Amos’s Southend was the place to be this past Thursday night for all metalcore fans in the area as the Bands Vs. Food tour rolled into town for one night of pure metal bliss. The line waiting to get in the venue was wrapped around the block with people anxiously waiting to see their favorite bands give it all they had. With a stacked bill featuring co-headliners We Came As Romans and Memphis May Fire, they would not be disappointed.
Opening things up was the Christian metalcore of For Today who put in a solid set led by frontman Mattie Montgomery warming up the crowd for what was yet to come. Up next was the melodic metalcore of Miss May I. Lead vocalist Levi Benton is a charismatic frontman working the audience as the crowdsurfing began in earnest. This is a band that you must check out live if you haven’t had the opportunity to do so yet. The energy level in the club skyrocketed as they blasted through an amped up set featuring tunes from their latest record “Deathless.”
The main event began with the Detroit post-hardcore of We Came As Romans. The set featured their drummer Eric Choi on a huge riser between two sets of stairs descending from each side of his kit. As plumes of smoke rose from each side amid different colored lights, the band stormed the stage and kicked things off with “Regenerate” from their latest, self-titled album. WCAR always puts on a fun show. They are extremely active performers bouncing and jumping and pumping their fists. Vocalists Dave Stephens and Kyle Pavone have great interplay with each other and the contrast between their clean and unclean vocals is something special. As usual, bassist Andy Glass stole the show with his ebullient personality. Interacting with the crowd and other band members every chance he got, he is full of vim and vigor and a true shining star. The highlight of their set was the final two songs “The World I Used To Know” and “Hope” with Pavone’s vocals filling every inch of the place.
Last up but certainly not least was Memphis May Fire and frontman Matty Mullins as the rushed onto the stage for their set opener “Beneath The Skin.” Matty is an outstanding performer who really seems to connect emotionally with his audience. Lead guitarist Kellen MGregor was on fire all night long and drummer Jake Garland was a beast behind the kit. The first part of their set was high energy with liberal use of the CO2 before slowing things up a bit midway. Mullins took the opportunity to talk briefly about his wife and the difficulty
of being on the road away from those you love before launching into poignant renditions of “Speechless” and “Miles Away.” The final half of their set garnered them the biggest crowd response of the evening with “No Ordinary Love” and their closing number “Vices.”
The night was all about energy and vitality and the emotional connection between the bands and the audience. Every musician on the stage brought their “A” game and the fans knew it and appreciated every second of it. Experience the moment for yourself and check out the Bands Vs. Food tour when it comes to a city near you.
We Came As Romans Set List:
Regenerate
Fade Away
Broken Statues
Roads That Don’t End and Views That Never Cease
Mis//Understanding
To Move On Is To Grow
Who Will Pray?
12:30
Ghosts
Tear It Down
To Plant A Seed
Tracing Back Roots
The World I Used To Know
Hope
Memphis May Fire Set List:
Beneath The Skin
Prove Me Right
Legacy
Stay The Course
Alive In The Lights
The Rose
Speechless
Miles Away
Be Careful What You Wish For
No Ordinary Love
The Victim
The Sinner
Vices
We would like to thank Natalie Bisignano from Equal Vision Records for the credentials to review the show.
