In all honesty, all that can be said about this tour is “WOW!” A solid line up from start to finish. Veteran acts like Darkest Hour and Killswitch Engage to one of the hottest up and coming metalcore acts in the last few years, Miss May I. Cleveland Ohio’s stop on the tour was near the end, and with all the intensity that every single act put forth one can only imagine how nuts the first leg of the tour had to of been.
On to the most seasoned act on this tour, Darkest Hour; these guys have been together since 1995. Yes 1995. That means most of the guys they were playing with on this tour were barely out of diapers when Darkest Hour signed with their first label. With that being said, you never would’ve known because they came out on stage and put a heartfelt effort in and went just as hard, if not harder in some regards than the rest of the other bands. Playing new fan favorites like “Love as a Weapon” and “Demons” to some old school metalcore such as “An Epitaph” and “The Saddest Nation.” There was a little something in their set that can appeal to metal heads no matter what age. Speaking of these older metalcore bands that have paved the way, there is one thing that The Word Alive did during their set that has to be mentioned. As most of you know, Tim Lambesis is currently not allowed to leave the state of California due to some unforeseen circumstances and had to cancel going on this tour, which left The Word Alive filling the void for As I Lay Dying. Regardless of how that predicament turns out, no one can take away what good As I Lay dying has done for metal and The Word Alive showed their appreciation by playing a cover of As I Lay Dying’s hit “94 Hours.” Much respect goes to The Word Alive for doing so as a way to show thanks to someone who has inspired them musically. Last but not least, Killswitch Engage put on a killer show, especially with the crazy stage antics of Adam D. Let us take a minute to welcome back Jesse Leach (original vocalist for KSE). They played it all during this show, old time favorites like “Fixation of the Darkness” from Jesse’s first stint with the band, to hits that were made popular when Howard Jones was in.
This tour was amazing and if you didn’t make it, well you certainly missed out. Hopefully these bands will tour again together someday…but if they don’t, everyone in this line up is worth the price of admission. Keep an eye out for the next time any of them come to a city near you.
http://officialdarkesthour.com/
http://www.killswitchengage.com/
-Logan Rendulic, The Rock Tribune
The Rock Tribune 