Bring me the Horizon
September 4, 2014
Stage AE- Pittsburgh, PA
The Parks and Devastation tour started its onslaught on a scorching September 4, 2014 in Pittsburgh at Stage AE. This highly anticipated tour features A Day to Remember, Bring Me the Horizon, Chiodos, and Motionless in White. An immense line stretched around the entire building sporting a younger crowd eager to make their entrance. The vibe of the crowd felt similar to that of a Warped Tour show, so basically there was a sea of thirsty teenagers and young adults screaming for a good time.
The line was still filling in as Chiodos answered the wails of their fans and started the tour off with a bang with The Undertaker’s Thirst for Revenge is Unquenchable. Derrick Frost and Matt Goddard have left Chiodos so Thomas Pridgen is filling in as their drummer and Joseph Troy on bass. Their set was short but intense with a mixture of tunes from all albums. Singer Craig Owens continually showed his appreciation for the crowd’s cheers and Chiodos left the crowd with Baby You Wouldn’t Last a Minute on the Creek to chant along to. Hoses immediately were sprayed into the crowd as we sweated in the hot afternoon as Motionless in White’s banner of their new album Reincarnate, which drops on September 16,was displayed on stage.
Bassist Devin Sola came out with a puppet on his bass that looked like Slappy the Doll from the Goosebumps books. Then the rest of the band rushed out on stage in full gothic attire and makeup to open up with Immaculate Misconception. Lead singer Chris Motionless thanked the crowd for their support after two songs and then performed a live debut of Dark Passenger from their new album. The pits kept getting bigger and I saw two interesting crowd surfers, one dressed as Waldo and another with a horse head mask as the set continued. Some members departed the stage shortly, but they returned with Chris wearing a Philadelphia Flyers sports coat since the band is from Scranton, PA. They received some boos from Pittsburgh Penguins fans of course, and concluded their set with America.
As the crowd settled down you could see the steam rising off their sweaty bodies and the staff answered our prayers with cool refreshing water from their hoses again. The album cover from Sepultura was displayed as the audience chanted for Bring Me the Horizon. BMTH took the stage and stared out into the crowd for a moment soaking in our energy then exploded into opener Shadow Moses. Oliver Sykes was straining to sing parts of different songs and he apologized for not singing to his full potential. He said just getting into this climate from their home in the UK wrecked havoc on his voice. But he wanted the crowd to keep tearing each other apart so Sykes split the crowd like Moses parting the red sea. White and red lights shined across the stage and then strobe lights flashed as the crowd collided back into each other to Chelsea Smile. Sykes thanked the crowd for their support and his love for playing in the states, then asked us to sit down on the ground. Almost the whole crowd crouched down and then jumped as high as we could as they began to blast into their closer Antivist. Sykes was not done with us yet and screamed for us separate one more time and we quickly moved apart just to mash all together one more time for a breakdown. The members of BMTH waved to us all and departed the stage. I heard some people begin to talk about how great of a production that A Day to Remember puts on and the crowd kept yelling ADTR! as we watched what looked like set for a play being put together.
Prop trees were set across the back of the stage, a rock ledge was built up front, a tent was built over the drum set in back center stage, and the background of the stage was a huge mountain sporting the faces of the band members that resembled Mount Rushmore. The anticipation was killing us all with this amazing stage set fourth across us and finally we hear the serene sound of classical music piece Morning Mood. Then the background screen flashed with an eagle that ripped off the tent of the drum set exposing the drummer as the rest of the members filled the stage to start off the night with a blast of confetti to The Downfall of Us All then went right into I’m Made of Wax, Larry, What Are You Made of? Lead singer Jeremy McKinnon said “now that is how you start off a f**king tour”, and expressed how grateful it is to finally be back in America to start their tour right in Pittsburgh.
Their show continued with mount ADTR displaying a variety of amazing simulations along the way. Mckinnon put on a cruise captains hat and asked for us to tear each other apart for their next tune, Violence. The mountain faces expressed pissed off emotions and lava flowed over them burning bald spots onto their heads as we showed our violence in return with two gigantic circle pits. A few songs later, Mckinnon said we’re going to tone it down for the next one and he grabbed an acoustic guitar to play I’m Already Gone. After this, he wanted to get us pumped back up so he left the stage and came rolling back in a giant hamster ball a top the crowd to Homesick. Mount ADTR then zombified and turned monstrous green and purple with an ominous sky backdrop for them to rock out to Dead and Buried. Mckinnon then told us they want to see a people standing on top of crowd surfers and I saw a man in a banana suit riding on top of batman along with others surfing their way to the front as they powered through Sometimes You’re the Hammer, Sometimes You’re the Nail. After playing All I Want, ADTR waved bye to us all but a haze of smoke under blue tinted lights laid across the stage as we awaited their encore with chants of ADTR still being screamed as loud as ever. Mckinnon and guitarist Kevin Skaff returned to the stage to play If it Means a Lot to You. The rest of the band came out as they finished to perform All Signs Point to Lauderdale then smoke blew up from the floor of the stage and confetti bursted forth into the raging crowd for The Plot to Bomb the Panhandle.
ADTR bowed to the audience and asked for our applause for every band on the tour. As mount ADTR was torn down, a message of get the f**k out flashed in blood smeared letters over the stage. Metal core shows always leave your body battered and bruised, but the amazing performances put on by all these bands made us craving for more of this battery. ADTR’s impressive stage show and the thunderous genuine sound of every band was more than I expected. The Parks and Devastation tour just began and runs till October 11 so check out the dates and witness this stacked lineup burning down a city near you.
Review by: Chad Johnston
