Arriving at the venue, the atmosphere felt different. The crowd was settled in and locked into the opener’s performance. Quannnic’s set was dreamy, filling the room with a shoegaze aura. Pinks and blues filled the stage as the music hummed, then shifted to reds and oranges that flashed rhythmically during more upbeat moments. A solid performance met with a receptive crowd, who gave Quannnic their first mosh pit on tour, as the artist noted.
A pause before Failure took the stage. A smoky haze flowed through the air as flashing backlights created a strobe effect. The trio moved in and readied themselves for the first song — the muscle memory kicking in. “Crash Test Delayed” played, a song off their most recent album, Location Lost.
By the second song (“Saturday Savior”), the pieces began to click for me. I took a moment to look between the stage and the crowd. The room was a bit darker—the silhouette lighting gave fans and artists space to focus only on the music. A more mature crowd of music lovers settled into the show. They swayed and sang along, but still left room for youthful energy, which showed up in moshing and Halloween costumes. Most notably, I recalled someone in a frog costume that called back to Failure’s Magnified album art.
As the second song progressed, I noticed the tungsten bulbs on stage light up. Moving along in a line, the bulbs passed by each band member in a wave of orange that broke through the cold stage lights. A sign was shown and led me to sit for a few beats. I no longer moved sporadically toward the action. Like the crowd and the band, I settled into the sound around me. I gathered my patience and let the music and light guide me into the moment.
Watch our interview with Failure from Sick New World - Las Vegas by clicking below: