Underoath brings the Erase Me tour to Las Vegas with Dance Gavin Dance, Crown the Empire and The Plot in You.
Four bands, many of whom have toured Las Vegas frequently, including on Warped Tour coming to Brooklyn Bowl on one night is a big deal and the crowd for this show proves it. The room is full from the start. The Plot in You opens the night with a brief but exciting six-song set. Many people comment that this was one of the best performances of the night. They go through “Rigged,” “Not Just Breathing,” and “One Last Time.” The intensity of their set captures the crowd and this is a theme that continues all night. The stage is small due to the set up for Underoath but none of these bands let it impact them, each determined to deliver an exciting set.
Crown the Empire takes the stage and the intensity of Andrew “Andy Leo” Velasquez is impressive. Working on a stage that is probably only three to four feet wide he leaps and moves about capturing the attention of the crowd. There set is also brief, seven songs, but the songs they cover like “Memories of a Broken Heart,” “20/20,” and “Zero” really get the crowd going. It is at this moment that you really begin to get a feel for what you are in for this evening. Almost too quickly it is over and it is time for the next band.
Dance Gavin Dance is a band many in the crowd are very familiar with. Their dual vocal style is different for tonight. Jon Mess on unclean vocals and Tilian Pearson on clean vocals deliver a powerful performance. Again, they are working with a small stage for the large group of them, but if possible this seems to amp the crowd up more. The band are right in their faces and for the first time tonight we begin to see crowd-surfers flying overhead. They play fan favorites like “Suspend the Disaster,” “On the Run,” “We Own the Night,” and “Inspire the Liars.” It is an exciting performance that really pumps up the crowd.
Once they leave the stage the crowd begins to get a glimpse of what has been under the cover of black sheets on the stage all night. The sheets are removed and Underoath’s stage setup is revealed. There are two elevated risers for drums and keyboards and walls of video screens. It is being talked about in the crowd that they had to scale down the setup for tonight, but if that is true it is hard to imagine what else there could be. This is basically the reunion of Underoath and the crowd is excited. They played an abbreviated set this spring at the Las Rageous festival but this is a full headline set.
As is expected the setlist contains tracks off of the new album Erase Me but it also spans their career. They open with “On My Teeth” and move into “Young and Inspiring” and “In Regards to Myself.” Spencer Chamberlain takes time to talk to the crowd expressing their appreciation for allowing them to be themselves, he also takes time to discuss his past addiction and how he is embarrassed by it but thankful for his best friend, drummer Aaron Gillespie for being there and pulling him out of it. All of this connects with the crowd as much as the songs do. As expected, the visual created by the video screen is intense and it sets off each performer. Over the course of the night, there are various graphics and walls of white, green and blue light, it creates an eye-opening visual. They move through tracks like “Ihateit,” “Reinventing Your Exit” and “A Fault Line, A Fault of Mine.” Sixteen songs spanning their catalog are delivered to the crowd who are singing along, moshing and, of course, crowd-surfing. A rare treat comes in the encore when they play an acoustic version of Nirvana’s “Heart-Shaped Box” which is something they said they have never done live before closing with “Writing on the Walls.”
Four bands who each delivered an amazing performance was what the crowd got tonight, expectations were high and each set seemed to blow away those expectations. If you were looking forward to this show you would definitely impressed and if you weren’t sure what to expect, you certainly left being a fan of one of these bands now.
UNDEROATH
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DANCE GAVIN DANCE
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