Got-A-Nerve?

11/12/2011 | The hardcore punk metal festival sponsored by a famous brand of back-packs, clothing and accessories has scored its seventh edition (rumours say the last one…). And the 2011 we’ll see 4 among the most talked about American (one actually hails from Canada) bands playing 23 gigs in 11 different countries.
GOT A NERVE! went to check out what was going on at Milan stop of the tour last November the 6th.
The show moved from Magazzini Generali to a bigger venue (Alkatraz) thanks to an unexpectedly great ticket pre-sale.
I got to the venue at around 6 p.m. (the show was scheduled to start at 7 p.m.) and the first thing that really impressed me has been the one-block long line of kids awaiting to enter the venue.
Once I went through the bureaucracy to get the photo-pass and had quick look around the venue and the merch stall it’s time for the show to kick off.
The first band that has the honour (or the difficult task) to open the night is Vancouver, Canada’s LIVING WITH LIONS. I had the chance to catch the young up and coming melodic hardcorers earlier this year on the tour with Comeback Kid. The guys, who released their third and highly criticized “Holy Shit” record, play a blend of modern fast and melodic hardcore punk with pop hooks and deliver their bullets with lot of energy to the few kids watching the show. In my view the quintet suffered a bit the opening position and the fact that due to the long queue outside most of the kids managed to enter only toward the end of THE GHOST INSIDE show. However, I’m sure the ones present enjoyed their show.
The second slot was occupied by THE GHOST INSIDE (formerly A Dying Dream), Los Angeles metalcore act, who released their sophomore full-length album “Returners” in 2010.
The five-piece, compared to LWL, definitely got a far best crowd reaction and seemed to be more at their ease on a big stage with the singer Jonathan Vigil interacting more with the kids and jumping over the barriers to get closer to the sweaty pit. The guys know their play but in the end their mix of hardcore / metalcore didn’t get me mad.
With the third act up the anticipation and crowd reaction starts growing bigger and bigger. I was really expecting the show of Christian metalcoreres AUGUST BURNS RED who are on the road to support their latest fatigue “Leveler” (out through Solid State recordings). The Lancaster, Pennsylvania mob is the more metal of the whole lot. When the dudes are up on stage you can forget the clean faces of glossy promo photos you see on the web and magazines but you get 5 guys in sweat drenched t-shirts and jeans that deliver a hardcore-like set where technical prowess and muscularity are well mixed. “Empire” their latest single is brutal and at the same time catchy enough to get the crowd singing along and dancing. All in all a solid show from a band that has now gained the right to be a reference point to those loving the genre.
The curtain drops meanwhile the roadies are hard at work for arranging the stage for “the sexy men” as introduced earlier by Living With Lions singer and “the only reason you are here tonight” as stated by August Burns Red’s singer Jake Luhrs. Ocala, Florida’s pop metalcores A DAY TO REMEMBER. The atmosphere is getting hotter and hotter and with an sudden explosion of lights and corianders the five-some takes the stage among the ovation of the crowd. The guys lose no time to deliver their now classic and highly acclaimed tracks like “All I Want” and “All Signs Point To Lauderdale”. The opening song of the last record “What Separates Me From You” caused the crowd to mosh along it brutal heaviness and start a huge circle pit. The band is definitely more heavier and a bit rough than on record but at the same time doesn’t take itself too seriously and wanna make the show a party so during “It’s Complicated” a cartoon-like character enters the stage armed with a soft-ball-gun that will shot its innocent bullets to the kids, and in “Homesick” the singer Jeremy rolls over the heads inside a huge see-through ball.
After the regular set the guys are again up on stage for an encore including the ballad-esue “If It Means A Lot To You” (the acoustic guitar played by Jeremy) and the skull-smashing “The Downfall Of Us All”. Tonight they kept pushing, lashing out a 16 song set that alternates the newer and older, the heavier and the more pop stuff. I really enjoyed the A DAY TO REMEMBER show and I’m sure the kids that came out to check out the Ocala boys so have, and they will have a lot to talk about in the coming weeks.

My personal thanks to ADTR’s press/promotion Will Barrett for the photo-pass.

Check: eastpakantidotetour.com

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Category: Reports
Posted by: marcs77