Photos and review by Micah Gummel
Photos of Throw The Fight HERE
Photos of Stars In Stereo HERE
Photos of Black Veil Brides HERE
Photos of Bullet For My Valentine HERE
I arrived at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom to be greeted by a line of fans that stretched around the block and down the street This being the day after Halloween many faces were painted but not for Halloween it was for The Black Veil Brides and Bullet for My Valentine. It was at this point I realized that these are not just fans, this is an army and this legion seemed to be made up mainly of females of all ages.
Throw The Fight
Throw The Fight started the night and really rocked the house. They are based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota so they definitely have a Midwest sensibility. They performed their catchy tune, “Not So Hollywood” “Rock and roll is everything . . . To us, there’s nothing else,” proclaims guitarist Ryan Baustert. It’s that same all-in, do-it-yourself attitude that pours from this band
Stars In Stereo
The Second band to hit the stage was The female fronted band, Stars In Stereo Hailing from Los Angeles. The vocalist, Bec Hollback, has a memorable voice. They performed great songs off of their self-titled album including “The Broken” and “Every Last Thing”. Stars In Stereo music is a of fusion of pop and rock, making them a perfect fit for supporting the nights headliners. Hollcraft has a strong vocal ability and the band was tight and energetic as they played to the crowd. They a for sure a band to watch.
Black Veil Brides
Carrying the legacy for the new wave of Glam Metal, the Black Veil Brides hit the stage. The screaming rose to a pitch almost unbearable as the lights went down. The intro rolled and the band came out and ripped into “Shadow Die”. A song off the band’s new album “Wretched and Divine”.
Singer Andy Biersack’s voice sounded perfect and for a young performer he ruled the stage like he’d been doing this for 30 years. The girls went crazy every time he smiled and reached out towards them. The two guitarists, Jeremy “Jinxx” Ferguson and Jake Pitts, stuck the classic poses and looked like they just stepped out of a time machine from the 80’s. These two are not to be taken lightly. The talent in their playing is remarkable. This was very evident in several of their songs including “Bulletproof”. The first song off the latest album seeing it played live just reinforced my belief in the longevity of this killer band. The fan favorite of the women that were around me was Bassist Ashley Purdy. Cries of “Ashley” seemed to never stop. Ashley acknowledged these cries and smiled and pointed their way, which caused even more deafening screams. Drummer Christian “CC” Coma is nothing short of an animal on the drums. CC’s playing was driving and insane (see video “The Legacy”) and reminds me of a young Tommy Lee. He even got up on the drum set tossing his sticks out to the crowd (check out the photos)
The BVB’s tore through several more tracks off their latest release including it’s title track “Wretched and Divine” and pulled from their past and played the hits “Fallen Angels” and “Perfect Weapon”. They played one cover song being Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell” a very well done cover. The show ended with their current single “In the End”, a great anthem to end an even better show at the Casio Ballroom.
Bullet For My Valentine
“They seem to be inventing the Fuse version of cocky ’80s-metal a@#holes…Things could get interesting if we let these guys get famous.”-Revolver Magazine’s Christpher Weingarten has been quoted saying.
In their never-ending pursuit of world domination, Welsh metal quartet Bullet For My Valentine is finally back and touring in support of their highly-successful album Temper Temper a massive hard-rocking smash, debuting at #1 on the Hard Music Albums chart,#4 on the Alternative Albums chart, #5 on the Rock Albums chart, and #13 on the Billboard Top 200 Album chart. The band recently shot a brand new video for their new single “Breaking Point” while in Dallas during the first leg of the HardDrive Live tour directed by Adam Rothlein.
Their new album TEMPER TEMPER has received tremendous critical acclaim: Revolver writes “Matt Tuck & Co. unleash pure rock fury,” Noiscreep states “UK Metallers Make Triumphant Return” and ” USA Today raves “This Welsh band rose through the modern metal ranks, balancing old-school shredding with metalcore aggression. The group’s fourth album hits like a shot through the heart but still can shift from guttural growls to adamantine harmonies in seconds.”Artist Direct glows in a 5 out of 5 star review: “Bullet For My Valentine are at the top of their own game …they’re destined to take over the entire genre with this one… (the album) expertly fuses the quartet’s signature tight, technical thrash with the biggest hooks of their career.”And Loudwire continues: Not only will this album truly rock you, it also feels tailor made for the stage.”
Speaking of the stage chants of “Bullet! Bullet! Bullet” erupt. None of this is helped by the fact that the Bullet For My Valentine stage banner is now on full display along with their infamous wall of amps. Anticipation builds, the lights dim; the cheers erupt; and the capacity crowd is greeted with the familiar sounds of “Breaking Point.” Singer/guitarist Matt Tuck wasted no time getting the Mosh pits rolling. The show picked up quickly, and about two thirds of the way through, Matt Tuck came out while he was plucking away slowly at his guitar, and said his infamous line “Time to speed things up a bit” I was impressed to hear the crowd scream, as it seemed many knew what that meant from previous shows. All the sound stops, and all you hear is the intro to Waking the Demon, barely audible over the crowds screams. I counted no less than 3 mosh pits that opened up at that exact moment, one of which was right in the middle of where I was standing. From then on, the show was pretty hard, with quicker songs like Four Words to Choke Upon, Take It Out On Me, and The Last Fight.
Overall their set was everything and in between of epic. They came out strong and ended it strong like true metal musicians. From inspiring solos by Padge, skull crushing vocals by Matt, horn pounding drums by Moose, or head banging bass by Jay Bullet For My Valentine is a force to be reckoned with. They are the rising Kings of metal. Bullet for my Valentine really showed everything they had and left it on stage for the fans that night. For any heavy metal around the country, check to see when Bullet For My Valentine are heading to your town, cause you will surely regret it once they head back to the UK.