The much anticipated return of the Las Vegas rockers, Escape The Fate, had finally arrived. After a huge success at Soundwave last year, the four embarked on a national tour. Bringing their ‘Dead Masquerade’ show down under, on the second leg of their headlining tour.
Unfortunately, Max Green had announced via Twitter on 22nd April, that he wouldn’t be performing in Australia with the rest of Escape The Fate, as an issue had arose affecting his ability to travel. Therefore TJ Bell of Motionless In White had filled in for the absence of Max. Since the tour TJ has left Motionless In White.
Arriving to HQ, a line had already gathered throughout the day. Mostly a mob of mixed teenagers with the odd older person. Escape The Fate shirts and the occasional Pierce The Veil shirt were plastered on everyone’s torsos. Spiked hair, side fringes, tattoos and piercings were taken to a whole new level.
Adelaide based local band, Far West Battlefront took the stage first with their Euro Metal influenced sound, the heaviest band of the night. The crowd seemed mellow and took some time to warm to these hard rockers. The crowd soon turned to their favour as they belted out Lady Gaga’s ‘Bad Romance’. Only playing live together since 2008, they have got the songs nailed; a great stage presence and a solid live sound which I find is better than their recordings. Definitely have some potential in the metal/death core scene, but not everybody’s style of music.
Next up, San Diego’s Pierce The Veil who only made their Australian debut late last year coinciding with Ohio’s own, Attack Attack! Back for another round, these guys had surely left an impression on Australian crowds, as chants of ‘Pierce The Veil’ had spread contagiously among the crowd. It was obvious they weren’t just another unknown support band. With their American post-hard core sound, mixed with a Mexican influenced style, topped off with the unusual high voice of Vic Fuentes, Pierce The Veil were something experimental, new and different.
Vic, Mike, Jaime and Tony; the musicians of Pierce The Veil, all emerged on stage to the popular Wiz Khalifa song, Black And Yellow. The reaction from the audience was much different from the first band; suddenly this mellow crowd had become energetic and hyper.
Pierce The Veil ran through some of their best songs including ‘Besitos’, ‘The Boy Who Could Fly’ and my personal favourite, ‘Bulletproof Love’, as well as lightening it up with a small cover of ‘Like a G6’ originally performed by Far East Movement. Half way through their set, a lucky and very speechless girl got to join them on stage for ‘Yeah Boy and Doll Face’, as Vic serenaded her. While all this was taking place they still managed to interact with the audience, which by then were going crazy for these attractive guys. They finished with their hit song, ‘Caraphernelia’, inducing the crowd to dance and sing along. They’re set finished on a bang leaving the audience wanting more, as ‘Encore’ was shouted from all directions of the room. Unfortunately, we will have to anticipatorily wait until the return of Pierce The Veil, foreseeing a headlining tour.
The adrenaline, excitement and enthusiasm were building throughout the room. A portion of people had seen Escape The Fate before, others not. A few this was their first concert other’s their fiftieth, but it didn’t matter, we were all there to see our favourite band do what they do best, Music.
The crowd was pumped, the stage set and the musicians ready. ‘Choose Your Fate’, the first song off the latest album, rang through the venue, sending hysteria amongst us exhilarated screaming fans.
Craig, Monte, Robert and TJ ran out on stage launching straight into their first song, ‘Massacre’, a song that had accumulated many diverse opinions, a fascinating choice for the opening number. All dressed darkly with tattoos bearing, they were ready to rock.
Advancing with ‘10 Miles Wide’, ‘The Flood’ and ‘Issues’, only the beginning of demonstrating this band’s exceptional talent. Clearly noticeable was how precise the band was to the recordings, reaching every note, hitting every beat and playing perfectly in time.
Escape The Fate first hit the scene back in 2005, winning a local radio contest judged by reputable rock band My Chemical Romance from New Jersey, awarding them a place to open a show on MCR’s headlining tour, leading them towards their first record deal. With their infectious, catchy hard core sound, they have taken the punk world by storm, having three successful albums under their belts and having toured in numerous countries.
Moving along with ‘Something’, ‘You Are So Beautiful’ and ‘Gorgeous Nightmare’. The transitions of unclean to clean vocals of Craig Mabbitt really demonstrated the strength and talent of his voice. The harmonies from Monte and TJ, worked really well with Craig’s vocals.
As some band members had said throughout the This War Is Ours European Documentary they created on the Deluxe Edition of the album, “When Robert Is On, We’re All On”. It really does show, he seemed on and if not, he didn’t falter or let it display. You don’t actually realise how physical playing drums is until you see Robert sweating and breathing heavily during a song break.
Taking short breaks between the songs to talk to the audience really gave a welcoming vibe. Craig even made an inspirational speech about displaying your middle finger when someone puts you down about your dreams, goals or aspirations. He exclaimed that he had asthma and a speech impediment when he was younger, and now he’s a lead singer in a successful band. He also leaped into the crowd a few times.
Concluding with an old song from their first album, ‘Situations’, as Craig reclaimed the stage from a short wander to the back of the room, as he was swamped with fans.
We weren’t convinced. With the audience chanting ‘The Guillotine’, ‘The Guillotine Part II’ or ‘This War Is Ours’ as they had left the stage. Escape The Fate soon returned playing the favourite and popular song of the fans, ‘This War Is Ours (The Guillotine Part II)’.
Monte took centre stage to show off his well-rehearsed solo work, hitting every note; it was stunning how talented he was at guitar. Having multiple solos and difficult riffs throughout the show, executing them perfectly, really demonstrated the hard work he had put in, he is solemnly there for the music. I’d go far enough to say one of the best guitarists I have seen live.
TJ fitted in perfectly, taking over Max’s unclean vocals, a very important part of the song. Having a similar look, executing the bass riffs as if he was a part of the band and contributing his similar vocals, it actually seemed like Max was there.
Craig even encouraged a Wall of Death during the song, which some fans took on.
Finishing with a big finale, what I believe to be the third and final Guillotine, The Aftermath. What I saw as a perfect ending to the concert and a brilliant night.
‘This is the last time I, Raise a fist to fight. Reach out your hands to me, Let’s just disappear’
Before we knew it, it was all over. I thought Escape The Fate could have played longer, only playing for about an hour and a half; the time flew by so quickly. It was disappointing they didn’t play ‘Not Good Enough for Truth in Cliché’ from their first album or ‘Ashley’ from their second.
Luckily, I had won the opportunity to meet Pierce The Veil through Soundwave Touring, a sponsor of the show. During this Meet and Greet, I also got to meet Escape The Fate along with around 9 other people. They are all truly nice and genuine guys.
A successful concert, a very good band live and a lively crowd.
Very excited for the future of Escape The Fate and their next visit, I shall definitely take the opportunity to see them again, and you would be quite stupid not to.
Copyright Tori Hyland.
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