NEW YORK, NY—For my first trip to the Nokia Theatre, this one will stick out in my head forever. I have seen Silverstein over a handful of times at each avenue of their career (about once or twice each time a new album comes out) and their live performance of songs from their new album Arrivals And Departures was a little less than stellar. I understand the strains of touring with a combination of bad weather can take its toll on a singer’s voice but poor Shane Told could barely hit a single note the entire night. He pushed his voice for every scream and elongated note; the vocal performance had noticeable shortcomings though the band as a whole was tight. Though the poor vocals bought the performance down to a low I have never seen, Silverstein still tugged at my heart strings by performing three tracks, “Smashed Into Pieces,” “Red Light Pledge” and “Autumn Leaves” from their 2003 Victory Records debut album When Broken Is Easily Fixed.
I was not too into The Devil Wears Prada set. They are for a younger demographic of music fans and I just don’t get the whole bringing your parents to a show with you. It is too embarrassing to wrap my brain around. Though this band of kids barely into their 20s are very talented and make halfway decent music to which to dance, it was not the best idea for them to go on after A Day To Remember. After that set, the body count was so high there were barely any kids on the floor.
But every set on the lineup was not as lackluster; A Day To Remember bought the house down during their performance of songs from their album For Those Who Have Heart. I have never seen a whole venue go as crazy or dance as hard as I did this night for this Ocala, FL, band. ADTR were by far the best stage show of the night. Each time a song was introduced, the venue would explode with roars of cheers and swinging fists.
Another hefty letdown was Protest The Hero, the opening set. Though they did play a few songs from their debut Vagrant record Kezia, the one single that everyone was dying to hear, “Heretics And Killers” was not played! The audience was less than thrilled.
The show as a whole was extremely fun, full of dancing and singalongs, but somehow it managed to end on a sour note; a few drunkards forced me to break one of their noses and initiate a brawl that would end in them being escorted from the building. Long story short: don’t mess with the girl with a press pass and more friends watching her back than you know.
Photo Credit: Deanna Wallach
