Hopefully the first of many gigs at the local hardcore venue, I went with a few friends. I knew I had to see The Fall of Troy on their final tour, or I couldn't live with myself. They are one of my favorite bands, after all. So we arrived at 6 o'clock, and waited about an hour for someone to start playing.
The bill had only listed an opener and The Fall of Troy, but I got more than I bargained for. First up was a local band named Cactus's, and I actually knew the guitarist's brother beforehand. They were pretty phenomenal, and really caught my interest. The lead guitarist/vocalist had a great vocal sound, on clean and guttural vocals. The drummer had one or two songs where he just destroyed his kit, the fills he was playing were insane. The bassist I couldn't hear so well, but that's usually the case in live shows unless you're trying to pick it out. I'd like to say they were a hardcore band trying to invoke the response ska gets - feet tapping and heads bobbing, but not moshing material, which is perfectly fine. I give their performance an 8/10
Next up was a Scottish poppy rock band called Twin Atlantic. They had the best rapport with the crowd, the vocalist often making jokes about Scotland and America, and how fucking hot it was. It wasn't the heat as much as the humidity, there was a lot of bodies packed in this small basement of the venue. They did a good job live, and had a good atmospheric sound, but I have the feeling that if I were to listen to their studio work I'd find them lackluster. And the lead guitarist took himself way too seriously, as if he was shooting a music video or something. In spite of some times where I was bored, I give their performance a solid 6.5/10
After them was the official opener, Envy on the Coast. I'm not sure how famous these guys are in the metal scene right now, but 5-10 people in the audience were big fans. I almost always enjoy bands pushing forward the genre of metal, so the use of vocal synthesizers was pleasant. The vocals were the real stand-out parts; the lead singer claimed he was sick but sounded like a record, and the back-up vocalist pulled some wicked falsetto screams out. They seemed to enjoy themselves and even had some guys moshing with the last song. The best song was by far their cover of The House of the Rising Sun, which in my opinion should have been their closer. Three part vocal harmonies for the win. I give Envy on the Coast live 7.5/10
Finally, the main event. The Fall of Troy busted out with Rockstar Nailbomb and never stopped. The house was rocking with the moshing, and everyone was drenched with sweat by the time it was over. The setlist was fantastic; they didn't play too many songs off the new (kind of bad) record, but the ones they did play off it were the good stuff: Single, the one truly good pop song on the record, and Dirty Pillow Talk, with its awe-inspiring riff. But who cares about those when they played the one song I dared to hope would come: The Circus That Has Brought Us Back To These Nights (Yo Chocola), my favorite song by them. They closed with the killer combination of What Sound Does a Mastodon Make? and Nature vs. Nurture. It must be the Bacardi, but I'm going to give The Fall of Troy a whopping 9/10, a number that I don't think can easily be matched.
Please check out and support all of these bands!
