Pierce the Veil, Sleeping With Sirens, Mallory Knox & Pvris
February 20, 2014
The National- Richmond, VA
Pierce The Veil and Sleeping With Sirens have definitely proved to every fan/The World Tour attendee a fantastic experience. This is definitely not a tour to miss. Too start off lets talk about the two very talented supporting acts. First, A small band from Massachusetts, the band PVRIS, who just recently last year released their debut, White Noise, went up first on the bill. As soon as vocalist Lynn Gunn’s powerful voice filled the venue, the whole crowd cheered and had their hands up in the air singing back word for word. It was pretty clear that the crowd knew who this talented band is. Bandmates Alex Babinski (Guitarist) and Brian MacDonald (Guitar, Bass, and Keyboards) and Justin Nace (Touring Drummer), definitely pleased the crowd with five of their most popular tracks from White Noise. Lynn’s live vocal ability is phenomenal. Her vocals were definitely loud and clear and the instrumental pieces coming from Justin, Brian and Alex backed up the powerful lyrics and faded so beautifully to allow for quiet verses of the softer songs. PVRIS are an band who are extremely well live and if you get a chance to see them play, don’t hesitate, they are a must watch!
Mallory Knox was second on the bill. Coming all the way from across the pond for this tour, it is also their first tour ever in the United States. There was a pretty big difference between PVRIS, who were all about setting the mood and just having a very relaxed like set and the guys of Mallory Knox who kicked up the energy immediately. Despite it being their first time ever not only in the US but at The National in Richmond, VA they were very unintimidated and so confident taking the stage in front of people who really didn’t have a clue who they were. Before the show I looked the band up on YouTube to see how their stage presence was and you can definitely tell they took the depth of their experience touring the United Kingdom and brought it here to the United States. The band definitely provided a pumped up crowd for the main acts of the night. Another thing about this band is how much they care about the crowd at one point last night , the lead singer, Mikey, stopped mid way through their last song to point out that a fan who needed medical care (due to how hot it was in the venue). It may have been scary to most of the young concert goers who attended the show that night , but I would like to say that I’ve never seen a band react to someone injured in a crowd like Mallory Knox did there is a lot to be said about a band that really does cares about the safety of the fans, and it’s a definitely gesture like that which deserves a pat on the back and a lot of respect.
After a slight delay with set up for the next band, Sleeping With Sirens finally took the stage the fans were very welcoming with pure chants and screams. It was pretty obvious why they’re co-headlining this tour, because their stage production was just mind blowing. Their introduction video was pretty hilarious, it consisted of little skits of each band member just fooling around and showing true friendship between them. Several screens behind the band also showed bits of lyrics to help fans sing along and cool strobes of different colored lights to set the mood and pump up the fans even more. Kellin, Justin, Gabe, Jack and Nick definitely worked the stage like true rockstars. The best part was they would always be doing something interesting or crazy, noting Jack Fowler kicked me in the head (luckily not to hard). The whole band was consistent with jumping on the risers and pumping up the crowd even more. They definitely know how to extract and maintain energy from a crowd. Sleeping with Sirens singer, Kellin Quinn and guitarist Nick Martin toned down the night with a cover of Iris by Goo Goo Dolls allowing a pumped up fans to catch their breath before jumping right back into some high-energy tracks.
There was quite a long break before Pierce The Veil came on due to some technical difficulties, all because they had a large amount of equipment to set up which would eventually blow your mind! It was completely worth every second though, because Pierce The Veil’s stage production/presence definitely blew away the opening three bands combined. The varied lighting which was fantastic, lit up in one way or another, and the best part was the confetti cannons, that blew huge amounts of paper confetti pieces all over the venue . The band went all out – jumping around the stage and putting a massive amount of energy into their performance. The finale was their energy packed song King For A Day featuring Kellin Quinn of Sleeping With Sirens. This song definitely ended the night on a good note along with several blasts of the confetti cannons that left everyone with massive smiles on their faces. This show was probably one of the best shows of 2015 so far! If you don’t have tickets get them while you can if it isn’t already sold out, it’s definitely a must see show!
Review by: Alyssa Howell
Pierce the Veil
Sleeping with Sirens
Mallory Knox
PVRIS
