August Burns Red: 20th Anniversary Tour
The Rapids Theatre in Niagara Falls, NY became home to metalheads everywhere on Tuesday. Hosting August Burns Red 20th Anniversary Tour, the venue prepared for an epic night. You could feel the excitement as fans piled into the historic venue built in 1921, ready for a night to remember. With friends Bleed From Within and The Devil Wears Prada, this anniversary tour was stacked with some serious hardcore talent.
Bleed From Within took the stage first. Coming all the way from Glasgow, Scotland this heavy metal band instantly riled up the crowd. The fact that this was the bands first trip to the United States made this tour extra special. The band got the circle pit instantly going with round after round of ear splitting songs and intricate riffs. Lead singer Scott Kennedy briefly took time in-between songs to talk with the crowd and build anticipation into the next song. Fans instantly took to the bands heavily ingested sound and passion for their music. It wasn’t long before the place was erupting with crowd surfers and absolute mayhem.
The Devil Wears Prada wasted no time claiming the stage next. This metalcore band from Dayton, Ohio are no strangers to this scene. Formed in 2005 they’ve been known for their lasting impressions at shows. Playing a good mixture of older and newer songs, the band gave opportunity for everyone to participate in singing or screaming along. The bands non-stop movement throughout the show had fans wild and veteran fans could barely contain themselves. One fan in particular received special treatment from the band in the form of a copy of the setlist and guitar picks. The versatility of the bands sound makes them hard to forget and leaving you wanting more. With dark dramatic lighting, heavy rifts and powerful screams, the band set the mood for the main act up next.
Formed in 2003, August Burns Red definitely helped shaped most metalcore fans music taste. Having being nominated for two grammy’s definitely solidifies the bands insane talent. Rapids theatre settled into darkness as fans awaited the reason for this entire tour. The setup included some pretty impressive talent that mirrored the bands extremely unique and diverse sound. Risers set across the stage along with a huge platform and smoke canons made the otherwise plain stage look unrecognizable. Needless to say the overall production of lighting and sound was flawless. The connection between the crowd and the band was almost instant. Lead singer Jake Luhrs instantly drew attention from every person in the room to the front of the stage. With a setlist as long as a kids Christmas list, the bands invading talent made the whole venue shake with approval. Clean guitars and hard hitting breakdowns were popular throughout the night as fans clung and sang along to every song. The show definitely felt more like a party with the band interacting with the crowd and pushing them to their full potential. At one point, Luhrs asked the fans who had never crowd surfed to make their way up front. With a sea of fans flooding to the front of the stage, each were greeted with a fist bump and look of approval. A man in a pink tutu even made his way to the front. Throughout the night the band played a pleasing mix of earlier and newer songs in which the crowd went wild for. By the end of the night every person in the venue was dripping with sweat right alongside the band.
The 20th Anniversary Tour has just kicked off. If you haven’t snagged a ticked to a date, make sure to do so as most dates are starting to sell out! Be sure to follow ConcertHopper on our Facebook page and Instagram as well for all our latest coverage!