After an explosive tour with a deadly lineup, Pierce the Veil are returning to the Upstate Concert Hall in Clifton Park on March 24th with some equally impressive support. On Halloween of 2012, PTV came to Clifton Park with the help of Sleeping With Sirens, Tonight Alive, and Hands Like Houses. Now they’re coming back with the help of Memphis May Fire, letlive., and Issues. This promises to be an incredible show that mixes some very different styles of music. It’ll be a night of high energy and killer performances, all covered by us here at Upstate Metal.
Pierce the Veil:
After the massive success of their third album, Collide With the Sky, on Fearless Records, Pierce the Veil has been on the road non-stop and traveled across the world in support of the album. Known for their high vocals, experimental alt/rock-metal style (which they refer to as “Mexicore”), and high-energy live shows, they are bringing it all back to Upstate New York for the second time in six months. They’ve been both praised and criticized for the direction they’ve taken on this new record, as it has evolved from the sound of the first two. Either way, bad reviews of their live shows are hard to come by, and they are a worthy headliner for this powerhouse show.
Memphis May Fire:
Rise Records veterans Memphis May Fire were just at the Upstate Concert Hall on January 29th and The Lost Horizon in Syracuse on February 2nd with For Today and others on the Fight the Silence Tour. They’re coming back to continue supporting their third album, Challenger, as one of the heavier bands of the bunch. With their melodic metalcore sound, MMF are ready to blow it up again on stage with what promises to be an explosive performance.
letlive.:
After being signed to Epitaph Records in 2011, longtime prog/post-hardcore veterans letlive. are touring all over the country. They’re playing some shows with up-and-coming band Issues around the area, and this is one of them. This is an exciting addition to the show, as they provide a blend of heavy postcore with slightly pop punk hooks and pure metal riffs. Their unique sound will complement the rest of the bands well, but are definitely standouts on their own.
Issues:
Tyler Carter’s (in)famous new rapcore/metalcore band, Issues, is opening the show. After leaving the band Woe, Is Me as their clean vocalist, Carter’s new project has been met with praise as well as criticism from fans of Woe, Is Me. This band is much different from Carter’s previous band, and is an interesting departure from it. Combining rap beats and metalcore sound, Issues brings an eccentric sound to the table for the wide array of styles for this show. Love them, hate them, or undecided, they are definitely worth seeing to determine how you feel about this controversial and unique band.
With a variety of sounds and styles, this concert is going to have something for everyone. Make sure you don’t miss your chance to see four great bands all under the same roof!



The tour is supporting the new album Black Out the Sun and tried to do that with just two songs. The opening number “Decay” and the only other song they played from the new release, “Till Death”. With a catalog as large as theirs, fans appreciated the mix from over the years, but any emphasis on the new release might have been overshadowed by past hits.
Morgan Rose was able to set the pace throughout the night adding mesmerizing drum solos. Their were times that the waves of sound threatened to blow the crowd back through the front doors. But as the set moved on and the music got faster, the drums got louder and the crowd spread out and the pit finally opened up to a circle were only the strong survive. “Waffle” (Home/1999) led the charge and went into “Strong Arm Broken” (Cold Day Memory/2010) and then “Till Death” from the new release. The Set ended with “Pieces” (Next/2005) and the appropriately names “The End Is Coming” (Cold Day Memory/2010).
The variety of songs over Sevendust’s long career is a testament to their staying power and influence in the industry. After 16 years of pushing the envelope and bringing hard-nose, in your face music to the masses they are still experiencing incredible success. Their most recent single “Decay” has been getting a ton of airtime on FM stations all over the country and SiriusXM’s Octane channel.
The encore was extra special for the audience and the band. The first song was “Splinter” from Sevendust’s 2010 release Cold Day Memory. And then, Upstate New York’s own Joey Belladonna was pulled onto the stage to help sing “Face to Face”. It took a lot of coaxing to get the shy lead singer from the legendary metal band, Anthrax, to the stage but when he finally came out from hiding behind the speakers to the crowd, people in Joey’s hometown of Oswego could have heard the roar.
Overall the night was a huge success, opening band Avatar from Sweden is definitely a rising star to keep an eye on and support act, Lacuna Coil is always a crowd favorite. Look for an upcoming interview with Lacuna Coil’s Andrea Ferro.
Blotto, best known for their hits “I Wanna be a Lifeguard”, “I Quit” and “Metalhead”, play shows periodically in the Albany area, bringing their new wave/surf rock sound to the masses once again. There were plenty of hits to choose from and the crowd enthusiastically cheered on each song and laughed along with Broadway Blotto’s song exposition and Sarge Blotto’s story telling added a little extra to the songs, building up to “Goodbye, Mr. Bond” and “Lifeguard”.