Escape The Fate
4th June 2018
San Fran, Wellington, New Zealand.
Review by Mat Hoyes. Photography by Bruce Mackay.
Escape The Fate returned to Wellington for a sold out show on the last date of their 10th anniversary tour for their celebrated second album, This War Is Ours.
On their first tour abroad, Brisbane post-alternative rock natives Between Kings opened the evening with a set that had musical depth and substance while still being light and accessible; crowd favourite the heavy and funky ‘Party Song’ soon had the fans pogoing while the singalong hit ‘In Lights’ closed the set. These guys absolutely blew me away and they are certainly going to be a band to keep an eye on in the future as their shows become more refined.
Next up was yet another Brisbane based group; rock band Awaken I Am touring their 2017 album Blind Love. If you want to get an idea of their sound then all you have to do is check out the title track which epitomises what they do so well. Awaken I am resist the urge to simply chug out big riffs on two guitars; instead juxtaposing Jimmy Stevenson’s soaring vocals with a plaintive, thoughtful guitar melody over a powerful rhythm section. They worked the crowd and owned the room; Jimmy is one of those front men who can make everyone in the room feel like he’s speaking just to you. He even delivered a heartfelt tribute to their former guitarist Connor Oakley, who was tragically killed in a car crash just prior to the tour. Finishing with their hit ‘Walk my Way’ they left the audience salivating for more.
But let’s face it the heaving crowd were all waiting for one act and for one act only. Hailing from the city of excess Las Vegas Nevada, Escape the Fate proved once and for all that they are a tour de force of the post hardcore genre. ‘Something’ had San Fran feeling like an earthquake had struck the capital and the building would collapse any minute. Craig Mabbitt’s vocals went from pleading to demonic in the blink of an eye as he worked the crowd into a frenzy with heavy hitters from This War is Ours. ‘You Are So Beautiful’ exemplified the combination which has made Escape the Fate such a success; thrashy, punk heaviness with infectious hooks that had the crowd singing every heartfelt word, and then careening into each other to high tempo blasts of angst and resentment. ‘Harder Than You Know’ was an abrupt change of pace and has to be the best power ballad released in the last decade. The crowd were swung and danced to the heavy groove laid down by Robert Ortiz’s stunning performance on the drums as their set concluded to thunderous applause with ‘It’s Just Me’.
With This Is Ours played in full technicolour glory as promised, ‘One For The Money’ kicked off the first encore; Kevin ‘Thrasher’ Gruft’s searing lead guitar seemed to dominate the rest of the set, he lost nothing by being the only axeman onstage on this tour – the latest album I Am Human features a lot of harmonised lead guitar, so I was surprised he was alone as they have historically had two guitars. His whammy bar pyrotechnics and sweep picked arpeggios were blistering, making him a modern 80s style guitar hero. As if to emphasise the point, he tore through a cover of Eddie van Halen’s epic solo ‘Eruption’, Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Purple Haze’and Guns N’ Roses ‘Paradise City’.
This was the last night of the tour, but it was soon made obvious that Escape The Fate didn’t want to just take it easy – after two encores it was finally a cover of My Chemical Romance’s ‘Dead!’ that brought the evening to a dramatic and unexpected conclusion. It was a bold move to close with anything but your biggest banger (especially a song from another band!) but considering their history with MCR it seemed rather fitting, and besides the crowd were going completely nuts to a song that everyone – both band and fans – obviously loved. Mabbit crowd-surfed on a pulsating wave of adoring fans as the final drum rolls and guitar solos reached their peak before collapsing around the audience leaving heavily panting but positively ecstatic fans in its wake. From start to finish Escape the Fate were focused and cohesive and they made a highly intensive and energetic set look effortless.
But the one thing that really stood out about their final show of the tour? As soon as they stepped out onto the stage their love for their fans was evident – from bonding with the guy who jumped up to perform a bunch of vocals in different songs to their sincere invitation for everyone to stay afterwards and hit the bar with them, it was a night for the fans who had stuck it out with them over the last ten years. This War Is Ours still resonating with those fans both old … and new.
Escape The Fate:
Awaken I Am:
Between Kings:
Were you there at San Fran for this sold out metal gig? Or have you seen Escape The Fate perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Setlist:
- We Won’t Back Down
- On to the Next One
- Ashley
- Something
- The Flood
- Let It Go
- You Are So Beautiful
- This War Is Ours (The Guillotine II)
- 10 Miles Wide
- Harder Than You Know
- It’s Just Me
- Remember Every Scar
- I Am Human
- Broken Heart
- Gorgeous Nightmare
- One for the Money
- Ungrateful
- Just a Memory
- Dead! [My Chemical Romance cover]
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