Dallas, Texans Memphis May Fire are a band that you can never slap a label on, with a sound drastically changing from album to album. Their southern vibe mixed with post hardcore influence is always consistently full of heartfelt and positive lyrics, interjecting a fresh flare to the metalcore scene . To no surprise when setting out on The Unconditional tour this late winter, they brought such bands as Beartooth, Hands Like Houses, A Skylit Drive, and The Word Alive, all known for their powerful presence. The Unconditional tour came to the stage of Starland Ballroom in Sayerville, NJ on Thursday March 6th, 2014 for a captivating performance.
First up was formerly Attack Attack! front man, Caleb Shomo, new brain child of Beartooth. After Shomo executed vocals, guitar, bass, drums and programming in his Ohio home studio, he assembled Taylor Lumley (guitars), Kam Bradbury (guitars), Oshie Bichar (bass), and Brandon Mullins (drums) to perform live and bring his fresh musical ideas to life. The hot new band full of determination and energy is considered to be one of the 100 bands to look out for in 2014.
As Beartooth began, their passionate no-nonsense in your face style was took center stage with all members jumping and running around stage. Their six song set included all four tracks from their August 2013 EP Sick and two new tracks “Lines” and “Dead”. The crowd responded extremely well the entire set and Beartooth may have been opening this tour but it won’t be long before they are headlining. It will be exciting to see them grow this summer as part of Van’s Warped Tour.
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Formed in 2008 Canberra, Australian band Hands Like Houses were up next. After releasing two studio albums in consecutive years, with their latest being Unimagine (2013) the band is blazing a path many fans are noticing. Consisting of Trenton Woodley (vocals), Matt “Coops” Cooper (lead guitar), Alexander Pearson (rhythm guitar), Joel Tyrrell (bass), Jamal Sabet (keyboards), and Matt Parkitney (drums), Hands Like Houses took to the stage like a bolt of lightning.
Their generous mix of ambient guitar melody and emotion driven vocals blistered through songs like “Shapeshifters”, “Developments”, and “Antarctia”. Woodley belted out song after song with supercharged ambition evident in the inflections in his voice. The guitar work of Coops and Pearson mixed with the electronic elements of Sabet’s keyboards on “Lion Skin” elevated the room to the next level in a sea of sound. The set closed out with “No Parallels” and the lyrically thought provoking “Introduced Species”. Hands Like Houses showed over and over again that Australia has massive amounts of talented rock bands to offer the rest of the world.
Third to hit the stage were scene veterans A Skylit Drive. It seemed like just yesterday this band was just coming out of Lodi, CA with their debut album Wires…and the Concept of Breathing (2008), but it’s been nearly a decade since their journey began. With four full-length records to their name, the band’s determination and hard work on their latest album Rise (2013) marks them as the band’s most successful to date.
Riding high on the success of 2013 the band took the stage smiling and head banging to a rampage of new songs “Crazy”, “Said & Done”, “Save My Tragedy”, “Unbreakable”, and “Pendulum”. Fans reveled in a chance to hear these impressive new songs live for the first time. The band showed equal enthusiasm through the performance and it seems that the new music has breathed new life into an already lively bunch. After playing the early track “Wires (And the Concept of Breathing)”, the set concluded with “Rise”. A Skylite Drive have something special going on and that momentum will carry them into this summer’s Van’s Warped Tour.
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The World Alive piled out next, setting a distinct tone. Coming from Phoenix, AZ you would be hard pressed to believe the band was playing thousands of mile from home with the overwhelming support Starland Room brought in the doors. Originally formed by Escape The Fate vocalist Craig Mabbit, The World Alive found new comfort in replacement vocalist Tyler “Telle” Smith early on in 2008. Now two albums deep as a collective unit the band is reaching new heights.
Thriving off the energy the crowd dispersed, The World Alive blasted through songs like “Entirety”, “Room 126”, and mosh pit starter “2012”. There is no denying the heartfelt motive behind the band’s music and the keyboards provide an excellent dynamic to the aggression. Telle’s clean singing provides a nice counteraction to the core vocalization assault. The blood was flowing so much so that even Telle himself was compelled to jump into the crowd a few times throughout the performance. Their set closed out nicely with sing back song “The Wretched” and “Life Cycles”. Telle” Smith, ending up in the crowd a few times throughout the performance. Moving forward it will be fascinating to see where The World Alive go with their next album.
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Closing out the Unconditional Tour were headliners Memphis May Fire. Simply a band that has stood together for a decade refusing to be another mundane scene band. Conquering a main-stage slot on Van’s Warped Tour 2013 and building a devoted worldwide fan-base over the years, Memphis May Fire has all the tools and desire in place to continue growth in the extreme music scene. With their newest album Unconditional set to be released March 25th, fans are in a frenzy to hear the new material and fortunate for them this tour is the perfect opportunity.
Starting the blaze with fury were the songs “The Sinner” and “Alive In the Lights”. Vocalist Matty Mullins have full control between his thick and deep growls and affectionate clean singing. New songs such as “No Ordinary Love” and “Sleepless Nights” gave fans a taste of what is to come in mere weeks from the forthcoming album. Showing charisma and positivity the band rattled off song after song with potency and endurance. The audience cheered extensively by the time the encore began with powerhouse song “Prove Me Right” which road into closing “Legacy”.
The Unconditional Tour is further proof that many bands in the metalcore genre have broken the chains of limitations and branch out in their own directions making for an original crop of music for years to come.
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Review written by Jesse Murch
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