The Root of All Evil Tour: Spite, Varials, I AM, Orthodox, Dealer, and Left to Suffer
Continuing a string of sold out shows at The Masquerade, ConcertHopper was on hand for The Root of All Evil Tour which featured Spite, Varials, I AM, Orthodox, Dealer, and Left to Suffer. We waded into the huddled masses to bring you our thoughts from the show as well as some photos from our perspective. We hope that you enjoy.
Atlanta locals Left to Suffer were first to take the stage. The native metal band brings a sound and lyrical content as imposing as frontman Taylor Barber. Crushing instrumentals back Barber’s guttural vocal stylings to create a sound that is fierce and ominous. The local musicians tore the stage up and let it be known that they would accept nothing short of everything the audience had, which they were happy to oblige.
Where this show was a hometown performance for Left to Suffer, it was anything but for the second band to take the stage, Australia’s Dealer. Fresh off of the release of their newest album Saint which was released in February, the only non-US based band on the tour came prepared. With their winding guitar riffs which snake their way from guttural lows to squealing, almost alien sounding harmonics, Dealer had the crowd in a frenzy.
Nashville natives Orthodox were the next to take on the crowd who was now at a fever pitch. Similar to Dealer, Orthodox is freshly coming off of an album release with their latest, Let It Take Its Course, which will be released in February. Frontman Adam Easterling draws from harsh life experiences to craft his lyrics that ring true to those who have had similar experiences. The fact that his lyrics have such deep purpose should come as no surprise as Easterling is the grandson of Johnny Slate, who has written for some of country music’s legends to include Joe Diffie and Kenny Rogers. Despite his history with country roots, Easterling and his band are a far departure from the much calmer genre, a fact that the crowd seemed to greatly appreciate.
Next up were the brutal Texas natives, IAM. If one needed to find an example of what their music was like, they need not look any further than the song Texas Death off of 2018’s Hard to Kill album. With punishing drum blasts and riffs to match, a frenzy of heavy music reached out to the crowd which responded in kind. Often vocalist Andrew Hileman would wade to the barrier to scream vocals along with the crowd who were more than happy to join in.
As Varials, hailing from Pennsylvania took the stage, frontman Travis Tabron immediately got the crowd engaged with the show, asking for the house lights to come up slightly so that he could take in the sold out crowd. From then on, the band ripped into a furious set that defied genre, bathed in blue light that matched with the album art from their latest album In Darkness which was released in October 2019. Like the music itself, the lyrics wind through a number of topics, from failed relationships to addiction and more. All of this appeared to resonate with the fans who, after their time in the limelight rallied to sing along and mosh with to the beat.
Finally it was time for the headliners, Spite to take the stage. With fans who have dubbed themselves the “Spite Cult” it' should come as no surprise that both the band and the fans show passion whenever Spite is on the stage. The California natives ripped through their catalog of punishing songs, from tracks off of last year’s The Root of All Evil, the tour’s namesake, to their hits like “Kill or Be Killed” and “IED”. All of this played out with frontman Darius Tehrani’s impressive vocal range leading the charge with both the punishingly heavy instruments and the crowd’s chants of “Spite cult motherfucker” to back him.
This insanely stacked tour continues through March 22nd, you can find tour dates below and tickets are available here.
Mar 6- House of Independents Asbury Park, NJ
Mar 7- Revolution bar & Music Hall Amityville, NY
Mar 8- Webster Theater Hartford, CT
Mar 10- The Foundry Lakewood, OH
Mar 11- Pike Room Pontiac, MI
Mar 12- Beat Kitchen Chicago, IL
Mar 13- Amsterdam Bar & Hall St. Paul, MN
Mar 14- Vaudeville Mews Des Moines, IA
Mar 15- Lookout Lounge Omaha, NE
Mar 17- Marquis Theater Denver, CO
Mar 18- The Comple Salt Lake City, UT
Mar 20- The Pin Spokane, WA
Mar 21- The Vera Project Seattle, WA
Mar 22- Hawthorne Theatre Portland, OR
As always, please feel free to browse around ConcertHopper’s website further and to check out our articles covering a wide variety of topics. Please also check us out on social media on our Facebook and Instagram pages. Life is a beautiful thing and music only adds to that beauty, make some time to get out and celebrate beauty and life with a community of like-minded individuals at a concert soon, it’s always worth the price of admission.