Category: Blog

It’s perfectly normal for a band to change over time. They work through different projects, experiment with different sounds, express different ideas, etc. In fact, it’s hard to find a band that has stayed true to a single “vibe” for a long time. It’s even harder to find one that has done it well.

mewithoutYou is one of those few. I remember hearing Brother, Sister in middle school and instantly becoming a fan. When It’s All Crazy! It’s All False! It’s All A Dream! It’s Alright! came out in 2009, I guess you could say I “got back into the band”. I developed a love for that unapologetically loud, pull-no-punches style with which they poured emotion and story into their songs. I grew up listening to my dad’s bluegrass and classic rock, genres with big name influences such as Earl Scruggs, Boston, and The Who, but otherwise plenty of rather formulaic music. mewithoutYou was one of my first big steps away from these styles, and thus it had an air of novelty to it for me before I knew hardly anything about music. Now in 2017, after years or curating and recording music across many genres, I still remember that feeling.

mewithoutYou recently came to The Blind Tiger in Greensboro on tour playing through A To B Life to celebrate its release 15 years ago. If you follow mewithoutYou, you will recognize this as their 1^st full album and not one of their softer. Naturally I had to go. My roommate and I, both long time fans who had not followed mewithoutYou as closely since coming to college, drove to Greensboro to crack some PBRs and reminisce in the angst of our middle school days. I’ll be honest with you. I was surprised. I was surprised by how much I still loved this band. mewithoutYou has released 5 more albums and plenty of singles and collaborations since A To B Life, but still held true to form. They played songs from most all of their albums, a few acoustic pieces, and some improv edits. Aaron Weiss, sporting 2 mics covered in flowers (one distorted, one clean, as per usual), told stories about the album, the inspirations for the songs, and his own life throughout the show. The band has, in my opinion, had a very successful 15 years of growing immensely, yet changing little at all.

The moral of the story is go listen to those bands you used to love. Go find their new stuff. Go rediscover their old stuff. Maybe go see their show? Who knows, maybe a brush with nostalgia and a few beers is just what you need to get through finals next week…

image source: https://mewithoutyou.bandcamp.com/

I was looking forward to this show because Whitechapel is my all-time favorite band! This was my third time seeing them and every time it’s like it’s my first. I got to the venue four hours before the show started and I sat there in the front of the line until the doors opened. I have “Show Buddies” – friends that I meet-up with at various venues and festivals – who were also there! It was like a small reunion for all of us. This was my first time going to the Underground in Charlotte, NC and I really liked the venue. It was very spacious and there was plenty of room for everyone.

The first band to play was So This Is Suffering. It was my first time seeing them, and I was impressed. The singer is a good front man and really knows how to work a crowd. Speaking of the crowd, there was a little movement, a few pits, and some diehard fans that yelled every word to every song. Some of the songs that they played were: Sleeper Hold, Surveil, Dreameater, and Palace.

Next up was a band called, Entheos. I have never heard of them, but they put on a good show! I was getting Arch Enemy vibes from them (and not just because the lead singer is a girl) – there were great melodies and the singer was entertaining to watch. The crowd responded as with the first band, there were some pits but they weren’t as rowdy as other pits that happened that night. Among other songs in their set, they played: The World Without Us, Inverted Earth, Sunshift, and Pulse of a New Era.

Rings of Saturn played next and I was really looking forward to seeing them! I have been listening to them for quite some time and this was my first time seeing them live. Their sound was really good, but there wasn’t a stage show. Because of this, the crowd wasn’t getting into their set. Some of the songs that they played were: Margidda, The Relic, Harvest, and Inadequate.

The second-to-last band to play was Carnifex. This is my second time seeing them and they are amazing, live! Their stage show was insane!! They had pentagrams on stage, and they were all dressed up. The entire band were wearing spiked pants, and dark eye makeup. It gave them a creepy vibe that completed their overall stage presence. They had a good mixture of older songs and newer songs. The crowd was ROWDY! Everyone was moving, there wasn’t a single person in that venue that was standing still. Everyone was moshing, and singing with the band. Some of the songs that they played were: Slit Wrist Savior, Slow Death, Lie to My Face, and Hell Chose Me.

And finally, the band that I have been waiting to see all night was up: Whitechapel. While waiting for the band to come on, the crowd was singing “Sweet Caroline.” I was in Charlotte, and the Panthers just won a game, so you could say we put the “lit” in Charlotte. I was on the barricade; in the front for Whitechapel, and I was jamming! The light show was impressive and their live sound was the same as if I was listening to their albums. The crowd was absolutely insane and was hyped the entire time. The band was feeding off our energy too and kept egging us on to get even more rowdy. They played some of my all-time favorite songs such as: Mark of the Blade, Elitist Ones, The Saw Is the Law, and This is Exile. Shout out to Ben for giving me a guitar pick, and Gabe for giving me the set-list for the show. In my opinion, I would say that the show was a success.

To make things even better, while I was waiting in line to get inside the venue, my mom went to get some food and literally ate dinner with some of the members of Whitechapel. She got me some autographs, and also a video. What is that video you ask? It’s a video that has Whitechapel saying, “We are Whitechapel and we love Erika, The Saw, and WKNC 88.1.” So yeah, that literally made my life.

The Saw 

I was very excited for this show because Arch Enemy is one of my favorite bands. The last time Arch Enemy was in North America was 10 years ago, so I was looking forward to seeing them perform for the first time! I traveled to Atlanta, Georgia to see Arch Enemy, Trivium, While She Sleeps, and Fit For An Autopsy. Now, the tour was coming to Charlotte, North Carolina at the Fillmore, but I wanted to see them perform at the famous Masquerade. This venue is very well known not only to metalheads, but to all. There are actually three venues within the Masquerade: Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory.  Heaven (where this show was hosted) is the biggest venue. It was very impressive, too! It was very spacious with a lot of room for a lot of people. My only complaint concerns the wood floor in front of the stage. Spilled (and dropped) drinks means a wet and slippery mosh pit. I fell a couple of times. But it was still a great time, regardless! If you ever get the chance, I would defiantly try to see a show at the Masquerade.

The first band that played was Fit For An Autopsy. I really, really like this band. I saw them on After The Burial’s ‘Carry The Flame Tour’ and I was impressed by them. They are groovy and have some jamming songs! They played some of their famous hits such as “Heads Will Hang,” “Still We Destroy,” and “Black Mammoth.” The crowd was (just) okay. There was one crowd surfer and a couple of mosh pits. I was in the front for them and I was jamming! But the people around me weren’t jamming at all. Metal Lesson #666: If you are in the front for the show, and you’re just standing there with your arms crossed, not jamming at all, go to the back. Anyway, I got to meet the lead singer of Fit For An Autopsy, after their set, and he is a super nice guy! The next band to play was While She Sleeps. I have never seen (or listened to) this band, but they were really good live! They interacted with the crowd the entire time and they also joined the crowd on some occasions. The crowd got into this band more and there was more interaction and energy. They also played some of their well-known songs such as “You Are We,” “Brainwashed,” and “Silence Speaks.” Trivium was the third band to play and I’ve seen them once before at the Carolina Rebellion of 2016. Like at the Rebellion, I was really impressed with them during the show at the Masquerade. The light show was really good and the band was all up in the crowd and interacting with them. And the crowd, during Trivium, was LOUD! You could barely hear the singer because everyone was singing along. The mosh pits were very impressive (I broke my finger in one of the pits), and I crowd surfed during their set. They were so much fun to watch and I was jamming the whole time. They played “The Sin and the Sentence,” “Until the World Goes Cold,” and “In Waves” along with many more. Arch Enemy headlined the show in Atlanta. They and Trivium are co-headlining the show and they alternate in each city who is the last band to perform. I was very excited when they came out; they put on a phenomenal live show. The singer was interacting with the crowd and she was very energetic. The whole crowd was into their set and were jumping around the entire time. There were a lot of pits, crowd surfers, and a lot of people just having a good time singing along with the band. The light show was also amazing and was very nice to watch. I got to meet Arch Enemy before the show, and they are really cool. They were super nice and it was great to meet one of my favorite bands. Among the many songs they played were “War Eternal,” “As the Pages Burn,” and “Nemesis.” This was one of the best shows that I have ever been to. If you ever get the chance to see Arch Enemy, Trivium, While She Sleeps, or Fit For An Autopsy, do it! I promise you won’t regret it!

The Saw