As the lights went down at the Fillmore Charlotte, the anticipation of brutal, melodic metal drew nearer and nearer to our hearts. We stood amidst a crowd of the longhaired, the metal heads and the young and meek awaiting the sounds of Between the Buried and Me. Being their first day of The Saints and Sinners Tour, there was no real telling what we would experience. Their sets are always different with each round they make. I have seen them play a mixed bag of their heavier tunes before they became big, their album, Colors straight through, then last year, a sampler of hits, a testament to the popularity they have drawn since first forming in 2000.
This night we had two opening bands to work through before we reached our final destination of melodic genius. TesseracT, who opened the night with a hardcore screamo vibe, then Animals as Leaders who were an instrumental, mathematical, heavy and sweet package. Although both opening bands were awesome and worthy of listening time, it was difficult to focus while being so anxious to view the men of the night, BTBAM.
As the room darkened once more, Between the Buried and Me took the stage to bring us to tears and head banging with their jams full of nostalgia, catharsis and grace. Although Tommy was sick with strep throat, you would’ve never been able to tell as his voice was as on-point as usual and he still gave it his all throughout the entire set. They played a perfectly executed sampler of jams primarily from Colors, The Great Misdirect, their newest album, Parallax and a medley of older jams from the self-titled, Between the Buried and Me and The Silent Circus. We were taken on a brief tour of their career and for those of us that have been around since the beginning, the progression of our relationship with their music. Pits formed around the middle of the crowd, pushing us away and bringing us in as fans screamed lyrics, smiling and letting it all out as they enjoyed songs they were deeply connected with.
Requests came screaming from all areas of the room, most notably “Mordecai,” a favorite from their self-titled album. Ending with “White Walls,” eyes were welled with tears and hearts tethered to the moment, we all screamed for more and being the amazing individuals these guys are, our request was granted and “Mordecai” belted from the large towers of speakers surrounding us. The crowd went ape-shit, taking advantage of the last moments of emotional release they had. Arms flailed, faces cried and the pit was as gnarly as ever. By the end of the song, we still wanted more but respectfully allowed them their conclusion, as they had been kind enough to give us their all and fill our souls with contentment and joy.
Although, I must admit, I prefer the older day of BTBAM when I could go see them at Tremont Music Hall in a more intimate, less-securitized setting with fair drink prices, it is good to see that they have grown so large that they are in need of a setting like The Fillmore. Security guards shining their flashlights at you for standing too close to the stage, smoking a certain distance from the building and nine-dollar tallboys of Miller Light are definitely a drawback and most certainly not rock n’ roll. But regardless, the sound is great at The Fillmore and it is the nature of the beast when you grow larger and into the higher ranks of musical royalty. It’s not the band’s fault, it’s the venue and management that make this call and I understand to a certain extent. I am just glad I had the chance to see them in their rawest form when I still could.
If you have the opportunity to make it out to any of the dates on their tour, you would be shaming yourself if you didn’t go. BTBAM is genius and an experience in themselves that you should seize like none other and grasp on until the final notes are played.
Set List:
Mirrors
Obfuscation
Augment of Rebirth
Foam Born- B
Disease, Injury, Madness
Specular Reflection
Medley
Viridian
White Walls
Encore:
Mordecai
Remaining Tour Dates:
11/01 Richmond, VA The Hat Factory
11/02 Myrtle Beach, SC House of Blues
11/03 Tampa, FL The Ritz Ybor
11/04 Ft. Lauderdale, FL Revolution
11/05 Orlando, FL The Beacham
11/06 Birmingham, AB Zydeco
11/08 Indianapolis, IN Egyptian Room
11/09 Cleveland, OH House of Blues
11/10 Detroit, MI St. Andrews Hall
11/11 Chicago, IL House of Blues
11/12 Cincinnati, OH Bogart’s
11/13 St. Louis, MO The Pageant
11/15 Little Rock, AR Juanita’s
11/16 New Orleans, LA House of Blues
11/17 Houston, TX House of Blues
11/18 Dallas, TX House of Blues
11/19 Austin, TX Emo’s (outside)
11/20 San Antonio, TX Backstage Live
11/22 Tucson, AZ Rialto Theatre
11/23 Las Vegas, NV House of Blues
11/25 Anaheim, CA House of Blues
11/26 Los Angeles, CA House of Blues (* Saints & Sinners Festival)
11/27 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore
11/29 Boise, ID The Knitting Factory
11/30 Spokane, WA The Knitting Factory
12/01 Calgary, AB The Republik
12/02 Edmonton, AB Starlite Room
12/03 Saskatoon, SK Louis’ Pub
12/04 Winnipeg, MB Garrick Center
12/07 Toronto, ON Phoenix Concert Theatre
12/08 Montreal, QC Club Soda
12/09 Clifton Park, NY Northern Lights
12/10 Philadelphia, PA Theatre of the Living Arts
http://www.betweentheburiedandme.com/
http://www.myspace.com/animalsasleaders
http://www.tesseractband.co.uk/
