This Is A Family Tour raises the hardcore bar

As I expected, the This Is A Family Tour was mind blowingly awesome. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to see the entire show. However, the reason I missed the first band was because I got in line late because I was interviewing Pierce The Veil. So I’m not upset about it all.

Of Mice & Men. Photo by Holly Aker.

When I did get into the venue, In Fear And Faith was finishing up their set, but what I did hear sounded pretty good. Of Mice & Men followed In Fear And Faith, and they put on quite a show. For one of the opener bands, Of Mice & Men was able to get the crowd jumping, pushing, and ready to roll some heads. One kid in the crowd got so rowdy that he started yelling profanities at the lead signer of Of Mice & Men, who in turn threatened to jump off the stage and pummel the kid.

Pierce The Veil. Photo by Holly Aker.

Pierce The Veil was up next, and like I predicted, they turned it up to 11. Maybe even 12. Even though Pierce The Veil was the poppiest band of the night, they started off gnarly, attention-grabbing, mosh-pit-evoking  bang that set the tone for the whole set. Vic Fuentes, Pierce The Veil’s lead singer, had everyone singing along with his almost-too-unbelievably-high vocal range, and crowd surfers were flying every which way trying to get to the stage. Even though Pierce The Veil’s albums don’t have very much screaming, the live performance was full of gut-busting growls, which just got the whole crowd even more pumped up.

Emmure. Photo by Holly Aker.

Emmure was the fourth band on the This Is A Family line up, and although they would have won the one-of-these-things-is-not-like-the-others game, the band had quite a following present at the show. Everything about Emmure was different compared to all the other bands: they didn’t wear skinny jeans or  jorts, they didn’t have lip rings, they didn’t wear eye liner, they didn’t have the straightened, side-swooped hair (or have long enough hair for that matter), they didn’t do the hardcore, running in place dance or the grand plie style of guitar playing. They just played straight up metal. No hints of emo or even singing. It was just straight, throat-shredding screams. And it was good.

Attack Attack! Photo by Holly Aker.

At last, Attack Attack! took the stage, and they nearly reduced The White Rabbit to rubble. From the first note that the band played, everyone in the entire crowd was jumping, moshing, and causing complete chaos along to synth infused hardcore beats. In November, Attack Attack! lost their clean vocalist, Johnny Franck, but his stand in, Sean Mackowski of My Ticket Home, was actually a lot better compared to live videos I’ve seen with him. Lead singer Caleb Shomo made an announcement to the crowd about Franck’s departure, assuring everyone that it was Franck’s decision to leave and that they’re all still very good friends. Soon after that, Mackowski announced that it was Shomo’s birthday, and he led the crowd in a round of “Happy Birthday.” Attack Attack! ended their set with the crowd favorite “Stick Stickly,” which featured some of the best ear-splitting vocals, electro-dance-party beats, and a breakdown so slow and brutal, time nearly stood still.