‘ALL MY FRIENDS’ TOUR PARTIES IT UP AT CHICAGO’S BOTTOM LOUNGE
This fantastic tour started in mid-April boasting a triple headliner of Asking Alexandria, Memphis May Fire, and The Word Alive. Festival season starts around this time, so you get some bands on the bill breaking off to do a festival date while the others will do a couple of headliners by themselves. Tonight in Chicago was no exception, Asking Alexandria was absent tonight and doing Hog Fest in Wisconsin, so we got the pleasure of experiencing Memphis May Fire and The Word Alive headlining this show. With great supporting acts of Nerv and Chicago’s Wolf Rd., this was still a very anticipated show for the night.
You’re in that spot with most opening bands to warm up a crowd. Wolf Rd did this and went way beyond what most opening bands do for a bill. You could tell that the local followers and the rest of the crowd were into this set the minute they hit the stage. This band is straight out of the gate with high energy that seems to infect a crowd. So if you’re from the area or see these guys on a bill, they’re a must-catch band.
The boys from Nerv kept the energy going with their opening number “Bad Nature”, and the crowd jumped on this one. This was another high-energy set that kept the fans energized. Nerv banged out a 6 song set with songs “Not the One”, “Blue”, “Demons”, and “Fake”, and ended their set with“Bad Habits”. The fans were primed and ready to go for The Word Alive.
The Word Alive hit the stage with their opening number “2012” and the crowd erupted as soon as the opening notes hit. With this being a smaller crowd, you get to see what the pits look like. There was a lot of pit action during this set, but still no crowd surfing. Fans on the front barricade could be heard singing during “Play the Victim”. The band pushed this crowd hard for their full set. Some of the songs included in this set were “New Reality”, “Hate Me”, “Misery”, “Life Cycles”, and ending the set with “One of Us”. The fans went hard during this set, but I think most were saving it for Memphis May Fire.
Hitting the stage with their opening number “MakeBelieve”, fans finally hit their high point for the evening and sang along with this one. At one point during the song lead man Matty Mullins was smiling ear to ear while letting the crowd take over some of the parts. The crowd got into a jumping mode when the next song “Left for Dead” dropped, and we even got a couple of crowd surfers during this one. Memphis played a full-on barrage of old-school songs and newer songs, and we even got a taste of the new song “Chaotic” which hit harder live than the album version. The crowd and the band were totally in sync the whole set matching their energy. Some other songs included in this set were “Bleed Me Dry”, “Sinner”, and “Vices”, and ended their set with“Misery” and “Blood and Water”.
This was a fun show to be at, the crowd was insane for being as small as it was. Make sure you catch this tour while there is still a few dates left!