Girl at the Rock Shows

I was a bit panicked as I got to The Varsity Theater on Tuesday night. Everything I had said was that the show was going to start at 6:45 PM, so I showed up at 6:30 to give myself some time to get ready for the concert, but as I walked up to security, I could hear something that sounded much louder than just some house music. It was the show. I was late. Something had happened where everything was pushed up by about fifteen minutes, meaning it was a mad dash through security and into the venue. I threw my bag on the ground, hastily ripped my cameras out of my bag, found one second to take a breath, and then dove headfirst into the show. I was panicked, but the music and intensity that was coming off the stage quickly put me in a better headspace– one that was ready to have my mind (and my ears) blown to smithereens.

Thrashy hardcore rockers Life Cycles from San Antonio, Texas, were on their second song by the time I had pulled myself together. Although they were the first band and, clearly, nobody had gotten the message about things being pushed up a bit timing-wise, this band did not hold back. Their sound was as crisp and tight as it was intense and hard, and I watched, absolutely floored, as the band destroyed the stage and audience alike. Sure, they were the first band on the stage, and the room was still filling up with people as they played, but they gave us everything they had, and I appreciated that so much. I see too many bands that get lost in the idea of being an opening act. Acts that feel a bit subpar at best because, as they typically claim, there just wasn’t enough energy in the room, but not Life Cycles. This band was the energy, and I’m convinced that even if it had been just two people in the audience, we would have gotten the same perfect and intense set from them.

Great American Ghost, the next band to grace the Varsity Theater stage, is one of those bands that I don’t listen to often, but never miss a chance to see live. It’s nothing against them or their music. I just don’t listen to heavy music the way I used to in my free time, but the energy that I’ve gotten from this band all of the times I’ve caught them live is undoubtedly amazing, and I was so ready to experience it again on Tuesday night. The room still wasn’t full when they took the stage (honestly, it never got super packed), but that didn’t stop them from taking the stage and instantly ripping everything apart. There’s something almost chaotic and intimidating about seeing this act live. Vocalist Ethan Harrison has this way of stalking the stage in an almost daring kind of way. He is daring you to just stand still and do nothing while he and his amazing band tear everything apart. His gaze and stare at the audience is almost as intimidating as the relentless heavy sound that comes from this band, and, altogether, it creates an atmosphere that you never want to leave, but if you did, I think you may be a bit too scared to actually walk away.

It’s not just the sound or the energy of Great American Ghost that I absolutely love. It’s the way they tear down the wall between stage and audience. I know this is nothing new, but it’s something that I don’t see metal bands do as often as I see other genres. For the last few songs of the set, Ethan Harrison spent more time in the audience than on the stage. First, he took to the barricade between the stage and the audience and leaned over the crowd while delivering his intense vocals. Before long, that lean turned into a crowd surfer that took him just a few feet into the audience and then back to the stage. That wasn’t where the disappearing wall ended. He went so far as to leap from the stage, into the audience, and perform nearly half a song with a modest circle pit spinning around him. I know this is such a small moment of their set, and it was one of those “you had to be there” kind of moments, but it was the time that Ethan spent in the audience that acted as a perfect highlight to a flawless set.

It was a foggy drive into work on Tuesday morning, but that fog had nothing on the fog that had taken over Varsity Theater just in time for Sylosis to take the stage. I’ll be the first to admit that, as a photographer, I was beyond annoyed and quickly gave up on getting any usable pictures of this band due to the insane fog, but, at the same time, I feel like it really set the stage for what this Manchester, England-based act brought to the venue. You could call their sound heavy metal, and you’d be correct, but that doesn’t do them justice. This band is all about intricacies, and those intricacies took their sound down many paths, including thrash, hardcore, tech metal, and many other paths that would take me days to rattle through. This band isn’t about what you see; it’s about what you hear, and, for that, I really appreciate the thick fog and smoke that had settled over the venue because it left you with just the music, the crowd, and the energy that came from both.

Sylosis was a new name to me upon entering the Varsity on Tuesday night, but they are far from an up-and-coming band. Vocalist (and sole consistent member) Josh Middleton is actually the person who filled in on guitar for Architects after the tragic passing of their guitarist, Tom Searle. It turns out that Tom and Josh were close friends. If you know the metal scene, you know what a force that Architects is. This really has nothing to do with their set on Tuesday night, but more of one of those ah-hah kind of moments for me. Josh is such a force on stage, and it quickly became clear that this was not his first rodeo. Although this was my first time hearing of Sylosis, I knew, within the first song, that I was seeing something special, and this little anecdote just backs that up.

Scottish metalcore band Bleed from Within has been around for nearly twenty-two years now. Twenty-two years, seven full-length albums, three EPs, one live album, and plenty of music videos– yeah, it’s safe to say that this band has been grinding since the start of their career, which is why it’s so surprising to me to say that Tuesday night’s show at The Varsity Theater was part of this band’s first-ever headlining U.S. tour. You could feel a sense of pride throughout their performance, and I think it stemmed from this thought. It also stemmed from the sheer perfection that is this band.

Stylistically, Bleed from Within is a metalcore band. Sure, you could get technical with it and I could talk about those moments where I got more of a groove metal influence or the times when vocalist Scott Kennedy’s sound seems to take a turn for something a bit more deathcore than metalcore, but, overall, they are a metalcore band and they have a sense of power and strength that many in the scene can only dream of having. What I loved the most about their sound was the way that, although it was absolutely brutal and intense, it was crisp and clean. This not only comes from years of practice, but it also comes from a respect for the art. Instead of trying to fit as many notes as they could into one beat or trying to have the fastest and most intense beats in the scene, this band focuses on having music that not only makes sense but also evokes an emotion, and they absolutely nailed that. You could see it in the audience and the way people were screaming along to every word in between epic head bangs that seemed to spread like wildfire throughout the crowd.

I may not listen to metal music like I used to, but I still get chills when I’m at a damn good metal show. I had chills throughout Tuesday night at The Varsity Theater.

Line Up:

Life Cycles

Great American Ghost

Sylosis

Bleed from Within

Venue: Varsity Theater

Smell-O-Meter: Sweat

Average Age of the Crowd: 31

Crowd Surfers- At least 17

Stage Divers- 0

Mosh-ability- 9 out of 10

Amount of Beer Spilled On Me While Walking Around- $0

Broken Bones- None

Spotted Flying Through The Air- Bodies and Cups

Fights- None

Pukers- 0

Passed Out People- 0

Pickles in the Audiance – 1

Spiderpeople – 1

Celebrity Sightings – None

How Many Times I’ve Seen These Bands Before (or at least how many times I can remember)-

Life Cycles – 0

Great American Ghost – 2

Sylosis – 0

Bleed from Within – 1

Show on Deck — Little Miss Nasty / GG Magree / Mimi Barks

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