Due to work, I arrived late to the show, causing me to miss the two openers- Smidley (a side project of emo stalwarts Foxing), and the folksy-country group Saintseneca. I came in right as Tigers Jaw took the stage and opened up with a cut from their newest album, Spin, entitled “Follows”. I was shocked to see the crowd’s reaction as a small, but considerably aggressive mosh pit opened up. Considering their newer material is a far cry from their much faster-paced emo/pop-punk days, the pit seemed very out of place and continued throughout the night to new and old songs. Three songs into the set, during fan-favorite
“The Sun”, a young concertgoer stage dove into the audience. Due to the smaller attendance, the crowd did not catch the young fan as they fell to the floor. The band immediately stopped playing, requesting help and for the audience to clear way for the injured fan. 911 was called and the fan was taken to the hospital. The atmosphere in the room was somber as everyone was uncertain of the fan’s safety.
After a few minutes after the concertgoer was taken to safety, the band returned to the stage and made a statement on taking care of each other at shows, as things like this happen far too often. With incidents like these happening so often, one has to wonder how to make them stop. Should there be no stage diving? Should there be no moshing? These are rather tough questions that defy why so many people got involved in these scenes. The bottom line is people need to respect each other’s space. This could mean not moshing if people around you are visibly crushed for space, catching people when they do stage dive (don’t part the sea like Moses), and being wary when deciding to crowd surf. I have been to many shows and have seen way too many people that are struggling to be held up by the crowd. It should come as common sense that a full-grown person shouldn’t be crowd surfing if the audience is either sparse, unwilling to support them, or made up largely of younger concertgoers, yet it happens all the time. Shows can and should always be fun, but people just need to respect everyone and be considerate of their situation and others’. If people took this consideration, then maybe incidents where an attendee getting taken to the hospital and possibly missing one of their favorite’ bands set would happen less often.
****rant over****
As for the actual show, Tigers Jaw ripped through a vast collection of their songs, new and old, sounding pretty tight on both. Their older songs definitely packed more of a punch given the intensity and nostalgic value for many of the fans, while the new songs shined in maturity and progression as a band. The new songs, more or less the first time I heard many of them, definitely enticed me to listen to them on record (as the album had just come out a few days prior). They are perfect for the summer; elegantly pleasant and perfect for a nice night cruising down a lake.
Tigers Jaw just released Spin on Black Cement and can be found just about anywhere in the vast new world on streaming platforms (maybe not Grooveshark).