Architects, Of Mice And Men, and While She Sleeps Sell Out And Show Out At The Filmore Silver Spring

Did you hear that? I think the walls are crumbling

It’s a dreary Friday evening in Silver Spring, MD but that’s nothing to a metal head. Fans show up in droves to stand outside The Fillmore Silver Spring, lining up to see a hardcore trifecta. I’ve heard of all three of these artists but they aren’t a part of my music library. Spoiler alert: that changes tonight. 

I get through security and slap my media sticker onto my shirt and head into the venue. The merch line is already almost out the door, so I weave through to get into the auditorium. It’s 20 minutes till the first set is scheduled to start and the place is already packed. I’m serious, barrier to the back wall, and there are still fans coming in. I slither my way through the tight crowd, staying close to the bar as I make my way to the photographer’s area. This is one of my favorite venues to work, they have a nice spacious area for photogs to hang out before and between sets. Good thing too, because not only is everyone damp from being out in the rain, but body heat plus moisture equals humidity. Man, the air is thick in here. 

I chatted with Dan, a security guard who was working the last show I photographed here. He has salt-and-pepper hair, a mustache, and a warm smile. He’s always on the ball too, nothing gets past this guy. The lights dim and he waves me through the threshold of security guarding the photo pit. I hustle to the middle of the photo pit and suddenly it’s lights, camera, action. While She Sleeps takes the stage and the screens lining the stage behind them illuminate the band. Vocalist Lawrence is sporting red sunglasses and a sick chain choker. The set kicks off with “SLEEPS SOCIETY” and the crowd surfers immediately take flight. You’d think it would take some ramping up but it does not. The band has tons of energy on stage and gave a nod to someone wearing a banana suit and someone else wearing a Bud Light costume. Lawrence is very photog friendly, posing and showing off several times for each of us in the pit. They play a song called “SELF HELL” about midway through their set, this one is easily my favorite. 

“Let’s praise the love ’cause it’s all we’ve got –

Take it as it comes, there’s enough self hell for everyone”

While She Sleeps has a massive  “SLEEPS” backdrop that is black and white and looks like shattered glass that is glowing behind them. As I rush back and forth taking snaps of this energetic band, I’m catching lots of gentle taps from security signaling me to scoot out of the way to make way for crowd surfers. I really can’t tell who has more energy, the fans or the band. 

The crowd is JUMPING for While She Sleeps last song, “SYSTEMATIC”. I’m downstairs watching from a screen in the air-conditioning by now because even in a tank top and pants riddled with rips, I’m sweating my ass off. While She Sleeps wraps up and I shuffle up the stairs to get back where I belong to prepare for the next band. 

Of Mice And Men is a band I’ve heard of the most of anyone on the ticket tonight. While they aren’t in my personal music library, I’m familiar with them because I have friends who are fans. 

Fifteen minutes go by and like clockwork, the lights go down once more and it’s Of Mice And Men’s turn to rock the house. They kick things off with a track titled “Obsolete”, and it’s a banger. Vocalist Aaron has lengthy hair that is somewhat blocking my shots but man is it nice for those head-banging snaps I’m getting! There are just as many if not more crowd surfers for Of Mice And Men, I’m starting to see a common theme for tonight’s show. Their drummer is rocking a cool laid-down mohawk hairstyle that’s drenched in sweat, I can see it flying as he bangs away. He looks badass. Aaron’s vocals are really impressive, not only can he scream, he can sing! 

Okay scratch what I said earlier, there are definitely more crowd surfers for Of Mice And Men and every single one of them gets either a successful or a damn good attempt at a knuckle bump from Aaron. Speaking of Aaron, he jokes “How many times am I gonna run into this thing tonight?” while he pokes at a GoPro stand that is mounted with a camera pointed right at drummer Valentino. 

Around the middle of their set, the band takes a brief pause to thank security for keeping everyone safe, and rightfully so. They are ON IT tonight. There are a few more songs left for this set, and Of Mice And Men dedicates one of them to a fan that has recently passed away. The crowd throws out awws and cheers. 

“Bones Exposed” is the next to the last song and the guys request a pit be opened up. The crowd quickly obeys. I can’t see it myself because I’m 5’3” but I see their videographer pan over to the crowd and can only assume he’s capturing the hole forming in the audience. Chaos ensues the moment the song begins and during a short break in the song, “I go hard in the motherf*ckin’ paint” plays, and then I’m assuming the pit goes absolutely insane because the drop sure as hell did. There’s one last song that Of Mice And Men is going to perform tonight, it’s an old one titled “Second & Sebring”. 

“Remember what I said. You are the spirit. The lifeblood. The inspiration. Never forget it” Aaron tells the crowd before the song begins. It’s absolute chaos in the crowd. Everyone is jumping, singing, and dancing, and its crowd surfers galore. I caught sight of a really young guy boosting himself off the bar nearby to crowd surf. Hell yeah. 

It’s finally time. The band I’ve heard everyone talking up tonight, Architects. I grab a couple of mini cups of water from the water cart nearby as security grabs several to hand out to the crowd. They’re gonna need them, it’s about to really heat up in here. 

Before I know it, I’m being motioned to take my place in the photo pit. The band races out from backstage, the lights are strobing. There are members on two levels of the stage, both levels backed with screens showing flashing visuals. “Seeing Red” is the first song and I mean, it is the Seeing Red tour. Wow. I am impressed. Architects RIP and I thought the crowd was wild before. They’re absolutely feral now, I’m surprised the barrier is keeping them contained. Vocalist Sam kneels right in front of me and flashes a devilish grin. *Click*, there’s my star shot of this evening! 

This is absolutely the hardest band of the evening. The bass startled me at first in the pit. I literally jumped. I see a lot of kids in the crowd and man is that awesome. 

Their visuals on the screen are crazy. It’s like a grainy fast-moving multicolor close-up video of something, it just looks like shapes but I’m mesmerized. They’re doing the job for sure. A song called “Little Wonder” is performed and Sam requests everyone to get on their knees towards the end, there’s no way they can. It’s SO packed in here but when the breakdown came, wow. I’m speechless. I swear at that moment, my head could have exploded.  

Sam dedicates “Doomsday” to his brother Tom as the screens light up with a yellow, tunnel visual that makes it look like you’re falling down it and then when the vocals begin, the visuals change to a beautiful light blue glowing tree briefly as the song slows, then back to the tunnel visual when it picks up again. Trippy as hell and it’s keeping my attention. 

I happened to catch a video of a very small kid crowd-surfing, he couldn’t have been any older than 6. It warmed my heart. The security guard Dan grabbed him and lifted him up Lion King style as they both were beaming. 

Architects’ last song is called “Animals”. “We’re just a bunch of fucking animals” the crowd screams in unison. There are purge-style alarms that blare during this song. It’s eerie but I love it, just as much if not more than the long-time fans of the band. The energy tonight has been at 150, and I swear it multiplied for this last song. I watch sidestage as the crowd looks like an ocean. The people are jumping and moving in waves as crowd surfers are now literally being tossed into the air now. The song ends and a drumstick is thrown up on the balcony to a kid. He drops it. 

The crowd demands it’s given back by whoever caught it and it is. The audience woos and applauds in relief. The kid is all smiles and I catch myself smiling as well. I seriously love the metal scene’s fan base, it’s like a big family. I wait around for a minute or two because the room is still so full, there’s no way I’m going to sneak through the crowd so I might as well wait. Finally, the room is about half empty and I make my way to the door. It’s still raining out but that’s not keeping anyone down. I don’t see a single person that isn’t smiling. I would come to see these bands perform again and again and I know that I’m not the only one. 

Architects aren’t done with their US Tour Yet! Catch them in your city!

See the full gallery of the night here!

If you happened to capture any shots of the night, feel free to tag us on social media at Shutter 16 Magazine and throw in #Shutter16 and #TwitFromThePit for the world to see.

May-14 – Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern

May-15 – Nashville, TN @ Marathon Music Works

May-17 – Chicago, IL @ The Riviera Theatre

May-18 – Detroit, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre