Who: “Rage on The Stage” – I Prevail, We Came As Romans, The Word Alive, Escape The Fate
Where: The Palladium, Worcester, Massachusetts
When: October 20, 2017
The Rage On The Stage tour knocked out its audience when it came to the Palladium in Worcester, MA on October 20.
The first band on stage was Escape The Fate and they were a lot fun. A lot of the audience was already fans of theirs, but they left with a lot of new fans, including me. Their set was energetic from start to finish. My favorite part of their set was watching guitarist Kevin “Thrasher” Gruft. The bleached blonde hair and the big sunglasses would have looked ridiculous without a personality to match, which he definitely had. Besides that, he’s a very talented guitarist; actually the entire band are all very talented musicians. Their set was way too short in my opinion (and much of the audience’s as well). It’s not going to be long before they’re headlining their own monster of a tour. This may have been my first time seeing them, but it will not be my last.
The second band up was The Word Alive. This was my first time seeing them, as well. Apparently vocalist Telle Smith was sick, but I honestly could not tell until he told the audience. He had the audience in the palm of his hand from the minute he stepped on stage. I really liked how he kept thanking the audience for coming to see them, and especially appreciated his thanks and encouragement of the venue and its staff. They had plenty of their own fans in the audience, as well. The Word Alive’s set was also much too short. After seeing their set, I’m keeping an eye out for future dates in my area; if that’s how they perform when their vocalist is sick, I can’t imagine how good they’ll be when he’s recovered. I also give him and the band major credit for being professional and giving their audience what they paid to see.
The anticipation in the venue was highly palpable before We Came As Romans came on stage; after their set, I understand why the audience was there to see them just as much as they were there for the headliner. The Worcester show was a special one for them because it was their album release date. You could tell the band was excited and it really came through in their performance; it was the most energetic performance of the night and I enjoyed every minute. Their set consisted of a good mix of new songs off Cold Like War, as well as older songs, including their Punk Goes Pop cover of “Glad You Came.” Vocalist Kyle Pavone climbed the barricade at one point and was held up by the audience, before he crowdsurfed back to the stage. They even had Eric Vanlerberge of I Prevail join them for guest vocals on a song. Their entire set, every single member of the band gave high-quality, energetic performances. The audience was “Lost In The Moment” the entire time they were on stage. We Came As Romans was my favorite band of the night and I will definitely catch them next time they’re in town.
I didn’t actually believe I Prevail was going to set up an actual wrestling ring on stage; I was wrong. Their set started with an intro similar to the ones you hear when you watch wrestling. Then the band came on and went right into their first song, but the only thing I could think was, “Where’s Brian?” After the first song was over, my question was answered: vocalist Brian Burkheiser apparently was out with a medical issue; guitarist Dylan Bowman was taking over his duties for him. While I was disappointed that Brian was absent, I Prevail showed how strong their work ethic is by continuing to tour and to give 100% to the audience; the quality of the show did not suffer at all and Bowman was on point the entire night. If I compare their set at Worcester to when I saw them at Warped Tour over the summer, the energy was even better this second time and the show was a lot more fun.
The Rage On The Stage tour absolutely knocked out every last audience member that night. Every single band impressed me and was memorable, which is a first; I’ve never seen such a strong lineup on a tour. I would go see every single band again every opportunity I can. I applaud every single person on the tour for putting on such a fun night.
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Post by Karen Shalev
Did you attend this tour? Comment below.
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