Black Veil Brides, Bullet For My Valentine, Stars In Stereo, & Throw The Fight joined forces for 2013’s Monster Energy Drink Outbreak / HardDrive Live tour. The tour kicked off September 28th and has been blazing across the USA winding down sometime within the next week. On a cool Friday evening on October 18th this monster of a rock show’s tour buses made a stop at The Paramount in Huntington, NY. With two of hard rocks biggest bands and two up and coming acts the evening was bound to be full of blistering music.
First to hit the stage was Minneapolis based rock band Throw The Fight. Consisting of James Clark (vocals), Ryan Baustert (guitars), Jonathan Sutton (guitars/vocals), Jeff Baustert (drums) and Kyle Glidden (bass/vocals). Started approximately 7 years ago, Throw The Fight has shared the stage with acts such as Avenged Sevenfold, Papa Roach, Sevendust, Drowning Pool, Staind, 10 Years and Buckcherry. In that time they have also appeared on Van’s Warped Tour and Taste Of Chaos. The band released their 2nd full length record What Doesn’t Kill Us in June 2012. The album has overwhelming positive reviews and they wasted no time releasing a new EP entitled The Vault in March 2013. Now these ambitious rockers are looking to conquer a new challenge on the Monster Energy Drink Outbreak / HardDrive Live tour.
With an energetic emotional vocal approach James Clark lit up the stage engaging a new group of fans at The Paramount. With fast paced heavy guitars, a diverse mix of tracks, and adrenaline filled stage presence Throw The Fight definitely caught the attention of a bunch of new fans on this October evening.
Second up were Los Angeles, Ca rock band Stars In Stereo. Making the rounds on various tours over the last year Stars In Stereo are picking up some momentum in the rock scene. Fronted by talented vocalist Bec Hollcraft the band’s debut album is full of energy, melody, and passion.
Coming out with guns blazing; the band bounced, jumped, and ran across the stage showing every ounce of emotion possible. The approach obviously works well for this bunch because the combination of the energy and Hollcraft’s strong singing voice grabs a large portion of fans. In a packed room at The Paramount, fans cheered for the band at the end of each song performed. This crowd are well aware of the band as this was their 2nd appearance at The Paramount in the past year. Their performance was a key ingredient which makes up Monster Energy Drink Outbreak / HardDrive Live tour.
After two energy packed performances by opening bands, it was time for a storm which is Black Veil Brides. Building possibly one of the largest and most passionate fan base of any band in a long time. Black Veil Brides are on another level right now. With the massive success of concept album Wretched and Divine: The Story of the Wild Ones (2012), headlining tours, and fresh off Warped Tour 2013; nothing seems to be slowing these guys down. According to vocalist Andy Biersack it was just a matter of time before Black Veil Brides teamed up with Bullet For My Valentine for a tour. Biersack stated in an interview earlier this year with Cryptic Rock (in regards to the tour), “Finally we had the availability, they just put a record out, and we were able to get it together. We’re excited to go out on tour with good people”. Exciting it is and Black Veil Brides were ready to show The Paramount what they are made of.
Starting their set off in dramatic fashion the band opened up with the enchanting track “Shadows Die” from the 2nd act of Wretched and Divine: The Story of the Wild Ones (2012). Biersack’s voice soared over the tight guitar playing of Jinxx and Jack Pitts. Keeping the energy flowing the band followed up with a series of tracks from their newest album including “I Am Bulletproof” and “Nobody’s Hero”. A capacity crowd of Black Veil Brides fanatics screamed in excitement with each song performed. There were points were the high pitched screaming of the female fan based reminded you of a Beatles performance.
Keeping things interesting, Biersack introduced the next song in honor of the upcoming Halloween holiday. Showing their diverse influences the band broke out into legendary Misfits track “Fiend Club”. Doing the track justice it seemed the track was fitting and mixed well into the set. Next up was the exciting new track “Let You Down”. The track is featured on the ultimate edition of Wretched and Divine: The Story of the Wild Ones released in June. Hearing the energy and passion the track possesses live makes you want to go out and re-purchase the album.
The brides closed out their set with a good mix of older and newer tracks including one of the songs which started it all for the band “Perfect Weapon”. They followed with fan favorite and perfect sing along track “Fallen Angels”. With charismatic smile and shadowing stage presence Biersack and the brides keep fans attention throughout the set and closed things out nicely with “In The End”. One thing is certain, just when you think the Black Veil Brides couldn’t get any bigger they do, it appears nothing will stop them from world domination.
Closing out the evening were Welsh metal heroes Bullet For My Valentine. These guys have been rocking hard and heavy since 1998. Over that time their 4 full length albums have been certified gold and silver in various parts of the world. Their latest album Temper Temper is a step in a different direction for the band. With more of a hard rock sound rather than the guitar blazing metal sound of previous records, the album has some fans raising eyebrows. Sometimes certain albums take some time to sink in within the listeners mind and slowly Temper Temper is beginning to win fans over. This begining the 2nd leg of 2013’s Monster Energy Drink Outbreak / HardDrive Live tour, what better way to celebrate this new record than with a dynamic mix of bands from all walks of rock and metal.
With a clamoring crowd of fans Bullet For My Valentine stormed out onto the stage with opening track off Temper Temper “Breaking Point”. A blistering mix of Michael “Moose” Thomas’ drumming, Michael “Padge” Paget guitar riffing, Jason James throbbing bass, and Matthew Tucks emotional vocals filled the room with excitement. Padge shredded through the guitar solo of the track at ease note for note. Not letting up, they followed up with “Your Betrayal”. The Fever (2010) is perhaps one of the most energy enduing tracks to hear played live and this performance would be no exception. The crowd moved back and forth and it seemed there was no way to resist. If you thought the opening assault was over you are mistaken. Raising the bar higher “Waking The Demon” blazed through the PA. Hearts throbbed through the chest of the rabid fans as Tuck belted out each sore throat line with all his soul.
The band clearly put a lot of thought and time into this set list. Rather than merely just playing a set of all new tracks they mixed things up nicely with “Riot”, “4 Words (To Choke Upon)”, “Temper Temper”, “The Last Fight”, “The Poison”, “Dirty Little Secret”, and “Scream Aim Fire”. In the midst of a balanced set of red hot tracks Padge showcased a killer guitar solo showing us he is perhaps one of the most underrated lead guitarists in modern hard rock/metal.
Screaming, yelling, and sweat flying no fan in the room was ready to let Bullet For My Valentine call it a night. Practically forced by the rooms energy the band came back out for an encore of “Alone” and “Tears Don’t Fall”. As “Tears Don’t Fall” played, fans sang along with each word and you could feel a sense of a unison emotional release by all.
2013’s Monster Energy Drink Outbreak / HardDrive Live tour is perhaps the heaviest line-up of dynamic rock bands assembled since it’s inception in 2009. When the tour closes out in the coming weeks one can only wonder where does the tour go from here in the future.
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