As I Lay Dying
So when I showed up to
the club, I didn't really have any expectations for the show.
As far as whether alot of people would be there or if it
would an over saturated NuMetalcore fest of 5 bands sent
out to play the same chords and scream about the same non -
issued topics. But what I found upon my arrivial, was a lot
has changed in the underground since I was growing up. People
wanna know about what goes on and how to get involved. Plus
the music is more complex then just 3 chord melodies, it's
more about the crowd getting into it and taking part. Fusing
metal structures with hardcore sing alongs and breakdowns to
bring back the spirit of the days long forgotten by MTV and
Radio programmers. Now, the scene I grew up in, it was more
about just showing up and checking out a new band, but now
you have organizations going on at shows from Free Music
online Trading to PETA. It's kinda weird to see something
that's supposed to be thought of as entertainment turning
more into the relic of the 60's youth movement and almost
makes me sad to think my generation weren't as involved or
educated on the matters. Take this from an interview I did
with As I Lay Dying singer Tim Lambesis: "We Definently have
alot of reasoning behind what we believe. We're not walking
blindly. Alot of bands they'll get up and preach straight
edge, they'll preach vegan, or whatever it is. It really
comes down to why do you believe that. They're all alot of
hype and not alot of intelligence behind it. We wanna
intelligently define what we believe."
As I Lay Dying has been touring almost nonstop since the
release of their 2003 debut, "Frail Words Collapse" with
Metal Blade records. And they've started to gather a
following of devoted fans. Getting not only the biggest
response of the evening, but also the biggest pit and sing
alongs. Standing above the crowd and getting to see a circle
pit in full effect is definitely something of disbelief.
Watching the crowd swell towards the stage jumping over
each other to get a chance at the mic just to sing one line
from the chorus is something thought to be held by acts that
have years of touring under their belts, not bands still
touring on their first record. But this crowd was here to
see them, with a bit of the ultra-violence in full effect.
The pit started breaking out three times into actual fights
and having a couple of bottles thrown at the stage. This has
been one of the best and roughest shows I've seen in a while
and the other show was a DIY show in someone's basement. Now
this club might not be a basement, but hey, for an all ages
show this is pretty close. And much as the AILD's set started
off, it ended with only 4 songs to their credit ("94 Hours",
"Forever", "Falling Upon Deaf Ears", and "Distance in Darkness"),
blazing thru the songs only to stop once to thank everyone
for coming out and taking part of the night. And as Tim
Lambesis said to me earlier "When a band's out on the road
as much as we are, it means twice as much to us when people
come out to our shows. Showing support in general. We're
very, very grateful for everything. All of our fans coming
out to shows, anyone buying a T shirt. It's really helped
us alot." Hearing that alot from bands it gets old and you
kinda think it's just something you hear from them, but
with the guys in As I Lay Dying it actually seems genuine.
Reviewed by: Godawfulcommiepigfuckingbastards