Last Thursday, North Carolina natives Between the Buried and Me brought their special brand of prog metal to The Fillmore Charlotte for the final show of their current tour. The evening was special from the start as members of the opening acts Native Construct, Intronaut, and Enslaved pranked each other on stage during the performances. Some bands came out with bags on their heads and their shirts off while others brought drinks and cookies out for the band to eat and drink on stage. Norwegian metal band Enslaved even took a moment to sing Happy Birthday to one of the other guitarists.
Of course, the real treat of the night was still to come. With chants of BTBAM from the crowd, Between the Buried and Me took the stage and kicked things off with “The Coma Machine” from their latest concept record “Coma Ecliptic.” Lead vocalist Tommy Rogers took his place behind the keyboards and has never sounded better delivering spot on beauitful cleans throughout the set accompanied by guttural death metal growls when called for. BTBAM sounds exquisite in a live setting with guitarists Paul Waggoner and Dustie Waring duelling it out with proggy leads and bassist Dan Briggs adding some additional keys when needed. Drummer Blake Richardson was hidden behind his massive kit for most of the night providing a solid backbone for the group. The light show was nicely done matching the intensity of the music as different images appeared on the four individual screens rear stage. The newer song “Turn on the Darkness” was a highlight of the evening as the crowd kicked things up a notch.
BTBAM’s live show is always an interesting journey to take part in. One moment you will be chilling in a relaxed state as the music simply envelops you and the next you are racing toward a circle pit as the music takes a most intense turn. Since it was the final show of the tour, guitarist Paul Waggoner took a moment to thank the crew. Of course, he mentioned that he grew up right down the road in Matthews, NC, and gave a shout out to the undefeated Carolina Panthers joking that he had been doing The Dab all over the country. After closing out their set with “Fossil Genera -a Feed from Cloud Mountain,” BTBAM returned for a two song encore. Enslaved made an appearance on stage during this time stuffing cookies into everyone’s mouths and hugging it out.
To witness a Between the Buried and Me show is proof that prog metal is alive and well. To be at this final show of the tour was a special time that nobody in attendance will ever forget.
Setlist:
The Coma Machine
Informal Gluttony
Sun of Nothing
Backwards Marathon (second half)
Turn on the Darkness
The Ectopic Stroll
Fossil Genera -a Feed from Cloud Mountain
Encore:
Silent Flight to Parliament
Goodbye to Everything Reprise
We would like to thank Liz Ciavarella-Brenner from Earsplit PR for the credentials to review the show.
