Breaking Benjamin and Young Guns
April 19, 2015
Concerte St. Amphitheater- Corpus Christi, TX
It was hard to find a parking spot upon arrival to the Concrete Street Amphitheater. Walking to the venue you could see fans lined up down the street and wrapping around the block. It was immediately evident that the show had sold out. I didn’t need signs to cypher this situation.“Glad that’s Not Me” I thought to myself as I made way to the box office to get my credentials for the evening. Already, mass-amounts of people have accumulated under the Pavilion area of Concrete Street. A line of fans stretched from the merch center across the way to the restrooms under the pavilion, about 50 yards.
The music over the house speakers faded into nothing & the stage lights dimmed to a black void, Nothing was viewable except the glow from thousands of cell phones in use… The crowd begins cheering louder and louder as London natives, Young Guns; hit the stage. The well-received band opened up their night with I Want Out. This amazing track begins with some eerie music being played in reverse while a voice-over; talks over it. The band makes it onto the stage as the crowd goes wild, cheering them on. The music kicks in with an impressive amount of energy from the band, as they jumped up and down on the stage causing a ripple effect in the crowd just in front of them. The lights changed from various shades of blues and reds as the drummer gave it his all with the very first song by the “tell all” strain written across his face. Directly after, frontman Gustav Wood introduced himself and the band; just before following up I Want More with Dearly Departed. Dearly Departed starts off with as much energy as the first song. The crowd, feeding of Young Guns intensity; threw their hands in the air & pumped their fists to the beat while the band played with their hearts and souls, pouring it all out for them to take into their heads word by word. Each audience member was eating it up every second of the phenomenal song. The band then went on to play a plethora of amazing songs like Rising Up; Stitches; You Are Not; Towers(On My Way); Crystal Clear & Elements. And it didn’t stop there. The band began feeding off the crowds effectiveness, not giving up an inch; relentless with their marvelous music. The band continued their set with Daylight; Everything Ends; Weight of the World; Speaking In Tongues & ending this remarkable set with Bones. The patrons cheered Young Guns on as they exited the stage, giving back to the band what they deserved for such an amazing set of phenomenal music by more than exceptional musicians.
The part of the evening everyone was waiting for was upon us. The crowd was so excited they would cheer every time a guitar tech made it on stage. It didn’t take long til once again the music faded away as the lights dimmed to darkness. The Pennsylvania based band, Breaking Benjamin made it on stage. Keith Wallen began playing a very familiar guitar riff & it wasn’t long before the crowd lost it with adrenalized excitement when they realized it was the opening riff to So Cold. 
So Cold is the first single to the band’s second album We Are Not Alone. The song was performed with such in-time precision & energy that it was evident that this band was an amazing machine when performing live.
Breaking Benjamin began as a cover band of Burnleys in the late 90’s in Pennsylvania along with bassist Nick Hoover, and drummer Chris Lightcap. Burnley came up with the band’s name after breaking a microphone Burnley had borrowed during a solo performance. The owner said: “Thanks to Benjamin for breaking my fucking Mic” thus striking a pleasant ring to Burnly’s ear he used it for the name of his band.
Breaking Benjamin followed up So Cold with Follow. Follow is the 3rd track off the chart topping 2nd album. And after Follow, they continued with yet another hit off the album with Break My Fall. After Break My Fall, Benjamin Burnley began discussing how we as Americans owe our armed servicemen & women everything due to their many years of service to us & dedicated the 4th song of the evening to them with Unknown Soldier. Unknown Soldier, the 10th track off the band’s 3rd studio album Phobia. Phobia was released in August of 06 & was quickly sold out by major retail chains nationwide. The band sold over 131 thousand units in the first week, which made it the fastest & highest chart topping Breaking Benjamin album to date. The crowd went wild and cheered louder with Benjamin Burnley’s dedication to our armed service workers as the band belted out the phenomenal music for the crowd.
Breaking Benjamin pounded out 18 more songs. Hits, sleeper hits and singles that touched base on the bands entire studio produced catalog. Including a cover of Metallica’s Through The Never and original hit singles like Polyamorous; Blow Me Away; Breath; Failure; I Will Not Bow; The Diary of Jane; Until The End And many, many more! Too many to mention in one setting. In all, Breaking Benjamin played an amazingly prodigious 2 hour set of not stop hit after it. Giving their Corpus Christi, TX fans what they have wanted, needed & lacked for a long time… Enough material to cover 4 studio albums of hit singles and more! Run out quickly and get your tickets as they will not last long at all what-so-ever. They will be sold out quicker than you can blink!
Review by: Jared Wingate
Breaking Benjamin
Young Guns
