Escape The Fate
1st October 2016
Kings Arms Tavern, Auckland, New Zealand
Review by Kate Taylor. Photography by a mystery super guest.
Returning to New Zealand’s shores after a well-received WESTFEST 2015 performance; Escape the Fate made a triumphant appearance at Auckland’s favourite but jeopardised venue The Kings Arms, for a rousing night of revels. Making a minor false start due to technical difficulties, the ETF lads shrugged off the glitch effortlessly and launched into a stadium-professional, blistering set of favourites and new cuts from 2015’s album, Hate Me.
Consummate showmen, Escape the Fate created a vibrant, inclusive set for the crowd that managed to brave the torrential spring showers the night, making it a cosy, well-populated venue.
Producing the obligatory on-stage chat about their previous NZ visit and how much they enjoy visiting us ‘Kay-ways, as frontman Craig Mabbit endearingly tried to pronounce. While a tried and true ‘get the audience on side’ gesture, it was obvious that this was a heartfelt statement by the fellas and as Craig eluded too, we’ll no doubt see them play here again soon.
The gathered ETF faithful were treated to a performance of Breaking Me Down, which Mabbit shared they’d just filmed a video for; and announced that it was the first time the track had been played live…anywhere, asides to their sound check that afternoon. That was the only cue needed for the ETF die-hards to launch a multitude of smartphones into the air to capture the moment; broadcasting it globally, making it feel as though everything that mattered was centred on Auckland at that very second.
Escape the Fate are such a rag-tag bunch of ‘good dude’ characters, taking the time to acknowledge fans with lots of eye contact, waves, cheeky smiles, high fives or hands-down the most charismatic of the bunch – drummer Robert occasionally standing and playing off the crowd’s copious good vibes. If you walked in not knowing anything about this band, Escape the Fate ensured you’d be walking out a fan for life. Show stopping songs for the evening were most definitely belts of Just a Memory and Remember Every Scar. Undoubtedly however, Escape the Fate hit their stride on the anthem Live for Today, coming to a head exploding pinnacle, a masterful pause then all members breaking down into the marching beat of this positive call to arms. Escape the Fate rounded out the evening with a delicious encore, bringing everyone to a quivering sweaty mess as they left us with a saucy and side-eye heavy rendition of Situations. More please…and soon!
Did you catch this amazing performance at the Kings Arms? Or have you seen Escape The Fate at another one of their shows? Tell me about it in the comments below!
For more information on Escape The Fate you can check out their website, or follow them on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.