King for Three Days: Pierce the Veil begins their sold-out Soma residency

Pierce the Veil live at Soma San Diego California — Local emo heroes Pierce the Veil play their first of three sold out shows at Soma

After a 6 year absence, Pierce the Veil returned to their hometown San Diego, California with a 3 show run at their favorite local venue, Soma. After announcing a New Years Eve special return, and selling it out within minutes, the guys graciously added two additional shows (December 29 & 30) to give their local fans their due diligence. In addition, a pop up merch tent located just outside the venue is open and available to the public 12-5 PM all three days. It truly was a great way to take care of the hometown homies. The fan’s response has not disappointed, with the most dedicated setting up camp in line to get in as early as 12 PM on a 6:30 doors open schedule. Kicking off our emo extravaganza at 7:30 is another hometown hero Dead American.

The 5 Piece group delivered a trip back to the early 2000’s post hardcore that we have all come to love largely because all of the members originating from this “Warped Tour” era of music. Vocalist Cove Reber leads an amazing delivery of a great chosen handful of songs from their debut full-length album New Nostalgia. The group may have come together recently, but the music truly was a fit into the early 2007 time warp that we all had come for.

Josh Latham, bassist of Dead American — Dead American

Cove Reber, vocalist of Dead American — Dead American

Our final opener for the evening was another post hardcore group that recently came together in 2019 but has already made their mark on the scene: DRAGGED U?DER. vocalist Anthony Cappocchi gave an absolutely insane performance, covering every single inch of the stage in the process. If you were not a fan before this night, you were now. Backed by the incredibly entertaining Ryan “Fluff” Bruce on lead guitar and backing vocals, Sean Rosario on rhythm guitar, and Hans Hessburg on bass guitar led for an all around unforgettable night. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any drummer hair action like Karen Anderson’s.

Anthony Cappocchi, vocalist of Dragged Under — DRAGGED U?DER

Ryan "Fluff" Bruce, guitarist, and Hans Hessburg, bassist of Dragged Under — DRAGGED U?DER

Once the hometown kings took the stage, the crowd at Soma could surly be heard around the city. Frontman Vic Fuentes didn’t waste any time and kicked off “Hell Above” almost instantly, completely with a confetti cannon. The man with the smile on the bass, Jaime Preciado, balanced out the insane movements and hair-tastic stage presence of Tony Perry on lead guitar. Also pretty sure Preciado threw his bass 20ft in the air and caught it mid-song. Vic took time between the numbers to interact with his local audience and ultimately keep checking in, which we appreciate! The band played their two newest singles “Pass the Nirvana” and “Emergency Contact” (which was sweetly dedicated to his pregnant wife) and was met with an audience who was ready to scream these new lyrics alongside them. The crowd has spoken, and we are clearly ready for their newest album The Jaws of Life, scheduled to release on February 10th, 2023. The guys also delivered fan favorite hits “Hold On Til May”, “I’m Low on Gas and You Need A Jacket”, and their Tiktok viral hit “King for a Day” to close out the evening.