Neck Deep, Drain, Bearings, Higher Power Pack A Punch at Royal Oak Music Theatre
With barely a space left in the house, Royal Oak Music Theatre’s patrons witnessed the Pop Punk and Hardcore Punk stylings of Neck Deep, Drain, Bearings, and Higher Power on February 13.
HIGHER POWER
Higher Power, hailing from Leeds, England, kicked off the night with a stellar stage presence and knockout music. High energy and fresh off releasing a new single called “Absolute Bloom,” the band made a name for themselves with a new audience.
BEARINGS
With a new album dropped in 2023 and music spanning back to 2018, Bearings went hard, setting themselves up for a grand reception. We have to hand it to the bassist on this one for being the most entertaining with his spins and crowd-pleasing energy. He was insanely fun to photograph, and we had to narrow down the gallery so he didn’t overtake it.
DRAIN
Drain is a stellar set of performers. Formed in Santa Cruz, California, they bring a certain vibe that is missing from the bands of the Midwest. We caught their set at Riot Fest in 2023 after the release of their album ‘Living Proof,’ and truth be told, we were so stoked to be able to see and photograph them this time around.
Sammy Ciaramitaro smiles through half the set and is constantly air guitaring or flinging himself into the crowd, but it goes a step further when you realize how attentive he is to the crowd. He’s constantly calling them to get involved, whether it’s encouraging the audience to open a circle pit, asking who’s seen them before then and who isn’t (and getting stoked when a bunch of newbies are in the audience).
A lot of reports from other states say that Drain stole the show — and we don’t want to be offensive to Neck Deep, but we tend to agree.
NECK DEEP
Neck Deep is on a whole new level of interesting. Their stage setup ties very well into their brand imaging and the insane colors play well within the idea of what Pop Punk is today.
They kicked off their set with “Dumbstruck Dumbf**k,” “Sort Yourself Out,” and “Kali Ma,” and then swung right into “Motion Sickness” as we exited the photo pit, and the crowd was ready for some cathartic screaming of lyrics. A fan even was able to reach from the crowd over the photo pit at one point to high-five vocalist Ben Barlow, while rhythm guitarist Matt West entertained the hell out of the left side with his signature jumps and noodling. Check out their full setlist here:
Overall, if you haven’t heard of these bands, it’s time you do a deep dive. Make sure to check out the setlist and playlists of each band in this review — we guarantee you’ll find something to sing about. See if the bands are coming to your city next on this tour poster below: