all suited up and gave the evening a classy look. They opened with the song “Dreamstate” from their 2022 record Dark Sun. During “Burial Plot,” singer Rory Rodriguez asked the crowd to light up the room which gave most goosebumps.
The theme for Dayseeker seemed to be tugging on the heartstrings of the audience. Throughout “Without Me” and “Crying While You’re Dancing,” there was not a dry eye in the venue. Rodriguez then took a moment to talk about his father passing away from cancer in July 2021. He explained that most of the writing material was a sole inspiration by his father’s passing, and how he now is trying to live up to his father’s legacy and to have his daughter be proud of him.
Ending a phenomenal performance, clouded with heavy emotion, they still put on a great show. Drummer Zac Mayfield kept the most consistent energy throughout all the band members, delivering song after song without breaking a sweat.
Silverstein took the stage with grace and passion. Starting their mighty 20-song setlist with “Ultraviolet” from their latest 2022 release Misery Made Me. Singer Shane Told exclaimed, “It’s been a while since we were here. In fact, we looked it up. It’s been 12 years, and eight before that. But we will make it up to you Pensacola!” Oh boy, did they make it up to this small Gulf Coast town. The cheers from the crowd were deafening, and Silverstein ensured that no one would walk away unhappy from the night’s concert.
They performed songs from the albums Dead Reflection, A Beautiful Place To Drown, When Broken Is Easily Fixed, This Is How The Wind Shifts, A Shipwreck In The Sand, Discovering The Waterfront, and of course, multiple songs in promotion of Misery Made Me. Silverstein catered to every single attendee with the classics mixed with more recent songs.
They are a well-oiled band, which is understandable after 20-plus years together. They know how to rock any stage no matter the size and how to entice the crowd throughout the show, keeping the magic spark alive. To change things up, they played a cover of Linkin Park’s “One Step Closer,” which was unexpected but very well received by the audience.
Lead guitarist Paul Rousseau shone brightly during the show, having his moments with the microphone during “Bad Habits,” “Live Like This,” and “The Altar/Mary.” Smooth-like butter vocals, synchronized with lead vocalist Shane Told, and an excellent addition to said songs. However, it needs to be mentioned that Told’s acoustic performance of “Misery” was outstanding. The acoustic set captured his raw immense talent, and the range and strength of the vocals were beautifully done.
As the night came to an end, they used the classic “Smile In Your Sleep” and the “heaviest song we have ever written” – “The Altar/Mary.” The chaos ensued in the mosh pit with more than two-thirds of the audience participating in the giant mess.
With such a heavy beginning to the evening, the ending was perfect. Making sure the adrenaline was maintained and that the endorphins were rushing as fans went home fully satisfied. It goes to show that Silverstein is still, to this day, one of the most caring bands in the scene, staying post-show and taking their time talking to lingering fans whose nights had officially been made. On behalf of Pensacola, FL, thank you Silverstein for coming back. It was worth the wait.
SILVERSTEIN
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DAYSEEKER
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SEE YOU SPACE COWBOY
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