Pierce The Veil’s Misadventures in Rochester

The rowdy crowd at the Main Street Armory in Rochester did an fantastic job of drowning out the sound of pouring rain pounding on the roof that Saturday night. They definitely carried out the sentiment of “a little rain never hurt anybody.” I showed up to the venue with about 2 minutes to spare and joined the other photographers (much resembling wet dogs) in the photo pit. We readied our cameras and our faces to be melted off by the first act.

You definitely wouldn’t have been able to guess that I Prevail doesn’t yet have an extensive discography available yet--the crowd roared when they came out on stage and didn’t stop until they left. With only one single (Scars, 2016) and a cover (Blank Space, 2014) available, they filled the set with songs off their upcoming debut album Lifelines, which is set to be released on October 21, 2016.

Neck Deep, pop punk flames from Wales, followed up the post-hardcore set with a good mix of songs from throughout their extensive discography. One thing in particular to note about frontman Ben Barlow is that he thoroughly enjoys directing the large crowd in how to act at shows. Not once, not twice, but about every goddamn song did he tell the crowd to ignore security and to continue to “f*cking rage,” stage dive, and “open up the pit.” Everyone ate it up (with, well, the exception of security of course).

After about a 30-minute stage change, a projector blinked to life and showed the trademark calligraphy Pierce The Veil logo onto a white sheet blocking the stage. The crowd immediately went ape shit and drowned out the house music that was already blasting in the background. The projector was the crew’s way of giving the crowd something to look at while for the next ten minutes while the real magic happened behind the massive white sheet. The house music dimmed as the crowd replaced the silence with more screams of excitement. They could sense something epic was about to happen, and they were right. The white screen dropped and revealed a completely transformed stage. At the rear of the stage was a horizontal rocket ship, from which the members of the band would soon enter. As their set got started, the front row of concertgoers squished as far up against the railing as their bodies could possibly could without security telling them to back up. Had it not been for my earplugs, my ears would have been ripped to shreds by both the screams of the thousand dedicated fans and the absolute rager that was happening on stage.

All three bands have current albums out or are about to be released. I Prevail is releasing their debut album Lifelines on October 21, 2016. Neck Deep’s most recent album Life’s Not Out To Get You released mid-2015. Pierce The Veil recently released their fourth full-length studio album in May of this year.

Set List: Pierce the Veil - September 17, 2016: Rochester, NY

1. Dive In

2. Caraphernelia

3. Texas Is Forever

4. The Divine Zero

5. Bulletproof Love

6. Floral & Fading

7. Kissing in Cars

8. May These Noises Startle You in Your Sleep Tonight

9. Hell Above

10. Bulls in the Bronx

11. Stained Glass eyes and Colorful Tears