Across many bands' careers is a series of firsts: the first full US tour, first trek overseas, first headlining show, first bra thrown onstage, etc. The list of firsts goes on and on, and every band seems to complete their checklist in a different order. For a band like Underoath, whose superstardom has been solidified for nearly twenty years now, there's not much left to check off. The Florida group have headlined Warped Tour and so many other festivals, went through several member changes, broke up and came back together for one of the best tours in the scene's histrory (2016's "Rebirth" Tour, where they played They're Only Chasing Safety and Define The Great Line front-to-back), and have since spent the second act of their career doing whatever it is that moves them. Throughout the 7 years since the Rebirth tour, the band have released two new albums, and seem to have more new music on the way, bolstered by 2023 singles “Let Go” and “Lifeline (Drowning)”. However, over the past few weeks--and for a few more before the end of the summer--Underoath have done something they’ve somehow never done before: co-headlined a tour.
If Underoath’s comeback was unexpected, the one staged by their co-headliners is miraculous. It was actually just before Underoath announced their reunion that The Ghost Inside’s tour bus was in one of the most gruesome accidents that the emo community at-large has ever seen. Both the band's bus driver and the driver of the other vehicle involved were killed in the crash, while each member of The Ghost Inside and their crew were lucky to make it out alive. After putting the pieces of their lives back together, the band seemed to be called back to the stage, and have returned to even more raucous crowds than the ones they had been playing to before. While each day the band are able to brave the road once again and play is an accomplishment in itself, but to see the band alongside a band like Underoath makes this tour an all-out inspiring experience. And when this tour, headlined by two bands whose futures as bands appeared murky at best a few years ago, stopped by Asbury Park's Stone Pony Summer Stage, inspiration was in surplus.
Opening the evening's festivities was Better Lovers, a band whose debut EP God Made Me an Animal was released earlier this month, and features plenty of familiar faces. After last year's very public dissolution of Every Time I Die, guitarist Jordan Buckley, bassist Steve Micciche, and drummer Clayton Holyoak have clearly maintained the cohesion that made ETID legends of their time. Enlisting the help of superstar producer/Fit for an Autopsy guitarist Will Putney on guitar, and Dillinger Escape Plan vocalist Greg Puciato to front the band, it's clear on the God Made Me an Animal songs that this group has plenty left to prove, and are doing so in bombastic fashion. Unfortunately, a scheduling issue forced the band to take the stage earlier than initially indicated, so I wasn't able to get to the photo pit for the band's set. However, from what I've heard of the band's performance of their introductory track "30 under 13", we'll be seeing and hearing a lot from Better Lovers in the near future--possibly headlining a tour of their own.
Much like The Ghost Inside, the next band on the bill deserves a ton of credit for picking up the pieces the way they have. The sudden passing of vocalist Kyle Pavone in 2018 dealt a massive blow the We Came as Romans, but the band have persisted in his honor. The band opted not to replace Pavone with another clean vocalist, instead having his harsh-vocal coutnerpart Dave Stephens take over as the band's lead vocalist, with bassist Andy Glass providing some backing screams. The band's first release in this new iteration, Darkbloom, was released last year, and is, as you'd probably expect, some of their darkest, heaviest material to date. Given that context, the band's sound and story fit in perfectly for this tour, as We Came as Romans have continued to make their impact across the metalcore scene despite enduring the worst lost imaginable. Stephens made sure to acknowledge his fallen bandmate, and the band honored his memory with a very energetic set that saw Glass and his bass climb a tower by the sound toward the back of the venue. Sandwiched on a bill with legends around every corner, We Came as Romans found a way to stand out, and that speaks volumes about the band's resilience.
If there was any doubt to the severity and life-altering nature of The Ghost Inside's bus accident, it was washed away like a message in the sand at the beach behind the Stone Pony. As a backing track played to indicate that the band's set was about to start, drummer Andrew Tkaczyk made his way slowly up a ramp behind his kit and, with the assistance of one of the band's crew members, removed his prosthetic leg, and began to pound his bass drum. The rest of the band followed suit, and it was immediately evident that this set wasn't just about playing a good show; it was about the joy of survival. This sentiment was echoed throughout the set by vocalist Jonathan Vigil, whose speeches to the crowd throughout the band's set were overflowing with the band's gratitude to be back onstage. In his most earnest monologue, Vigil mentioned that the messages he and the band received from fans about how TGI's music helped them pull through difficult times ended up helping the band pull through theirs. When a band and its audience can make such a deep connection, great performances are the only outcome. This was evidenced by the intensity of the mosh pit throughout each breakdown, and the chants for an encore as the band left the stage. Plain and simple, this scene is better with The Ghost Inside in it, and here's to hoping the band continue to make tours like this one happen.
For all the talk about this being Underoath's co-headlining tour, the energy of the evening sure picked up when the Florida's metalcore kings took the stage. Boasting two video screens that the band have lauded as some of their best stage production to date, as well as a tight, well-tuned sound, their set was an assault on the senses, in the best way possible. Pulling "Take a Breath" from the band's 2022 album Voyeurist as the opener was a bit of a surprise, but also provided moments for each member to shine. Another surprise occurred early in the set, as the band's typical closing track "Writing on the Walls" was unleashed right after "Take a Breath". By then, it was made clear that this setlist was going to leave the band's rabid fans guessing at every turn, and the crowd rewarded the band with the biggest pits of the night. Vocalis Spencer Chamberlain was once again a flurry of blond hair and perfectly-delivered screams, while guitarist Tim McTague was his usual animated self, bounding all over the stage. On the side opposite McTague, bassist Grant Brandell and the band's hype man/keyboardist Chris Dudley were all smiles, while Aaron Gillespie once again proved that no one in emo plays the drums with more intensity than he does. The aforementioned new tracks were both welcome additions to the setlist, and are hopefully and indication that we'll have another new album coming (perhaps an announcement is looming at the commencement of this tour?). When thunderstorms threatened to close the show early, it felt as though the bands and fans assembled willed the storm clouds to roll in elsewhere, making for a phenomenal evening of music, provided by a group of bands who have overcome some of life's greatest challenges, and bands who have inspired so many to do the same. If there's a tour that feels more triumphant this year, I haven't seen it.
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