This year, August Burns Red turned 20 years old and they have brought on some awesome bands to support their milestone. Coming from Scotland, Bleed From Within has joined the tour and for the very first time in North America lead vocalist Scott Kennedy said . This band has been around since 2005 and to my surprise, shows no sign of slowing down. The energy was very high and I was very pleased to have witnessed their first time here in Charlotte, NC . The most notable track for me was their opening track for their set ” I Am Damnation” . I hope to catch them the next time they come to the states .
The Devil Wears Prada is another band I would consider a veteran or pioneer to the metalcore world . They have toured so many times and I personally have seen them live about 7 times now. In fact , TDWP opened for my very first Warped Tour back in 2009 . I will say since then , their sound has taken quite the change and my expectations for their set were mixed emotions. To my surprise, TDWP were able to pull off a very diverse set with tracks from older albums I listened to which included “Danger: Wildman ” and “Born To Lose” . I know some fans may have wanted to hear some really old school tracks or even some Zombie EP work , but let’s save that for their next headlining tour. Overall, TDWP had a safe set with much variety and sing-alongs that kept me smiling with nostalgia.
Happy 20 years to August Burns Red ! I have such a soft spot for this band as it was one of the first modern metalcore bands that I discovered back in the mid to late 2000’s . ABR is also one of those bands that just show no sign of age and always bring 110% energy to the stage . ABR just “hits different” as the kids say. With the crazy mic spins by Jake Luhrs and insane drumming by Matt Greiner (we even got a sweet solo ) , something is wrong with you if you don’t bang your head . ABR played tracks from literally all of their albums including the new one coming out this month. It seemed only fitting to cover 20 years of history. The first leg of the tour ended here in Charlotte and I’d like to say we got a little more energy since they knew they would get a few weeks off to see loved ones before they get back to it in April . Check out their new album “Death Below ” which comes out this upcoming week when this article is uploaded (3/24).
