Fitz & The Tantrums ft Twin XL | All The Feels Tour 2020
April 11, 2020 Leave a comment
February 12, 2020
Fitz & The Tantrums
Photos courtesy of Angel Haines
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Issues w/ Polyphia and Sleep Token | Beautiful Oblivion North American Tour | Photos + Review
April 9, 2020 Leave a comment
Issues Runs Los Angeles Into Beautiful Oblivion
Venue: The Mayan in Los Angeles, CA on 11/14/20
When it comes to sound progression in a band’s discography, Issues almost instantly comes to my mind. While they started out sounding a lot like vocalist Tyler Carter’s previous band “Woe, Is Me”, the band started to slowly but surely incorporate influences from genres such as R&B, Funk, Jazz, and EDM. Their newest record “Beautiful Oblivion” saw the band taking a giant leap in terms of their sound. With the departure of long-time vocalist Michael Bahn, the band distanced themselves a bit from the metalcore sound, incorporating more of those influences than ever before. To celebrate the album, the band set out on their world tour, with the first stop being North America with support from Polyphia and Sleep Token: a mixed bag of talent that worked well for the tour!
First up was Sleep Token from London, England. Sleep Token is a fully conceptual band, with each member sporting masks and black body paint. They’ve created this story of being united in worshipping their god known as “Sleep”. The lineup still remains completely anonymous, which adds to the appeal. Sleep Token has taken the scene by storm, garnering a cult-like following with their diversified sound that blends together alternative rock, progressive rock, progressive metalcore, ambient, and EDM. It was surreal to see them on stage, as they looked very ominous on stage with their masks and look. But their music is very melodic and can completely change genres mid-song, which continuously keeps the listeners on their toes. I was personally thrilled to hear the band play songs from their debut album “Sundowning”, which was released in 2019 via Spinefarm Records. The band played a total of six songs, five of which came from that new album. The band played a flawless set with a lot of energy, and I cannot wait for the band to return to the U.S. in the future!
SETLIST
- The Night Does Not Belong To God
- The Offering
- Dark Signs
- Higher
- Sugar
- Jaws
Up next was Polyphia from Dallas, Texas as the direct support for the tour. Polyphia is a very dynamic band. And while they are fully instrumental, they got the crowd going wild like no other, blending together progressive metal, progressive rock, math rock, funk rock, and even some elements of electronic music. Both guitarists Scott LePage and Clay Aeschliman played some insane riffs, with odd time signatures that fit perfectly into the songs. Bassist Clay Glover acts as the band’s front man, hyping up the crowd between the songs and grooving along with his’ deep hitting basslines. With three full length records and two EPs under their belt, the band has garnered a very passionate following, selling out shows country wide on their headlining tours. As direct support, the band prepared a ten-song set, which showcased songs from each of their releases, the newest of which being their 2018 album “New Levels New Devils”, which was released via Equal Vision Records. Polyphia was truly amazing and blew my expectations out of the water!
SETLIST
- O.A.T.
- D.
- Saucy
- Goose
- 40oz
- Champagne
- Icronic
- Look But Don’t Touch
- Finale
- Euphoria
Issues from Atlanta, Georgia finally hit the stage next for their headlining set. To celebrate the new album’s release, the band played the album “Beautiful Oblivion” in its entirety, along with songs from their previous releases, adding up to a whopping 20-song set. “Beautiful Oblivion” was released in 2019 via Rise Records and shows a more adventurous side to Issues’ sound. Each song brings its own flavor, bringing in different levels of influences and styles. Many fans were surprised by the change in style, compared to their metalcore foundations on previous albums. New songs like “Drink About It”, “Tapping Out”, “Downfall”, “Rain”, and “Here’s To You” still retain some of the heavy instrumentals, but rarely include the screaming vocals or as heavy of instrumentals as the band had on their first several releases, 2012’s “Black Diamonds EP”, 2014’s “Issues” and 2016’s “Headspace”. It personally took me a couple of listens through the record to truly fall in love with it, but I eventually became obsessed. Tyler Carter writes some truly catchy lyrics that get stuck in my head on a daily basis. The groovy guitar and bass lines courtesy of AJ Rebollo and Skyler Acord. The intricate drum patterns come from the one and only Josh Manuel, who is very fun to see in concert with his energy in the back. Issues brought out some older songs on this tour, with “Never Lose Your Flames” and “Mad At Myself” being fan favorite songs from their self-titled album. I was thoroughly impressed by their performance and cannot wait to see them in the fall when they tour North America as support for Dance Gavin Dance, Animals As Leaders, Veil of Maya, and Wolf & Bear!
SETLIST
- Here’s to You
- Drink About It
- Never Lose Your Flames
- Hero
- Find Forever
- Tapping Out
- Stingray Affliction
- Without You
- Rain
- Your Sake
- COMA
- Downfall
- Second Best
- Get It Right
- King of Amarillo
- Flexin
- No Problem (Keep It Alive)
- Slow Me Down
- Beautiful Oblivion
ENCORE
20. Mad at Myself
Issues’ Beautiful Oblivion North American Tour brought together an excellent tour, with a mixture of music that was entertaining from the moment Sleep Token opened the show, to Polyphia slaying their set with crowdsurfers galore, and finally to Issues playing a monstrous twenty song set! Don’t forget to get your tickets to see Issues open for Dance Gavin Dance in August!
Issues | Polyphia | Sleep Token
Photos + Review courtesy of Jamie Kaufman | Instagram
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Dirty Honey w/ The Amazons | Rolling 7’s Tour | Photos + Review
March 14, 2020 Leave a comment
Almost a year ago, Los Angeles based rock band Dirty Honey released their self-titled debut EP. The band have recently been on a headlining tour across North America in support of this release, bringing along fellow rockers The Amazons with them, and I attended the Denver, Colorado show.
Opening up the night was British rock band The Amazons. Their forty-five minute set consisted of eight songs, and each half of the set included songs from each of the two records in the band’s catalogue – “Black Magic,” “In My Mind” (my personal favorite song of theirs), “Junk Food Forever” and “Stay With Me” from their 2017 self-titled debut LP, and “25,” “Doubt It” “Mother,” and set opener “Fuzzy Tree” from last year’s album “Future Dust.” The band has a lot of charisma and a brilliant stage presence that really showed throughout their entire set.
Dirty Honey came on stage not long after for their headlining set. The band played their
self-titled EP in full (“When I’m Gone,” “Rolling 7’s,” “Heartbreaker,” “Down The Road,” “Scars,” and “Break You”), as well as their 2018 debut single “Fire Away.” In addition to playing all of the songs that they’ve released so far, they also added in two new songs, and played some impressive instrumental solos throughout the set, which allowed each instrumentalist in the band to show off their individual skills and talents. Similarly to The Amazons, Dirty Honey also had a really good stage presence, and did a really good job at engaging the ecstatic crowd.
Both bands on the Rolling 7’s Tour put on captivating and entertaining performances and
overall, it was an enjoyable night of rock and roll music.
Photos + Review courtesy of Megan Langley | Instagram
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Sleeping With Sirens, Set It Off, Point North & Belmont | The Medicine Tour 2020
March 9, 2020 Leave a comment
Belmont
Point North
Set It Off (Jan 28 & Jan 31st)
Sleeping With Sirens
Photos courtesy of Angel Haines
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Capstan & A Grizzly Fate | Photos + Review
March 2, 2020 Leave a comment
Set it Off was supposed to headline this Candian show in Winnipeg Manitoba, but unfortunately their bus had broken down due to the insane cold weather. Capstan, who has been touring with Set it Off got a chance to headline instead. It was absolutely incredible getting to not only see Capstan a second time but photograph them a second time as well! I did not get a chance to see Loiter play, they were added to the bill after Set it Off was confirmed as not coming, but I had memory card issues and missed their set. The other local opener was A Grizzly Fate, these guys have amazing stage presence and are really great people. I’ve been going to their shows since they started as a band and I’m really happy to see them play with bands like Capstan. Capstan of course killed it on stage! They have said many times that they love Winnipeg and they plan on coming back as many times as possible and I hope they do come back.
A Grizzly Fate
Capstan
Photos + Review courtesy of Chris Hall
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The Classic Crime w/ Assuming We Survive, Your Bourgeois, and David Lunsford | West Coast Tour | Photos + Review
February 23, 2020 Leave a comment
Seattle-based rock band The Classic Crime have been around for quite some time, releasing a handful of albums over the past fifteen years. The band have recently dropped a couple of singles, leading up to their upcoming full-length album “Patterns In The Static” (due to be released on February 28th) and embarked on a tour of the West Coast (their first tour since 2018) in support of the new material.
Opening up the night was Seattle based acoustic musician David Lunsford. He began the set with his most recent single, “God Damn Soul,” and played “Without Your Armor” and “On My Mind” from his 2018 debut LP, “To All My Friends And Family.” In addition, he also played two unreleased songs, one titled “Evergreen” and a self-titled song that he concluded his set with. What stood out to me about David’s set was the emotion he put into each of the songs he performed, and that was evident from the moment he started the set.
Up next was Your Bourgeois, a local rock band from Golden, Colorado. They had a pretty good mix of slower and more upbeat songs in their set, and seemed to show influences of various styles of rock, which made their set even more interesting. One of the main things that stood out to me about this band’s set and the music they played was the very impressive lead guitar solos in a couple of the songs.
Second to last was Assuming We Survive. I saw them headline in LA a couple of years ago and since then, they have quickly become one of my favorite bands to see live and one of my favorite bands overall. One thing I like a lot about their live shows is the energy they constantly bring throughout so much of their sets, and the large majority of their setlist consisted of some of the most upbeat tracks from recent releases (“Tear Me,” “Make It Out Alive,” “Smile Sometime,” “Too Close”). The band played their two latest EPs, “Chapters” and “The Enemy Within,” from beginning to end (with the exception of “California Stoned,” the final track on “Chapters”), and amidst all of the more upbeat songs they played, they slowed things down a bit as well when playing “Lost” and “Let You Down,” which had everyone waving their cellphone lights in the air.
The Classic Crime took the stage not long after Assuming We Survive was done, and they
instantly had the crowd singing along and rocking out to their music. Their setlist spanned from throughout their discography as they played songs such as “The Fight” from their 2006 debut LP “Albatross,” “Abracadavers” and “Gravedigging” from 2008’s “The Silver Cord,” “Beautiful Darkside” and “The Precipice” from 2012’s “Phoenix,” “Driftwood” and “Holy Water” from 2017’s “How To Be Human,” . In addition, they played their two latest singles, “Take The Moment” and “Miles And Miles,” which are both from their upcoming album “Patterns In The Static.” This was my first time seeing The Classic Crime, and immediately I thought that they put on a really fun live performance.
Each act that performed at this show was something a little bit different, but one commonality that all of them shared was putting on an interesting and captivating performance, and the show overall was a very fun one to watch.
The Classic Crime | Assuming We Survive | Your Bourgeois | David Lunsford
Photos + Review Courtesy of Megan Langley | Instagram
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Snoop Dogg lights up The Fillmore in Detroit – I Wanna Thank Me Tour 2020
February 5, 2020 Leave a comment
Snoop Dogg accompanied by Warren G, Trick Trick, and Trae packed The Fillmore Detroit two Sunday’s ago for a fantastic show. The event sold out the 2,900 capacity venue and built up suspense and energy with every artist leading up to the headliner.
To help set the bar for such an amazing performance in Detroit, Trick Trick performed one of his most iconic songs “Welcome 2 Detroit”. To see an entire venue shout the lyrics in his home town was such a memorable display of energy and positive vibes that blew the roof off the venue.
Up next was Warren G to raise the bar even higher. With fantastic lighting, memorable hits from the early 90’s like “Regulate”, and party favors in the form of joints, the crowd reached a new level of intensity.
Lastly the headliner, Snoop Dogg made his appearance with a blunt in hand and exotic dancers on both sides of the stage. The crowd peaked the decibel level of the venue as he opened with his one of his top hits, What U Talkin’ Bout off his 2019 album I Wanna Thank Me. With a 24 song set he definitely stole the show. Ranging from top hits, new work off his album, and even a few feature songs he collaborated with such rap icons like Akon, Wiz Khalifa, and Dr. Dre., the audience never skipped a beat. With such diversity of fans of all ages and skin color we could all agree that the rap genre will never die and to live life Young, Wild and Free.
Review+ Photo Gallery by: Keenan Beals, Michigan Made Photography.
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The Camera Affect 
