Phoenix has been seeing an amazing wave of bands passing through. This concert was no different! As I Lay Dying, Chelsea Grin and Entheos banded together to put on a memorable show. The crowd started out light and grew as the night went on; many waited for some of that summer heat to dye off. By the end of the night a monsoon came out of no where and people had to run to their cars in hopes of not getting drenched. It was a great way to cool off an evening that was on fire.
As I Lay Dying put on one of the best shows of the summer. The San Diego metalcore band drew the crowds from far and wide. What makes this band unique as well is that they can borderline be described as a Christian Metal band. Although their songs do not openly discuss religion, they instead touch on topics of spiritual concepts such as existential angst and the struggle between reason and spirituality.
The band’s line up is currently formed by Tim Lambesis – vocals, Phil Sgrosso – guitar/backing vocals, Ken Susi – guitar/backing vocals, Ryan Neff – bass guitar/clean vocals and Nick Pierce – drums. They came onto the stage under a veil of darkness while playing “Nothing Left”. The fans screamed and jumped as they crammed themselves as close to the barricades as possible. The second song they performed was “Falling Upon Deaf Ears”; this was the song that really set the ball rolling.
The fans went absolutely nuts, the first person to crowd surf for this set was a girl and she lit the invitation; telling everyone it was time. Soon the people came in waves of three just like natural waves in the ocean crashed onto the shores. The fourth song came along and Lambesis brought out Chaney Crabb, the vocalist for Entheos. Overall this was the performance to be at and if crowd surfing was your dream, this was the perfect place to accomplish that dream.
As I Lay Dying
The Second band of the night was Chelsea Grin, a deathcore band from Salt Lake City, Utah! The bands current line up is made up by David Flinn – bass, Stephen Rutishauser – guitar, Tom Barber – lead vocals and Josh Miller – drums. The band hit the stage hard and the crowd loved it. They loved the heaviness of the songs and the flow of the vocals. Chelsea Grin was the one of the perfect bands on this tour. Each band fed off the energy the pervious band fed to the audience. All the members of the band moved all about the stage, lettings the audience each have an experience with all the members. The fed off the energy from the audience and the audience fed off the bands. The people started crowd surfing, not as intensely as when As I Lay Dying, but it was magnificent.
Chelsea Grin
The first band of the evening was Santa Cruz’s technical progressive deathcore metal band Entheos. Entheos was the only band on this tour that had a badass female vocalist who was throwing out some of the best screams and growls of the night! The bands main lineup is formed by Navene Koperweis – drums/synthesizers/bass/guitar and Chaney Crabb – vocals. Their touring lineup includes Brian James – lead guitar and Robert Brown – rhythm guitar.
The audience loved what they were seeing and hearing. They cheered and sang along. Who doesn’t love a strong female lead vocalist! You could see the joy in the band and that they were loving every minute of being on stage. This was hands down one of the best shows of the year!
Entheos
