As a pink-haired, pop-punker, I tended to stay clear of anything that called itself “Metalcore” back in the day. Anything beyond the “Post Hardcore” label was too rich for my blood, and with that I’d missed out on a whole world of music. I’d always left the screams to my better half’s playlists, leaving mine saturated with whiney boys.
Cue a message asking if I fancied seeing Pierce The Veil on the first of two sell out nights at the Barrowlands and I decide that now is the time to dive into it. A quick Spotify makes me realise that Pierce The Veil are just like all of the best My Chemical Romance songs from early on in their career and that makes me very excited for tonight.
The first thing you notice when you’re approaching the venue isn’t only that the queue is trailing off over the horizon already, but that Pierce The Veil have the best dressed fans in the world. We have kings, we have princesses, we have brides, we have the most impressive make up I’ve seen. We have baggy jeans that I wish were still made in my size but that’s a different rant. The audience is young, too. It speaks to the longevity of a band whose music can stay relevant to a young audience after nearly twenty years. With the young audience comes the giddy excitement of seeing some heroes on a stage in a room that could have been a lot bigger… But they chose the best venue in the world – and that excitement is infectious.
Holding Absence are the opener and I’m absolutely positive I’d heard the name bandied about. I was also pretty sure I’d seen them recently too but I might be wrong. After this set, I wish I wasn’t wrong. Super-strong metalcore from Wales that doesn’t get too niche for those of us who aren’t accustomed to the genre. It’s hooky riffs with big choruses and verses that sink into quiet melodic passages.
These guys are so listenable that I struggle to call them metal core as that term can be divisive. I’m not sure what I’d use instead… definitely hard rock with bits of metal but could be just at home in the mainstream. Plenty of showmanship from frontman Lucas, along with some outstanding throat work – even if a loose microphone nearly took out one of the photographers at the front of the stage.
Dayseeker are a band whose name gave me déjà vu. The reason for that was the posters in the foyer advertising their own headline show at SWG3 on December 9th this year. Straight off the bat, vocalist Rory Rodriguez is very impressive. Not only is he hitting the dirty lows (as the kids say) but his range at the highs is incredible.
Musically, it’s big and chunky enough to be on any credible playlist belonging to the pickiest metalhead. It’s the quieter tracks that stood out for me, though. They perform ‘Starving To Be Empty’ with Lucas from Holding Absence with every phone in the room lot up and waving back and forth. It wasn’t until after the show that I was told they’re releasing an acoustic album ‘Replica’ on April 19th which should definitely be worth a listen to for a welcome change of pace.
By the time Pierce The Veil walk on stage to ‘El Ray’, this crowd are like a tank of piranha. ‘Death of an Executioner’ is played with the band silhouetted by lights across the back of the stage. When they break into ‘Caraphernelia’, I immediately think the council of pop punks need a strong word with this band. The song itself is bouncy and has a perky enough riff to fit the sharper end of the genre, front man Vic’s guitar is plastered in stickers, and there’s so much jumping from the front risers you’d be forgiven for thinking you were at an Allister show.
Tonight, Pierce the Veil has proven that I should have been listening to them since day one and I’m a bit bitter that I’ve not been. Someone should have told Vic Fuentes that metal singers should be broody and unlikeable. Vic is grinning and obviously genuinely happy to be here. Catching me completely by surprise there’s a faithful cover of ‘Karma Police’ by Radiohead which doesn’t stray too far from the original other than having a solid backbone and just the right amount of sharpness you’d expect. Remember when The Darkness covered ‘Street Spirit’? This cover is better.
We have smoke, CO2 blasting up in front of the stage, and confetti cannons. For ‘Hold On Till May’ a lucky fan is brought on stage and serenaded. An acoustic version of ‘Bulletproof Love’ sheds a couple more tears, and then we finish on mega hit ‘King For A Day’. Talking to other fans, this could be a contender for gig of the year, and for me it was the sledgehammer I needed to become the fan I should have always been.
Photos by Catching Light Photography