Blessthefall & Escape The Fate w/ Islander | This War Is Ours To Witness Tour | Photos + Review

Blessthefall & Escape The Fate Close Out Their “This War Is Ours To Witness” Tour in Southern California

Venue: The Glass House on 10/10/19

When I think of the two albums that influenced my musical taste the most, it would have to be Escape the Fate’s “This War Is Ours” and Blessthefall’s “Witness”. When they announced that both bands would be doing a co-headlining 10-year anniversary tour, where they would each play said albums from start to finish, plus additional songs, I was ecstatic! Along with these two bands was Islander, who is on the same record label as Escape the Fate. This was a stellar tour!

First up was Islander from Greenville, South Carolina. If I could describe Islander’s sound, it would be a mixture of nu metal, alternative metal, and rap metal. I last saw the band in June of 2018 when they were direct support for Butcher Babies & Nonpoint on the Kings & Queens Co-Headlining Tour. This time around, I feel like the band was fully realized. They were off the walls in terms of energy and I thoroughly enjoyed watching their on-stage antics. From vocalist Mikey Carvajal bringing a flatbed cart and riding it across stage, to guitarist Eric Pedersen sitting down mid-song to eat a sandwich, the band is insanely entertaining live and were the perfect way to open this show up. The other two members of this four-piece are keyboardist Chris Carvajal and drummer Michael McClellan. The band was truly entertaining and set the stage for the co-headliners to come.

SETLIST

1. Lucky Rabbit
2. Green Slime Man
3. Counteract
4. Darkness
5. Cold Speak
6. My Friends
7. Coconut Dracula

The first of the co-headliners was Escape the Fate from Las Vegas, Nevada. Now, before I go on, I must say that I’ve seen this band 10 or 11 times now, so having seen them so many times, I hold their performances to a certain standard. Unfortunately, their performance this night was a bit lower energy than usual, but they still did pretty damn well. This was my second time seeing the band play through “This War Is Ours” in its entirety, as they did a special anniversary show at the Whisky A Go-Go in December. At that show, they brought their own lighting and had some special merch for the event. However, for the full U.S. run, they only used house lighting and used merch from previous album cycles, with limited options of newer merch. As for their stage performance, Craig Mabbitt obviously had the shining stage performance in the band, with touring bassist Erik Jansen coming in at a close second. The rest of the band seemed like they were kind of just going through the motions, and overall, I just wasn’t wowed like I have been seeing their shows in the past. To be fair, the band was under the weather, so taking that into consideration, they played a solid set. The full lineup for Escape the Fate consists of vocalist Craig Mabbitt, guitarists Kevin Thrasher and TJ Bell, drummer Robert Ortiz, and bassist Erik Jansen. The band played a solid set but were upstaged once Blessthefall hit the stage next.

SETLIST

1. We Won’t Back Down
2. On To The Next One
3. Ashley
4. Something
5. The Flood
6. Let It Go
7. You Are So Beautiful
8. This War Is Ours (The Guillotine II)
9. 10 Miles Wide
10. Harder Than You Know
11. It’s Just Me
12. Do You Love Me
13. Empire
14. Broken Heart
15. Gorgeous Nightmare
16. One For The Money

Finally came Blessthefall from Phoenix, Arizona. Now of the two co-headliners, Blessthefall was by far more prepared and slayed the stage hard. The band brought a lot of lighting and special anniversary tour merch, which was what I’d expect from a 10-year anniversary tour for such an iconic album in the band’s discography. The band was extremely high energy, which is very consistent of the band. Just like Escape the Fate, I have seen them 10 or 11 times, and they always find a way to blow me away. Hearing the album that helped me get into metalcore being played in its entirety was absolutely mind blowing. Along with them playing the full “Witness” album, the band played 5 other songs, 3 of which came from 2018’s “Hard Feelings” and 2 from 2013’s “Hollow Bodies”. The band’s additional setlist was perfect and made their set truly one of the best I’ve ever seen them play live. Vocalist Beau Boken is always a joy to capture live, as he is so lively and is great at controlling the crowd. Guitarists Eric Lambert and Elliot Gruenberg were very lively and slayed those guitar parts. Bassist and screaming vocalist Jared Warth absolutely demolished the stage with his strong vocals and basslines. Touring drummer Conor White held down the fort and played previous drummer Matt Traynor’s parts to a t, while incorporating perfectly timed drum fills. Blessthefall stood out on this tour and ended the night by smashing out an amazing set.

SETLIST

1. 2.0
2. What’s Left Of Me
3. To Hell and Back
4. God Wears Gucci
5. Hey Baby, Here’s That Song You Wanted
6. Witness
7. Last Ones Left
8. Five Ninety
9. We’ll Sleep When We’re Dead
10. Skinwalkers
11. You Deserve Nothing And I Hope You Get Less
12. Stay Still
13. Wishful Sinking
14. Cutthroat
15. Hollow Bodies
16. You Wear A Crown But You Are No King

ENCORE

17. Sleepless In Phoenix

The This War Is Ours To Witness Tour was a truly special night with two influential bands celebrating the 10-year anniversaries of some of the most impactful albums of the late 2000s. I am truly grateful that I was able to attend and witness this beautiful celebratory concert.

Blessthefall | Escape The Fate | Islander

Photos + Review courtesy of Jamie Kaufman | Instagram

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