Pennsylvania rockers August Burns Red brought their special brand of metalcore madness to Charlotte this past Wednesday as they made a stop at Amos’ Southend during their “Found In Far Away Places” tour. Opening up this night of metal was an upcoming band from Ocala, FLorida, Wage War. Led by lead vocalist Briton Bond, the band rocked the house with a five song set from their first album “Blueprints.” The band already has a great stage presence with Bond working the crowd like a pro. Musically they are a tight unit with guitarists Cody Quistad and Seth Blake firing on all cylinders especially on the band’s first single “Alive” and their set closer “Twenty One.” They were a nice addition to the tour and we should look for bigger and better things from them in the future.
After solid sets from Polyphia and Stick To Your Guns, the evening really cranked up when Buffalo natives Every Time I Die took the stage. Due to a medical emergency with his wife and newborn daughter, lead vocalist Keith Buckley was absent from this final leg of the tour and was replaced by letlive. frontman Jason Butler. Guitarist Jordan Buckley more than made up for it by diving off the stage into the crowd while playing his guitar on several occasions and encouraging their legion of fans to join them onstage to sing their favorite songs.
After being whipped into a frenzy, the crowd was more than ready for the main event. After chants of ABR!, ABR!, the lights finally dimmed and August Burns Red took the stage. Opening their set with “Martyr” from the new record “Found In Far Away Places,” the band was on fire all night long. Frontman and lead vocalist Jake Luhrs was exceptional as always with his unique brand of showmanship. His moves were all over the stage as he swung his microphone around and urged the rowdy fans on. The crowd responded with opening up a circle pit and surfing over the barricade in hopes of a high five. Musically, the band sounded amazing throughout a rock solid set which included their recent Grammy nominated song “Identity.” Jason Butler took over vocals for a roof raising cover of “Linoleum” by NOFX and guitarist JB Brubaker got into the holiday spirit donning a Santa hat for the band’s version of “Carol of the Bells.” The setlist was a nice mixture of both old and new with “Ghosts” and “White Washed” closing out the night. After an amazing night of metal, the audience was certainly not ready to go home, and the band olbiged by making an encore appearance. Kicking off the encore was a short drum solo by Matt Greiner who pounded away with synchronized lights and spots. With it being so close to Christmas, the holiday tunes were back as bassist Dustin Davidson handled the lead on an instrumental version of “Frosty The Snowman.” Afterward, Jake was back out to lead the band through a rousing version of “Fault Line” from 2013’s “Rescue & Restore” record to cap off the evening.
With five outstanding performances, it was a crazy night of metal in the Queen City and the fans wouldn’t have it any other way.
Setlist:
Martyr
Provision
Back Burner
Meddler
Salt & Light
Beauty In Tragedy
Spirit Breaker
Linoleum (NOFX cover) with Jason Butler on lead vocals
Identity
Carol of the Bells (instrumental)
Composure
Majoring in the Minors
Empire
Ghosts
White Washed
Encore:
Drum Solo
Frosty the Snowman (Gene Autry cover, instrumental)
Fault Line
We would like to thank Heather Griffith from Fearless Records for the credentials to review the show.
