The Amity Affliction Travels Somewhere Beyond the Blue With a Sold Out Show at The Masquerade (Hell)
Standing outside The Masquerade on a Wednesday evening, it was obvious it was going to be an exciting evening. An hour before the doors were set to open, the line had begun to serpentine all of the way up the two flights of stairs and out into the parking deck. Two sold out shows, one at Heaven was a hip hop show and the other was The Amity Affliction at Hell. Also along for this tour was Archetypes Collide and The Seafloor Cinema. The crowd had shown up early and was ready to dive into what would turn out to be an amazing show.
First to play to the packed but intimate venue was Sacramento, California’s The Seafloor Cinema. They had a simple stage setup, just a drummer and bassist who shared vocal duties and a guitarist. Once they had ripped through their first song, the crowd was clearing feeling their music and, thanks in no small part to the intimacy of the venue, there was a lot of back and forth banter between the audience and the band. This continued throughout their set as there was a constant balance between upbeat and catchy pop-punk songs (bolstered by the fact that band self-describes as a “pop-punk boy band”) and the crowd professing their adoration. After their set, the band made their way to the merch tables to hang out and meet their mostly new-found adoring public.
Next up was Archetypes Collide, hailing from Arizona. The band had caught the attention of some of the members of Beartooth who worked with them to perfect their band’s sound and ultimately landed the tour with The Amity Affliction. The crowd, who was at a fever pitch at this point, definitely loved what the band put out there. Eventually in the set, the band played a cover of Linkin Park’s “One Step Closer” which provided an awesome opportunity for those unfamiliar with the band to sign along. After the show there were rows of fans lined up to meet the band and pose for pictures with them.
Chants of “AMITY! AMITY!” echoed through the venue from the crowd that, at this point, had lined the entire floor plus the balcony of the venue. As the Australian band (minus drummer Joe Longobardi) strode to the stage, the crowd came to a roar. This roar was returned in kind by the band as they immediately launched into “Pittsburgh (No Intro)” a song about a time when the band had been on the Warped Tour and vocalist Joel Birch had almost died due to alcohol, drugs and improper self-care. The song talks about how the fans kept him alive and how he fought to stay alive for the fans. This resonated even more because of COVID and the band’s struggles to find themselves back playing live music. The night continued as the band played a host of their songs from previous albums including Everyone Loves You Once You Leave Them, an album that never got to see a full tour cycle because of COVID and also played their new EP Somewhere Beyond the Blue in its entirety. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing The Amity Affliction multiple times and this was, hands down the best I’d ever seen them live.
The tour is coming to an end now before the band departs to head to the UK. They will be returning to the United States for a number of festivals including Blue Ridge Rock Festival in Virginia in September. If you have the opportunity, we highly recommend making it a point to check them out live.
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