Walking into The Chance Theater, you could feel the electricity. The air was practically crackling with the energy that was pulsating through the sold-out crowd. It has been quite some time since I have felt anything like it. Of course, there hasn't been a show quite like this in some time. This was a bill that could have easily sold out a venue four times this size, but this venue brought everyone that much closer. This even with the lineup change. Originally, Shadows Fall was slated to be on the tour, but they dropped off, opting to remain in the studio working on their new album. They were replaced by Hatebreed; that softened the blow.
By the time I got inside the first act was nearing the end of their set with a rousing rendition of Slayer's "Reign in Blood." You could already feel the quickly increasing crowd's energy coming off in waves. Two Cents was the band on stage. They were putting forth some high energy, and the crowd was giving it right back. I didn't hear much, but they sounded pretty good. They are a four-piece that features the drummer as lead singer. I cannot recall the last time I saw a drummer as frontman, the last time I saw a drummer sing lead was when I saw Anthrax's frontman, Joey Belladonna, at a solo show sing a show from behind a kit.
As Two Cents cleared their gear, the excitement began to grow. Bury Your Dead was setting up to play, and they have been growing in notoriety since the release of their latest, Beauty and the Breakdown. This is a band that injects a little humor into the normally humorless hardcore genre with their fairytale-inspired song titles, and the Tom Cruise-inspired cuts from their last album. They opened up with what may be my favorite song from them, the firstoff of Beauty, "House of Straw."
As soon as the song hit, the crowd went nuts and the band was in constant motion running back and forth across the stage. To say they had a kinetic presence would be an understatement. One of the guitarists and the bassist would do spin kick jumps and swing their instruments around their body in unison. They were on the small stage moving about, making it feel like a stadium. The crowd was going in insane, a few pits formed for the kids to go about their spin kicks and windmill punches.
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