Pierce The Veil Kicks Off Summer with Sleeping With Sirens at Michigan Lottery
Pierce The Veil knew how to kick off June with a bang by rolling through Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre on 6/1 with special guests Sleeping with Sirens and Beach Weather.
BEACH WEATHER
A great thing about attending a full concert from the time the doors open is the discovery of a band you may not have already known. This time, the honor of that mantle was Beach Weather, who opened up the evening while the sun still radiated onto the stage. An interesting choice, to be sure, as they’re considered more indie-leaning on the Rock spectrum, rather than the counterparts of the tour. Still, the crowd seemed to be fully engaged and was loving this moment.
SLEEPING WITH SIRENS
We’ll admit, it’s been quite some time since we’ve taken a deep dive on Sleeping With Sirens, but if there’s anything that emos love, it’s a legacy.
A guarantee on an Emo Nite, especially in Michigan, is that you’re bound to hear the classic “If You Can’t Hang,” or the crossover track with the headliner of this tour, Pierce The Veil’s “King For A Day,” with lead singer Kellen Quinn. The band has ties to Michigan — which is part of it, as the band formed in Florida, but currently resides in the Grand Rapids area.
Fans were rabid at the barricade, screaming lyrics to songs like “Kick Me,” “Better Off Dead,” and “If I’m James Dean, You’re Audrey Hepburn.” The observation I have, however, at the ripe age of 36, is that many of the fans I’m seeing in the audience are far younger. While this is always somewhat shocking at first glance for me, I have to remind myself that this music has seemed to have transcended generations even further than I realize, and the teenagers that are finally finding this world and feeling safe to express themselves in it always bring joy to my heart.
PIERCE THE VEIL
The tension was palpable as Pierce The Veil began to take the stage. With a rabid fan base, your hair practically stood on its end as the sound began pulsing through everyone’s systems. Some fans will look up the setlists ahead of time, while others hope to be surprised, but when capturing moments like this, I like to study the potential songs I will have on the other end of my lens to scope out what type of energy I might be working with.
Pierce The Veil started loud and ferociously, highlighting two tracks off of their newest album ‘The Jaws of Life.’ First, with “Death of an Executioner,” which set the crowd on the path for a top speed when they landed on “Bulls in the Bronx” off of one of their most celebrated albums, ‘Collide with the Sky.’ The song I was extremely pumped to have pummeled through my ears was song 3, “Pass The Nirvana,” which gave birth to the name of this run, the ‘I Can’t Hear You’ world tour.
I was surprised to note that there wasn’t as many crowd surfers as I would have expected for a track like that, but with the lighting design and high energy, it was hard to decide if you kept your eyes on the ever-energized bassist Jaime Preciado, Tony Perry on lead guitar who is either stoic or flying through the air, no in between, or to zone in on Vic Fuentes, carrying the overall tone with vocals and guitar.
After the first 3 songs we see during photographing, the band mixed it up with other highlights off their discography, including the surprise of “Yeah Boy and Dollface,” “Emergency Contact,” which Vic dedicated to his wife, and of course, the triumphant moment of Kellin Quinn returning to the stage to sing “King for a Day” in the encore.
Pierce The Veil knows how to give it their all when performing and has been increasing their speed to a leadership position in the hierarchy of this type of Rock Music. After their tour with Blink-182 the year before, and now this run of dates, we can feel confident in saying this isn’t the last we’ll see of them.