AUGUST BURNS RED DESTROYS THE CONCORD MUSIC HALL IN CHICAGO

A week or so ago, August Burns Red headlined an absolutely stacked lineup featuring Fit For A King, ERRA, and Like Moths To Flames at the Concord Music Hall in Chicago. Celebrating the 10 year anniversary of their album Leveler, August Burns Red re-mixed, re-recorded, and sometimes re-wrote parts of their 2011 album.

The melodic, progressive metal band ERRA opened the night and decimated the building with their opening song “Gungrave.” Promoting their new self-titled album, ERRA had the entire crowd singing, moshing, and waving their hands throughout the set. Unfortunately, security wasn’t prepared for the number of crowd surfers present. One fan was about to topple over the barricade as vocalist J.T. Cavey tried to intervene from the stage. No one was seemingly hurt and security rushed in to catch the oncoming fans. ERRA’s rhythmic breakdowns had the whole crowd moving as they played new songs for Chicago. Hearing their self-titled album in person has felt vastly different from listening to it with headphones or in the car. Feeling the bass and the drums instead of hearing them during the breakdowns transforms the music into a vastly different experience. Even though ERRA focused on playing their new material, head-banging and dancing continued as they played “Irreversible,” “Breach,” and “Skyline” from their previous records. As ERRA concluded their set, the entire crowd started one of the biggest mosh pits of the night and screamed during ERRA’s final song “Snowblind.”

Fit For A King is without a doubt one of the most fun metal bands to see live. They opened with their insanely heavy song “Stockholm” from their new album The Path. The crowd was fully invested in having a great time as Fit For A King played their “softest” song “Locked (In My Head)” next. Crowd surfers flowed over the photo pit into the arms of security as the mosh pit began to grow in size. Tuck and Daniel were jumping off of their risers right before the big breakdowns which made the crowd go wild. During the breakdown in “Backbreaker,” the subwoofers were so loud they warped my iPhone camera as I recorded chaos. The only song the band didn’t play from their previous two records The Path and Dark Skies was “Deathgrip.” While the lighting was awesome, it was just a prelude to August Burns Red’s stunning show. The entire crowd screamed the opening lyrics to the final song “God of Fire” which brought the energy level to an all time high.

August Burns Red just remixed, re-recorded, and re-wrote their 10-year-old album Leveler, which they played front to back. The lighting was insane as David Summers programmed a million lighting cues to the band’s songs. An assortment of lasers, lights, and smoke cannons filled the stage as the crowd collectively lost their minds. Jake, the band’s vocalist, warmed his hands around the fiery guitar solos of Dustin, Brent, and J.B. To my surprise, Dustin and Brent switched between playing guitar and bass throughout the set while J.B. spent the night shredding in his flip-flops. Matt Greiner was an absolute powerhouse on the drums from start to finish. After the band finished with the song “Leveler,” Matt went into an insane drum solo that had the crowd cheering. To end the wonderful evening, August Burns Red played “Bloodletter,” “Paramount,” and “Defender” from their 2020 album Guardians. Knowing there was one more song coming, the crowd split as far as the venue would allow and rushed together in a wall of death as the opening breakdown of “White Washed” kicked in. The energy was palpable throughout the building as the final song ended. As the Leveler 10 Year Anniversary tour came to a close August Burns Red genuinely thanked the crowd for all of their support and expressed their desire to create a space where their fans can release some pent-up energy.

A few days later, August Burns Red released an important announcement that said, “Due to multiple members of our touring party testing positive for COVID-19 we have been forced to postpone our upcoming shows in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Tempe, Anaheim, and LA. The rescheduled dates for those shows will happen before the end of the year and will be announced in the coming week. All tickets will be honored and we can’t wait to come back and see you. For those of you in upcoming cities not listed above, we will be performing as originally scheduled. We’re so sorry for the change in plans. These past few weeks on the road have reminded us all how much we love playing music for you. We will be focusing on that feeling as we wait to get back out there. See you soon! Love, August Burns Red”