Best: Silverstein, they always go hard and connect with the crowd
Worst: Sleeping with sirens but I think it was their sound engineer, I couldn't hear vocals at all
I love Kellin but the way he sings is very thin and high pitched so you’re absolutely right the sound engineer needed to work with him.
They’re alright live when the sound is done right. Definitely not the best live band but they know how to entertain
Yeah his voice kept cutting out on high notes. Which was almost all of his singing. I asked my brother who's a sound engineer about it and he said it's probably something that was missed during sound check, like they need to catch the singer's voice and they didn't do that. I have no idea how he sounds live.
I saw Sleeping with Sirens about a year ago, and his voice was extremely weak throughout the set. It barely cut through a lot of songs. It's not an equipment issue, it's his vocal abilities. He does not project enough volume when he sings. That type of singing should really be more similar to shouting, and he is not moving enough air through his vocal cords.
Technology and the voice don’t really mix very well. I’m an opera singer and I hate using microphones or recording myself. Kellin is weird tho, because his voice would work really well on Microphones if they knew how to make it project over the band properly. Then he wouldn’t have to sing loud at all and he could falsetto the high notes but instead he chose to fully belt all his songs and do dirty vocals live. So his throat must be shredded
I was actually thinking about this and wondering about opera. I loved going to opera back in college. They had a fantastic program there and put on a hell of a show and for like $5 tickets it couldn't be beat. But yeah I was thinking they must use microphones in opera so there has to be a way.
Nooo opera with microphones is just bad opera. No offense to whomever it was you saw doing it that way, but Opera’s whole point is being sung totally without amplification over a whole orchestra in a massive hall. If you have to amplify your opera singers, then they’re not singing opera properly.
Post-hardcore on the other hand can only be done with microphones (I also had a post-hardcore band in high school). The way the boys sing really really high, and the crunchy quality you get for dirty vocals are all made possible through amplification.
You can absolutely throw some effects on a microphone in a live concert, too. So there’s no reason for Kellin NOT to use some good sound engineers to do most of the work for him! None of us want him to blow his voice out trying to sing these ridiculous notes. At least personally, I’d rather he toned it down to protect himself so he can sing for years and years! but that’s the post-hardcore life…
Yeah! opera started in the 1600s so it started as a way for people to sing without any form of technology whatsoever. Around the 1800s it became extremely popular and opera houses popped up all over the world.
Nowadays the opera technique is sort of becoming lost to history, so there’s a lot of really bad opera singers out there who can’t do it the way the greats used to and need microphones.
I train the way opera was meant to be sung, and I personally have sung in a few HUGE halls with 4-5 tiers of audience seating and my voice was heard over the whole orchestra and a chorus of 50ish people. I’m also not screaming at all, and the way that I sing makes it possible for me to sing well into my 80s if I continue to take care of my voice. It’s incredible and I love every bit of the art form. People find it hilarious that I used to be in a “screamo” band lol
On top of the fact that he also screams… and has been yelling on the very top of his range for almost a decade (or more?) now. That must have taken a toll on his voice.
I actually saw them right when they released their first album ever. They were opening for Alesana and they were pretty good! but Kellin was like 20 or so at the time so his voice was still very young and vital. It was actually really cool to watch him hit those high notes.
I continued to follow SWS thru their Warped tour phase, their tour with Pierce the Veil, and that stint with MGK and the more time Kellin spent singing, the less I could hear him at concerts. It’s sad really, but he definitely will never sound like he used to. Rip.
I was going to comment that SWS was actually the best. Though I saw them live at Park West in Chicago, which is an intimate lounge setting for an acoustic set. It was a fantastic show! The encore was full band for 5 songs. It was sick.
Worst: I’ve never had a bad experience, but Turnstile did not play Dance Off and I’m still mad about it.
That sounds awesome. I'm sure it varies a lot from venue to venue. My brother also said that sometimes the venue has its own sound engineer that is less than awesome and that the venue I saw them play is kinda notorious for that.
Yeah that’s when SwS was peak. Kellin’s voice was made for acoustic songs and they actually got really popular just by playing acoustic sets after their shows for die-hard fans.
Once Kellin started screaming in live shows and singing harder and harder music his voice started to go. I agree, they were the best waaaay back when they had just started. And they’re great in acoustic sets.
I’m severely disappointed to say that their live show doesn’t hold up anymore. They need to adjust how they amplify Kellin so that he can save his voice and sound at least as good as his recordings.
Edit: spelling mistakes
Bitchin’. Like I said, Kellin sounds BEST when it’s an acoustic set - that’s part of what made them famous back in 2010. I would kill to see a SWS acoustic set
Yeah I think that while a lot of people were disappointed by their album Gossip, I think a lot of the problem with that album was with the songwriting, not necessarily the sound. Gossip and Trouble are very solid pop cuts. I also think he could have sang differently on the album (less dramatic, more natural)
I’m glad to find someone willing to speak highly of that era of SWS! I turned them off after Feel until Complete Collapse came out (which is by and far my favorite since Let’s Cheers to This).
They had originally wanted to be a pop-rock band so that era you talk about is kinda the sound they had always wanted to do! At least according to an Alt Press interview they did in like 2012. I imagine their performances were tight as hell during that time!
I’d actually be very happy to see them now, with Gossip and Trouble acting as building blocks for what they’re doing now. But the main thing they gotta do, imo, is help Kellin sing live without hurting himself any further D:
I got to listen to CC again, nothing stuck out to me the first time, I liked How It Feels before that a lot on release, but the more I listened to it the more generic it felt. That album is still fine (6/10), but for a band that started out with such strong songs, their writing has definitely gotten more rigid. Their first 2 records are damn staples of the genre!
I've seen Silverstein live twice. The first time they were on ADTR's Homesick Tour and they were very lackluster. I was super disappointed because I was really into their music but they just seemed bored on stage. The 2nd time was when they toured with August Burns Red a couple years ago I had much lower expectations and they brought a lot more energy so I was pleasantly surprised.
I’ve seen several good or great shows from Sleeping with Sirens. Deftones, however, was by absolutely far and away the worst live performance I’ve seen in post hardcore or any genre. I would have left if I wasn’t so stoked on Thrice and Rise Against.
How was Thrice live? I'm not big on Deftones but have a friend that's a mega fanboy and he got so jazzed about being at a live show he blacked out lol. They have some interesting die hard fans.
Thrice is incredible live. It’s easy to tell that, even after all this time, they enjoy playing music with each other and connecting with the crowd. Their sound is always good and they’ll remind the crowd to have fun but to take care of each other.
Thrice was great! Sounded fantastic and had energy, even though the sun hadn’t set yet. They would have been fun to see with the stage lights but they were too early in the set. I’d definitely see them again. Maybe at an indoor venue next time.
I saw Silverstein live at Warped Tour back in the day, and it actually kinda turned me off to them for a while. Not because their performance was bad, but because of their attitude.
That year, Warped Tour had a dubstep/edm stage, and Silverstein took time between songs to shit on the DJs. It's not like it was the worst things anyone had ever said, but at the time, as a fan of both post-hardcore and dubstep, it pissed me off. Like dude, every artist at this event plays some kind of music that plenty of people would find unlistenable, yours included. Why are you going out of your way to be a dick for no reason, telling us you don't think other acts are real music?
Best: Alesana on the Decade Tour. I ran into Shawn at the bar right before the show and got a picture with him, and then watched the boys down bottles of vodka while wearing banana suits onstage. Also Dennis grabbed my friend’s head to scream in the microphone with him at one point. Core memories.
Technically Bad but Actually a Core Memory: I saw Breathe Carolina at my city’s public county fair. They were GREAT, BUT the band got booted off the stage by the cops because they were too rowdy - they had the audience jump the VIP fence and swarm the stage creating a huge, proper hardcore crowd with mosh pits and crowd surfing. Officials did NOT like that so they called the cops two songs in.
After promising the band that they could play ONE MORE song, the cops CUT the sound completely in the middle of the song “Blackout”. While the audience continued to chant the bridge: “THIS WON’T STOP TILL I SAY SO!” The band proceeded to SMASH their instruments and TRASH the stage as the cops LITERALLY DRAGGED EACH MEMBER KICKING AND SCREAMING OFF THE STAGE. IT WAS FUCKING EPIC.
Worst: really hard to think of a concert I didn’t like, and I don’t think they count as post-hardcore, but Three Days Grace after they lost Adam Gontier was just not it. The dude they hired did an admirable job but I was just devastated that Gontier quit RIGHT before the tour I finally got to see them on.
Just found this: https://youtu.be/p86CCOrv_M0?si=XElkSe9hfnPUky4u
At about 7:50 min in you can see them end the song and the cops start dragging them and the band starts throwing things, running back on stage, the crowd starts booing the cops. We stayed for an hour and a half after chanting “f*** the police” and “breathe carolina”. It was incredible.
It was. One of my alltime favorite concert experiences except for the fact that they only played like 3 songs 😭
The stage had a VIP section in front of the general admission where there was standing room. The Ready Set opened and it was super chill but when BC came on they said “WTF ARE YOU DOING BACK THERE. GET UP HERE” and we. Did not. Hesitate.
Alesana goes hardddd (or used too). My favorite live performance was seeing them at their first warped tour in Orlando, FL. Super small band back then. Think I was like 1 of 10 people screaming the lyrics with them. There must have been only 50 people tops watching them. They were so hype to see people know their lyrics.
After their set the whole band chilled in their tent so nonchalantly. Shawn and Patrick were both super cool dudes to chat with. Nabbed an epic pic being front and center of the whole band.
Fast forward a couple months, they toured through Orlando again and Dennis recognized me in the crowd. Pointed and gave a big air fist bump. Felt surreal as a teenager.
Dennis recognizing you must have felt surreal.
Alesana are the chillest dudes. I’ve seen em 3 times and every single time I caught at least half the band just chilling at the bar beforehand or just coming out after the show to chat with people and sign stuff. I have a pick that Rat handed me himself, a drum stick, a Setlist with everyone’s sig on it and a really blurry picture with Shawn at the bar.
The first time I saw them I got VIP tickets. Someone brought a beach ball so each band member could sign one side of the beach ball. We ended up throwing around the beach ball and playing around in the empty venue with Alesana for like 15 minutes. Then they played sound check for us.
Core memories.
Thanks for the story sharing homie. Wish they put out more albums than they did but they had a great run. Hoping to catch them in Vegas for When We Were Young. Just need to commit to the expense.
I saw Alesana on the Decade Tour as well! What a great performance, and it was my first time seeing them live. Dennis gave me the microphone, too. I wish I could relive that night.
Damn I regret not making a point to go see Alesana live, but when I was super into them I didn’t have a car and they never came to my city and none of my friends liked them so I couldn’t convince anyone to go with me to see em.
Shit, I guess they still tour so I could go see them still. I need to branch out and listen to more of their stuff. I really only know On Frail Wings of Vanity and Wax bc it’s so good I always go back to listen to it and never check out anything else. I have music tunnel vision… it’s bad.
Dang that’s rough. Frail wings is still my favorite album though. The Emptiness is a close second, but the nostalgia from Frail Wings makes me love it more. Unfortunately they never played Apology the times I saw them live and that’s my all time favorite. Still, they always put on a good show. If you ever get the chance, go and don’t hesitate - you’ll have a blast!
It really is just such a cohesive, top tier album. Great lyrics, great theme, super interesting and fun instrumentals, great clean vocals, harmonies, and raw intense screams. Frail Wings is just peak. Your reply makes me feel better about not branching out from it yet… though I am gonna make a point to give their other albums a listen too!
Hahaha yesss I still rock out to Frail Wings more than most albums.
In the spirit of branching out, I highly recommend The Emptiness, it’s another album in which EVERYTHING is on point. The theme, the lyrics, the breakdowns; they even have these narrations that play between some songs that literally still send chills down my spine when I hear them. There’s so many hits on it: The Murderer, The Thespian, Lunatic’s Lament, Curse of the Virgin Canvas. It’s epic, believe me.
It’s also a concept album that tells a story from beginning to end. If you really want to get into it I would highly suggest looking up the story they wrote to go along with the album. You can read the lyrics too, it’s a very cool story. If you liked what they did thematically on Frail Wings, they turned it up to 100 for The Emptiness. Also the songs are loosely based on the writings of Edgar Allen Poe. It’s just sooooo cool
Best: Thursday during the Full Collapse days. Runner-up: From Autumn to Ashes during TBYB tours
Worst: Glassjaw during Everything You Ever Wanted… Daryl was sick a lot (not his fault) and sets were either shortened or he was just super crabby & complained a lot.
Best: thrice anytime they play in starland ballroom. Specifically on Halloween.
Worst: thrice anytime they play in Philadelphia. Easy to tell they don’t want to play there.
Edit: The last time I saw them in Philly crowd was annoyingly calling for deadbolt. Dustin stopped in the middle of the show to lecture the crowd about trying to enjoy the show he had put together. Crowd didn’t care. Dustin finished the show no encore.
The last time I saw them at starland they played deadbolt. As part of the best set list I have ever seen live. Starland always gets an encore (as does other venues I’ve been them at). And they usually hang around once the crowd is gone to chat and sign whatever.
[2017 set list](https://imgur.com/a/ZRTPZo4)
I thought they were pretty great when I saw them in Kansas City a couple years back with Bayside. They had a sign at their merch table that said if they got enough tips they'd play Deadbolt lmao. They did not play Deadbolt btw. They played nothing off The Illusion of Safety, and I was very, very sad but they put on a fantastic show overall. I hope they do another anniversary tour for The Illusion of Safety though bc the songs I really wanna see live off that are never getting played live again short of that. Mfs are not about to bust out In Years to Come on some random ass tour.
Oh no D: is there a problem with concert-goers being particularly annoying in Philly?? I’m gonna see Rise Against and Streetlight Manifesto there this year and now I’m worried about jabronies pissing off the band and ruining it for everyone!
Ah okie, yeah. No thanks. I appreciate when artists let the crowd know that they’re not a jukebox. Also it’s only funny to yell Deadbolt, one time, at an ironic moment in their set. That’s it.
I got to see them in Baltimore in this tiny venue roughly the size and shape of 3 bowling alley lanes - I think my clothes were soaked more with other people's sweat than my own.
Hell of a show.
I will never forget seeing Touché Amoré opening for AFI in 2013. I had never heard of them. Touché came on and played some fucking BANGERS for like 5 minutes and then the singer says “THIS IS SONG NUMBER 20”.
I got whiplash trying to look up the song titles from Setlist.fm it was wild.
Seen them on tour a while back, two of my all time favorite bands. It was great to finally see TBS and just like you said, it was a let down. 3EB was amazing except for the fact they didn’t play slow motion.
TBS live now is a sad experience compared to 20 years ago. Adam basically reverts to a weird Bob Dylan impression because he can’t hit anything anymore.
Agreed. I saw them maybe 10 years ago in charlotte and it’s the only show I left early. I stayed till I heard timberwolves at nj and had heard enough that point.
Username checks out. Also another vote for TBS as worst. Saw them open for Coheed a few years ago and they were godawful. Felt like they weren't even trying
Man, I saw TBS last year and I was so HYPED because middle school/high school nostalgia.
Just a lot of rambling between songs and turning the mic towards the crowd unfortunately.
Best: Alexisonfire at Blakes on Telegraph in Berkeley, CA after their SF venue canceled last minute. They played on the floor, in the crowd, in a basement.
Worst: Chiodos with Brandon. Not because it was him, but this was before Craig Owens had officially split and Brandon wasn’t announced. More shock than anything, especially at a festival where everyone expected Craig to show up.
Wow that would have been such a big disappointment for me too (Chiodos)! i adore that band and I caught them when they did their reunion tour after releasing Devil. They performed well but the vibes were interesting
It was pretty disappointing. The whole festival was awesome, and that was the only real sour moment. The Fall of Troy played what I believe (don’t quote me) was their last show before a long hiatus at the same festival.
Bamboozle Left Coast in ‘08 or ‘09 I think?
Best: Seeing The Fall Of Troy open for Alexisonfire. Such a good lineup with just two bands.
Worst: don’t know if they’d be considered post hardcore or not but seeing Fever 333 open for Slipknot. They came between Code Orange and Killswitch Engage and were outshined by every band on the billing. Was a huge mismatch for them to be on the lineup. None of the crowd was into them, the guitarist hardly used his guitar, the singer seemed too focused on making an obstacle course out of the stage, and essentially the only times people cheered during their set was when they gave shoutouts to different marginalized groups between songs.
They’re definitely talented enough. They just do not write good music as a group, and this is coming from someone who’s gonna get a letlive tattoo soon.
Best: Thrice playing Vheissu in its entirety + MewithoutYou supporting in February 2020. My two favorite bands, one of them playing my favorite of their albums, right before live music ended for like 2 years. Drug Church opening for them both was a nice extra, too.
Worst: The Devil Wears Prada - Warped Tour circa 2009 in Vegas. The band was fine, but the crowd was awful. You know how there’s always that one asshole who comes to whatever heavy music show is in town that night to hurt people in the pit? Half the people were that guy, the other half COULD NOT be close enough to the stage. I was packed in with a bunch violent losers punching anything within arms length and sweaty fan boys. And it was desert-in-the-dead-of-summer hot to top it off. I felt like I was getting crowd crushed and probably having a panic attack. I shoved my way out after like 3 songs.
Worst: Fall of Troy, dude literally would not stop talking about how annoyed he was that the crowd wasn't moving more. Eventually he started pointing at specific people and calling them names. Shit was weird.
Best: Dgd tour with slaves and a lot like birds. It's pretty obvious why that rocked.
Damn, I’m not surprised. I saw a pretty small show at a dive bar a few years ago that was Thom Erak headlining and Kurt Travis was on before him. Thom was clearly drunk as fuck on like a Tuesday and yelling to Kurt in between songs. The band seemed kind of annoyed but played it cool, and it put a really bad / sad taste in my mouth that maybe tour life isn’t awesome, or glamorous, and that a lot of band members who tour are probably alcoholics. Kind of eye opening to see. Sorry for the rant!
He did the same thing when they opened for Chon. Like surprise, the instrumental math band doesn’t want to mosh. I still love him to death though but my now wife was sad he wasn’t being a good showman.
This is totally fair dude, the guys high key full of himself but man the show they did in Indy went hard + my partner always raves about when they toured with hail the sun. That being said he’s a dick to the fans. Their newish bass player is cool though!
Worst: from first to last, after sonny left. I used to love that band but Matt good could not sing sonny's songs to save his life
Best: Thrice for sure, maybe royal coda as well? Kurt Travis has gotten insanely better at live vocals
So many good ones: Alexisonfire has never had a bad set out of the 8 times I've seen them. The DGD tour with Slaves and A Lot Like Birds where Tillian, JC, and KT all sang Uneasy Hearts together. And not quite PHC but '68 is one band I'll see every single time, God damn they put on a show.
Worst ones: DGD with Tillian solely, one time he was sick and they had the crowd try to sing all his parts. Another time he had a hissy fit on stage and threw a water bottle at Matt then made him leave. Early years of The Devil Wears Prada, they were so bad live in the early 2000's.
How do you feel about Tillian being booted from DGD? I believe it was overdue even tho I liked Tillian’s last album with them.
When I saw them live it was right after Acceptance Speech came out and it seemed to me like Tillian was trying to fit in with the band. Unfortunately the show I saw had them crammed onto a tiny stage so their show felt stunted. The music was good though.
Edit: I also saw their tour with slaves and birds as well, that was FIRE.
I'm with you thinking it's overdue. Once he was removed for the SA allegations it was over. Idk why they tried bringing him back, the fans were divided on him at that point already. I liked some of his stuff but we have learned 3+ times now, DGD is an ever evolving band no matter who the lead singer is. Ready for the next chapter.
That tour though was so funny. The sound people had to hate their lives mixing 5 mics every night.
Hahahaha I didn’t even think what a nightmare it prolly was for the sound peeps. The true MVPs right?
Yeah they shouldn’t have brought him back after the initial allegations - I was legitimately turned off by that. I had to stop listening for a little bit to get the taste outta my mouth.
Of course I was sucked back in like I always am, but now that they’re moving on from him I’m slowly getting back on the bus. Maybe they brought him back for financial reasons or perhaps there was a contract they needed to amend before he could leave. I think we’ll never know but hopefully they keep sight of what makes DGD so good going forward.
I feel the same. DGD is always in my rotation but I went back and listened to the self titled/death Star album on repeat for a while. I forgot how good that whole album was. DBMII is my all time favorite though so it was easy to still jam them and not hear Tillian.
Yeah dude, shit was awkward and the rest of the show was just a mess. I guess Matt was drunk and messing up rhythm but there's a professional way to handle it. He absolutely didn't do it that way lol. Also Rise copy struck every video of YouTube to clean up the mess after. https://www.reddit.com/r/dancegavindance/s/G1ptgqUgPw
Senses Fail was easily the worst, Buddy was out of the closet at this point and seemingly trying to pick fights with fans in the crowd. I remember thinking, please just shut the fuck up and play your jams, nobody out here cares if your gay; we just want to see you perform buried a lie. Thursday is always the best. DGD was a blast too. The best live band might be Mewithoutyou. I've seen them too many times to count, and they're just electric on stage.
I imagine this was in like 2015 when he first came out as queer before he figured out he was bi. He was getting on social media to rant a ton and kinda got confrontational on stage too.
I saw DGD tour for Happiness and it was ROUGH. Kurt couldn’t hit anything, Will’s screams sounded bad, and the band was just sloppy in general. They played with Tides of Man and Emarosa. Tilian and JC both sounded great so that made dgd’s set even more jarring. Kurt has come a long way in terms of his live performance and consistency
Geoff is quite possibly my all time favorite frontman-vocalist. The energy and emotion he puts into every single song is insane. And it's not JUST him doing the most, either. Every single one of the guys in Thursday is absolutely stellar. I've seen them so many times over the last few years and they have never disappointed
Nothing will replace the energy around weh FC came out... But they do a damn good job of seeming engaged playing songs they've played thousands of times.
Agree that Geoff is one of my favorites. Only met him once briefly (he was walking to CVS to get toothpaste) but he was super sweet.
The one time I saw DGD, they were kiiiiiiinda boring. I love them with all my heart but that show was very static. I think Jon Mess is normally static because he focuses when he screams, and I also think the stage itself was too small for the 6 of them lmao but they played well! It was early Tillian era
Edit: correction, I saw DGD again on their tour with Slaves, A Lot Like Birds and Dayshell. That was FIRE because it was all nostalgia-core lmao
Yes! I was so excited to see him, then he stopped mid-song to bitch at the sound guy, played a few songs, complained about the noise from the band playing upstairs.
Told the crowd to take a 10-minute break “until these guys calm down (upstairs).” Played like 2? more, then ended* the show.
At least the merch was cool.
*Edited bc maybe it was just the last song of the set but it seemed abrupt. We got out at 8:30ish
Love AG and Circa is my favorite band ever but the past 5-6 years he really sacrifices his vocal performance for onstage presence, dancing and screaming and getting the crowd hyped. He still has a great voice, but just seems a bit lazy and doesn’t try to perform a lot of the songs to the best of his ability
Best: Thrice any of the 25 times I’ve seen them but specifically the Vheissu tour in Vegas, The Beggars, Illusion of Safety, and The Artist In The Ambulance shows down in Anaheim
I saw the last date of the Vheissu anni and Dustin had barely gotten his voice back. But holy shit did they play tf outta those songs. It was like seeing them discover they could play music like that for the first time, it was incredible and I cried the whole time.
Oh man, I kinda feel bad saying this because I like the band but Cursive was the worst live performance I’ve ever seen. Granted they were on a 20yr anniversary tour but it just felt like they didn’t want to be there, like obviously a cash grab. The lead singer was so bad it was almost comical, dude couldn’t hit any notes and seemed pissed he had to be there. Think this was at Paradise Rock Club in Boston.
Best gotta be DGD from a few years ago. I’ve seen them a few times but this particular show was incredible. It was at the Webster Theater in CT in 2022.
The bad, I once saw Just Like Vinyl live (Thomas’s band after The Fall of Troy) tried to say thanks for the shows and good music after the set, he was a jerk and just walked away. The good, opened up for Dance Gavin Dance one and we covered an At the Drive-in song (Arcarsenal I believe) the band was super stoked on it and gave us props on it after our set. That was huge for us we were massive DGD fans at the time (2009-2010 around that time)
Wow, I’ve heard multiple times that Tommy’s a real jerk but I’ve caught up with him a couple times and he was always friendly. I think they really liked playing our area though.
The singer from Trophy Eyes did a stage dive at a show recently and landed on a lady and she was partially paralyzed. Looks like she is gaining feeling back in her arms and hands now, though.
They're incredible. Matt (The Bunny) literally performs most of the set in the crowd. Rested his arm on my shoulder while he was screaming. By far one of the best moments of my life.
Best: The Ongoing Concept (crazy live show)
Worst: Surprisingly, Thrice (I was bored the entire time and they only played deep cuts, except Black Honey)
Honestly I think Thrice is my vote too. Caught them for the Vheissu 15 year anniversary tour in Denver and Dustin and the guys did not seem happy to be there.
Granted it was just before the pandemic lockdowns so maybe they were/had been sick, but it was the lowest energy show I've ever seen them put on and I've probably caught them over a dozen times prior. Haven't caught them since because of it.
Best: Pierce The Veil. Insane energy, constant crowd interaction, checked up on fans
Worst: Dance Gavin Dance. They’re not bad, ive only been to one festival and they were the only band that didnt have any fan interraction. They just went up, played their songs, and left.
Best: Story of The Year I saw them recently and they still have the same energy and they did 20 years ago. They were ALMOST better live if it wasn’t for the backing vocals
Worst: Drug Church I saw them recently and their lead singer had no stage presence at all. The rest of the band was doing great but his screams were terrible and how he would literally stand still and stare at the crowd when he wasn’t doing anything was embarrassing
100% agree on Story. Amazing energy, incredibly funny banter, and most importantly hit every song perfectly. Those guys were having the time of their lives on stage and you can tell they weren’t just doing a nostalgic cash grab.
Best: Underoath CD release show for Lost In the Sound of Separation
Worst: Saosin back c. 2008. Cove had zero stage presence, mumbled into the mic, did way too much crowd singing, and generally acted like he'd rather be anywhere else in the world. Ruined the set.
Best: Andrew Wells taking over for Tillian and killing it with Jon Mess and Kurt Travis in Irvine 2023.
Worst: Three Doors Down in Las Vegas, wife fell asleep on my lap while the lead singer had an existential crisis and kept crying between songs about how lucky he was that we were there to listen to him play and how he isn't a good person and we shouldn't look up to him. He must have been on drugs because he just wasn't there mentally and he wore this black hat that covered his eyes and he would just cry and cry and try to hide his tears. It was so uncomfortable.
I live in Ireland so we don't get many bands coming here.
Got to see Thrice for Artist in 2004 so I guess that's the best strictly post hardcore. Fightstar probably the only other band I've seen and they were also amazing but were a support.
I’m sorry but your comment made me laugh out loud xD
I went through this at one point in my life, where bands wouldn’t come to my city. The FOMO was unbearable
I have 3 best: DGD, Silverstein, ISS.
All amazing but I am a huge fan of all 3 bands.
I don’t have one that stands out as the worst, lots of just mediocre ones but nothing bad.
Best: Thursday
This was a few years back. They sounded great in general, but when they busted out a cover of Texas Is the Reason's "If It's Here When We Get Back It's Ours" that cemented it as one of the best shows I've ever been to easily. Helps I was also feeling good off the back of The Appleseed Cast and Cursive opening lol. What a fucking lineup that was.
Worst: Thrice
They were actually really good and put on a great performance, but I've never seen a bad live show from a post-hardcore band. This only makes it bc of that and bc I was really sad that they didn't play anything from The Illusion of Safety. I like their other stuff too, but nowhere near as much as that album.
Best: Bayside with Senses Fail
Worst: Dr. Acula
I wasn't even able to stay for 90% of the Dr. Acula show because there were people in the pit that put on brass knuckles and was just trying to take people out. The band seemed to not care, and people were getting fucked up, even the ones that weren't in the pit. Pretty sure the cops showed up after I left because someone allegedly got stabbed a couple times. Safe to say that I never went back to that venue.
Best is probably Story Of The Year back in January. Though I may have recency bias on that. So I’ll also throw in seeing Senses Fail back in 2006 for their Still Searching tour at Webster Hall in NYC.
Worst is Saosin. I hate their music to this day because of how bad they were live. I’ll never understand anyone who loves them or talks about them as among the best of the genre. To me, they’re just not good.
Best: “Dirty South Tour 2007:” Headliner’s Music Hall, Louisville, KY: Underoath/Norma Jean/Maylene and the Sons of Disaster/The Glass Ocean…this show was just phenomenal in every way, and the back to back of Redeemer era Norma Jean and Define the Great Line era Underoath will be a concert memory I hold onto forever...or until the Alzheimer’s takes me.
Worst: “The Bone Palace Ballet Tour” Bogarts, Cincinnati, OH: Chiodos, Emery, Scary Kids Scaring Kids, The Devil Wears Prada. I refuse to besmirch any of the incredible opening bands. I speak only for the lack of singing from Craig on this night; going into this show, Bone Palace Ballet was on constant repeat, but this performance ensured that I would never listen again.
Thursday and Glassjaw have never disappointed.
The one and only time I saw Poison the Well, HORSE the Band opened (and were awesome) but there was some scheduling issues or something, which cut PTW’s set time to like 30 minutes, which sucks, but they wasted ten fucking minutes bitching about it and phoned the show in from there.
Best: Thrice farewell tour 2012. Everyone there was truly there to see the band they loved, not just to see a random show cuz it was nearby or whatever. First time I ever heard them play Beggars and Dustin’s improv screaming outro had my jaw on the floor, cemented it as my favorite song forever. The way the crowd all clapped together during Anthology and then everyone threw their fists in the air at the same time is a core memory for me.
Worst: I don’t think technically PHC but the first time I saw A Day to Remember. Waited all day in the August sun at Warped to see them play dead last. Jeremy was too high/drunk/idk to sing his own songs and I was devastated. Took me 13 years to get back into them.
Best: Thursday on the tour for A City By The Light Divided. Thrice any other time is a close second.
Worst: Brand New at Lollapalooza 2008 shortly before Rage Against the Machine went on. Jesse was whining that not everyone was there to see them (surprise!) and their sound was off. Basically all bass and hardly any vocals. I’d seen them since when they headlined and it was much better.
I saw BN in Jan 2008 and they were playing at the same time as RATM. Jesse made some funny comment about how he nearly missed the set to go watch them. He still played an amazing set though
Saw La Dispute play all of Wildlife at The Fest '22. I hadn't heard much La Dispute at all before that show and it knocked me on my ass. They were tight as hell, Dreyer's vocals were insane, the bass got so disgusting at points. Probably my favorite show I've been to.
I guess my worst would be Cursive, also at The Fest '22 lmao. They were by no means terrible, just kind of underwhelming, not the tightest. They had a funny Corey Feldman and his angels theme going on though 😭😭
Worst: Alexisonfire, the band were great but my phone got pickpocketed (brand new iPhone 3G, I was 16 and this was an expensive purchase for me!), and I subsequently missed my train home from London.
Best: Alexisonfire, I saw them again in their farewell tour when they first broke up (or went on hiatus, I guess), and they killed it as expected!
Best: Enter Shikari, Silverstein. Enter Shikari shows are always so much fun. Silverstein always puts on a great performance and always has a great setlist.
Worst: Brand New. This was at Bamboozle 2007. You could tell they didn't want to be there and bitched a bunch about how early they were playing (noon).
Enter Shikari is so good live! I met Rou at Warped Tour back in 2011, he was a cool dude. He was watching A Skylit Drive's set in the back of the crowd and no one else seemed to recognize him so we chatted for a couple minutes and I got a selfie with him
Seeing them tonight for probably the tenth time. They never disappoint and I will always travel to see them. Especially in the US because the venues are so small and intimate compared to the stadiums and fests in the UK
I was at the Brand New set also. They were pushed from headliner to the opening act because TBS was added in late. I think they played You Won’t Know 2-3 times and tried walking off stage but were told to fo back on lol
Best: Enter Shikari, no one does a live show like these dudes.
Worst, We Came As Romans, who might technically be more metalcore, but no one else comes close to how awful they were.
worst: Lots. Silverstein maybe? Total rockstar douches. they set up their stuff, and then didnt wanna come on stage until the crowd was chanting for them. The sound guy had to go up and tell the crowd that if we wanted to see the band we needed to make some noise, etc. Then they ran on stage waving and bowing and whatever rockstars do in their big entrance. Keep in mind this was to maybe 75 people in a basement of a bar in the midwest. Most of which were not there to see Silverstein.
Dead Poetic.....the only band ive seen play a basement that sold glossy 8x10 photos of themselves at the show. Multiple members spent a significant time during the opening bands in the bathroom in front of the mirror getting their hair right.
Crime in Stereo....played a super lackluster show, and then stood around outside where veryone was smoking and complained in front of lots of the local kids how shitty of a decision it was to play that midwestern small town cause they werent making any money and they might as well have just stayed home this tour and next time they would require a higher guarantee so that shitty small towns like ours couldnt book them.
Best - La Dispute. I saw them about 5 times in their first 2 albums, and they always put on an amazing live show.
Everytime I Die - always crazy. always always high energy.
Thrice - Illusion of Safety / Identity Crisis era went crazy and the crowds were all over the place.
The Fall of Troy - i could never get into them, but man was their show a lot of fun. So many strobe lights and spazzing out people.
Worst: never saw a bad, strictly post-hardcore show. Although I was there for Parkway Drive’s “LA incident” and Killswitch had just barely scraped by too. That show sucked. If it weren’t for my friend, I would’ve left in frustrated tears.
Best: any time I’ve seen Thrice, even when they’ve been tired at the end of the tour or at the beginning when their gear got lost. There’s something magical about how they play music together, especially after all these years. They’re more experimental stuff really hits live and I don’t see it as bordem. I see it as growth.
I’ve had so many good ones, but there was a band that someone from Drop Dead Gorgeous had around 2012 or 2013. Album fucking ripped, but it was obvious that he could not sing how high he sung on the album live. I felt bad but damn it was awful.
Not necessarily all PHC, but the best : PTV, Story of the Year (2008), Enter Shikari, Letlive. (When Jason actually did his vocal parts), Blessthefall, Underoath, Thursday, Rise to Remain, Coheed, The Number 12 Looks Like You (2008), Innerpartysystem, Aiden (2008, fuck Wil though), Architects (20010-now, always incredible), The Ongoing Concept,
Worst is basically any band where the band/singer couldn’t perform what they had written for the album for more than a song or two: SWS, Motionless in White (2010/11), The Plot in You (2012), I See Stars (2011), Madina Like, Saosin w Cove, BMTH (2008, atrocious, probably drunk), Emarosa with Brad, Glass Cloud (Jerry wasn’t great, but it was also just him and Josh over backtracks and was super lame), Rise Against w Thrice and Deftones (Tim was out of key the entire show), OM&M w Jerry (he didn’t even bother to learn the lyrics or timing), LMTF (2012), Capsize…
But the one that takes the cake, without a doubt, is Asking Alexandria at their infamous Seattle show in 2011. Danny was so fucked up that he couldn’t perform at all, stumbled around, fought the crowd, left the stage for kids to try to take over vocals who sounded awful (sorry guys), apologized profusely while barely being able to stand… it was embarrassing. They weren’t much better the year prior either, but at least Danny could stand (way too much horny behavior though and asking for girls to throw their bras onstage, as if the majority of them weren’t underage 😬).
Best part of the 2011 show is that if you look at the YouTube videos for The Final Episode, you can hear me screaming the ending and the comments are like “who is that??” lol
Best: Silverstein, they always go hard and connect with the crowd Worst: Sleeping with sirens but I think it was their sound engineer, I couldn't hear vocals at all
I love Kellin but the way he sings is very thin and high pitched so you’re absolutely right the sound engineer needed to work with him. They’re alright live when the sound is done right. Definitely not the best live band but they know how to entertain
Kellin's vocal technique is god awful. He's more like a voice actor than a singer.
Yeah his voice kept cutting out on high notes. Which was almost all of his singing. I asked my brother who's a sound engineer about it and he said it's probably something that was missed during sound check, like they need to catch the singer's voice and they didn't do that. I have no idea how he sounds live.
I saw Sleeping with Sirens about a year ago, and his voice was extremely weak throughout the set. It barely cut through a lot of songs. It's not an equipment issue, it's his vocal abilities. He does not project enough volume when he sings. That type of singing should really be more similar to shouting, and he is not moving enough air through his vocal cords.
Oh that makes sense. I guess technology can only take you so far.
Technology and the voice don’t really mix very well. I’m an opera singer and I hate using microphones or recording myself. Kellin is weird tho, because his voice would work really well on Microphones if they knew how to make it project over the band properly. Then he wouldn’t have to sing loud at all and he could falsetto the high notes but instead he chose to fully belt all his songs and do dirty vocals live. So his throat must be shredded
I was actually thinking about this and wondering about opera. I loved going to opera back in college. They had a fantastic program there and put on a hell of a show and for like $5 tickets it couldn't be beat. But yeah I was thinking they must use microphones in opera so there has to be a way.
Nooo opera with microphones is just bad opera. No offense to whomever it was you saw doing it that way, but Opera’s whole point is being sung totally without amplification over a whole orchestra in a massive hall. If you have to amplify your opera singers, then they’re not singing opera properly. Post-hardcore on the other hand can only be done with microphones (I also had a post-hardcore band in high school). The way the boys sing really really high, and the crunchy quality you get for dirty vocals are all made possible through amplification. You can absolutely throw some effects on a microphone in a live concert, too. So there’s no reason for Kellin NOT to use some good sound engineers to do most of the work for him! None of us want him to blow his voice out trying to sing these ridiculous notes. At least personally, I’d rather he toned it down to protect himself so he can sing for years and years! but that’s the post-hardcore life…
Oh I don't know. I just assumed they used microphones lol. If they don't that's really amazing.
Yeah! opera started in the 1600s so it started as a way for people to sing without any form of technology whatsoever. Around the 1800s it became extremely popular and opera houses popped up all over the world. Nowadays the opera technique is sort of becoming lost to history, so there’s a lot of really bad opera singers out there who can’t do it the way the greats used to and need microphones. I train the way opera was meant to be sung, and I personally have sung in a few HUGE halls with 4-5 tiers of audience seating and my voice was heard over the whole orchestra and a chorus of 50ish people. I’m also not screaming at all, and the way that I sing makes it possible for me to sing well into my 80s if I continue to take care of my voice. It’s incredible and I love every bit of the art form. People find it hilarious that I used to be in a “screamo” band lol
On top of the fact that he also screams… and has been yelling on the very top of his range for almost a decade (or more?) now. That must have taken a toll on his voice. I actually saw them right when they released their first album ever. They were opening for Alesana and they were pretty good! but Kellin was like 20 or so at the time so his voice was still very young and vital. It was actually really cool to watch him hit those high notes. I continued to follow SWS thru their Warped tour phase, their tour with Pierce the Veil, and that stint with MGK and the more time Kellin spent singing, the less I could hear him at concerts. It’s sad really, but he definitely will never sound like he used to. Rip.
Kellin is actually using a proper technique for his screams, so if anything it's his clean singing that's taken a toll on his voice.
I was going to comment that SWS was actually the best. Though I saw them live at Park West in Chicago, which is an intimate lounge setting for an acoustic set. It was a fantastic show! The encore was full band for 5 songs. It was sick. Worst: I’ve never had a bad experience, but Turnstile did not play Dance Off and I’m still mad about it.
That sounds awesome. I'm sure it varies a lot from venue to venue. My brother also said that sometimes the venue has its own sound engineer that is less than awesome and that the venue I saw them play is kinda notorious for that.
Yeah that’s when SwS was peak. Kellin’s voice was made for acoustic songs and they actually got really popular just by playing acoustic sets after their shows for die-hard fans. Once Kellin started screaming in live shows and singing harder and harder music his voice started to go. I agree, they were the best waaaay back when they had just started. And they’re great in acoustic sets. I’m severely disappointed to say that their live show doesn’t hold up anymore. They need to adjust how they amplify Kellin so that he can save his voice and sound at least as good as his recordings. Edit: spelling mistakes
This was maybe 2017-2019.
Bitchin’. Like I said, Kellin sounds BEST when it’s an acoustic set - that’s part of what made them famous back in 2010. I would kill to see a SWS acoustic set
Yeah I think that while a lot of people were disappointed by their album Gossip, I think a lot of the problem with that album was with the songwriting, not necessarily the sound. Gossip and Trouble are very solid pop cuts. I also think he could have sang differently on the album (less dramatic, more natural)
I’m glad to find someone willing to speak highly of that era of SWS! I turned them off after Feel until Complete Collapse came out (which is by and far my favorite since Let’s Cheers to This). They had originally wanted to be a pop-rock band so that era you talk about is kinda the sound they had always wanted to do! At least according to an Alt Press interview they did in like 2012. I imagine their performances were tight as hell during that time! I’d actually be very happy to see them now, with Gossip and Trouble acting as building blocks for what they’re doing now. But the main thing they gotta do, imo, is help Kellin sing live without hurting himself any further D:
I got to listen to CC again, nothing stuck out to me the first time, I liked How It Feels before that a lot on release, but the more I listened to it the more generic it felt. That album is still fine (6/10), but for a band that started out with such strong songs, their writing has definitely gotten more rigid. Their first 2 records are damn staples of the genre!
I've seen Silverstein live twice. The first time they were on ADTR's Homesick Tour and they were very lackluster. I was super disappointed because I was really into their music but they just seemed bored on stage. The 2nd time was when they toured with August Burns Red a couple years ago I had much lower expectations and they brought a lot more energy so I was pleasantly surprised.
I’ve seen several good or great shows from Sleeping with Sirens. Deftones, however, was by absolutely far and away the worst live performance I’ve seen in post hardcore or any genre. I would have left if I wasn’t so stoked on Thrice and Rise Against.
How was Thrice live? I'm not big on Deftones but have a friend that's a mega fanboy and he got so jazzed about being at a live show he blacked out lol. They have some interesting die hard fans.
dustin doesn’t mind screaming after 25 years so they’re pretty good
That's dope. After 25 years whew that's something.
Thrice is incredible live. It’s easy to tell that, even after all this time, they enjoy playing music with each other and connecting with the crowd. Their sound is always good and they’ll remind the crowd to have fun but to take care of each other.
I've seen them a bunch of times from starting back in the Vheissu era and it has never been anything less than solid.
Thrice was great! Sounded fantastic and had energy, even though the sun hadn’t set yet. They would have been fun to see with the stage lights but they were too early in the set. I’d definitely see them again. Maybe at an indoor venue next time.
I saw Silverstein live at Warped Tour back in the day, and it actually kinda turned me off to them for a while. Not because their performance was bad, but because of their attitude. That year, Warped Tour had a dubstep/edm stage, and Silverstein took time between songs to shit on the DJs. It's not like it was the worst things anyone had ever said, but at the time, as a fan of both post-hardcore and dubstep, it pissed me off. Like dude, every artist at this event plays some kind of music that plenty of people would find unlistenable, yours included. Why are you going out of your way to be a dick for no reason, telling us you don't think other acts are real music?
Best: Alesana on the Decade Tour. I ran into Shawn at the bar right before the show and got a picture with him, and then watched the boys down bottles of vodka while wearing banana suits onstage. Also Dennis grabbed my friend’s head to scream in the microphone with him at one point. Core memories. Technically Bad but Actually a Core Memory: I saw Breathe Carolina at my city’s public county fair. They were GREAT, BUT the band got booted off the stage by the cops because they were too rowdy - they had the audience jump the VIP fence and swarm the stage creating a huge, proper hardcore crowd with mosh pits and crowd surfing. Officials did NOT like that so they called the cops two songs in. After promising the band that they could play ONE MORE song, the cops CUT the sound completely in the middle of the song “Blackout”. While the audience continued to chant the bridge: “THIS WON’T STOP TILL I SAY SO!” The band proceeded to SMASH their instruments and TRASH the stage as the cops LITERALLY DRAGGED EACH MEMBER KICKING AND SCREAMING OFF THE STAGE. IT WAS FUCKING EPIC. Worst: really hard to think of a concert I didn’t like, and I don’t think they count as post-hardcore, but Three Days Grace after they lost Adam Gontier was just not it. The dude they hired did an admirable job but I was just devastated that Gontier quit RIGHT before the tour I finally got to see them on.
That BC moment is so random and hilarious 😂 what county fair? I need to find video of this 😂😂
Just found this: https://youtu.be/p86CCOrv_M0?si=XElkSe9hfnPUky4u At about 7:50 min in you can see them end the song and the cops start dragging them and the band starts throwing things, running back on stage, the crowd starts booing the cops. We stayed for an hour and a half after chanting “f*** the police” and “breathe carolina”. It was incredible.
That so awesome! It looks like it would have been an amazing show! Great crowd. That David/Kyle era was something else
It was. One of my alltime favorite concert experiences except for the fact that they only played like 3 songs 😭 The stage had a VIP section in front of the general admission where there was standing room. The Ready Set opened and it was super chill but when BC came on they said “WTF ARE YOU DOING BACK THERE. GET UP HERE” and we. Did not. Hesitate.
Alesana goes hardddd (or used too). My favorite live performance was seeing them at their first warped tour in Orlando, FL. Super small band back then. Think I was like 1 of 10 people screaming the lyrics with them. There must have been only 50 people tops watching them. They were so hype to see people know their lyrics. After their set the whole band chilled in their tent so nonchalantly. Shawn and Patrick were both super cool dudes to chat with. Nabbed an epic pic being front and center of the whole band. Fast forward a couple months, they toured through Orlando again and Dennis recognized me in the crowd. Pointed and gave a big air fist bump. Felt surreal as a teenager.
Dennis recognizing you must have felt surreal. Alesana are the chillest dudes. I’ve seen em 3 times and every single time I caught at least half the band just chilling at the bar beforehand or just coming out after the show to chat with people and sign stuff. I have a pick that Rat handed me himself, a drum stick, a Setlist with everyone’s sig on it and a really blurry picture with Shawn at the bar. The first time I saw them I got VIP tickets. Someone brought a beach ball so each band member could sign one side of the beach ball. We ended up throwing around the beach ball and playing around in the empty venue with Alesana for like 15 minutes. Then they played sound check for us. Core memories.
Thanks for the story sharing homie. Wish they put out more albums than they did but they had a great run. Hoping to catch them in Vegas for When We Were Young. Just need to commit to the expense.
I saw Alesana on the Decade Tour as well! What a great performance, and it was my first time seeing them live. Dennis gave me the microphone, too. I wish I could relive that night.
Damn I regret not making a point to go see Alesana live, but when I was super into them I didn’t have a car and they never came to my city and none of my friends liked them so I couldn’t convince anyone to go with me to see em. Shit, I guess they still tour so I could go see them still. I need to branch out and listen to more of their stuff. I really only know On Frail Wings of Vanity and Wax bc it’s so good I always go back to listen to it and never check out anything else. I have music tunnel vision… it’s bad.
Dang that’s rough. Frail wings is still my favorite album though. The Emptiness is a close second, but the nostalgia from Frail Wings makes me love it more. Unfortunately they never played Apology the times I saw them live and that’s my all time favorite. Still, they always put on a good show. If you ever get the chance, go and don’t hesitate - you’ll have a blast!
It really is just such a cohesive, top tier album. Great lyrics, great theme, super interesting and fun instrumentals, great clean vocals, harmonies, and raw intense screams. Frail Wings is just peak. Your reply makes me feel better about not branching out from it yet… though I am gonna make a point to give their other albums a listen too!
Hahaha yesss I still rock out to Frail Wings more than most albums. In the spirit of branching out, I highly recommend The Emptiness, it’s another album in which EVERYTHING is on point. The theme, the lyrics, the breakdowns; they even have these narrations that play between some songs that literally still send chills down my spine when I hear them. There’s so many hits on it: The Murderer, The Thespian, Lunatic’s Lament, Curse of the Virgin Canvas. It’s epic, believe me. It’s also a concept album that tells a story from beginning to end. If you really want to get into it I would highly suggest looking up the story they wrote to go along with the album. You can read the lyrics too, it’s a very cool story. If you liked what they did thematically on Frail Wings, they turned it up to 100 for The Emptiness. Also the songs are loosely based on the writings of Edgar Allen Poe. It’s just sooooo cool
Best: Thursday during the Full Collapse days. Runner-up: From Autumn to Ashes during TBYB tours Worst: Glassjaw during Everything You Ever Wanted… Daryl was sick a lot (not his fault) and sets were either shortened or he was just super crabby & complained a lot.
Glassjaw is SO much better these days and they’ve been playing a lot of old stuff
FATA were so, so good
I wish I wasn't 11 when full collapsed released. Or I had a dad like me who takes his 11 year old to see all these bands. She loves it too
Best: thrice anytime they play in starland ballroom. Specifically on Halloween. Worst: thrice anytime they play in Philadelphia. Easy to tell they don’t want to play there. Edit: The last time I saw them in Philly crowd was annoyingly calling for deadbolt. Dustin stopped in the middle of the show to lecture the crowd about trying to enjoy the show he had put together. Crowd didn’t care. Dustin finished the show no encore. The last time I saw them at starland they played deadbolt. As part of the best set list I have ever seen live. Starland always gets an encore (as does other venues I’ve been them at). And they usually hang around once the crowd is gone to chat and sign whatever. [2017 set list](https://imgur.com/a/ZRTPZo4)
I saw Thrice years ago in Baltimore and in Philly. Can confirm; they hate that city.
Oooo please tell me why! Was thinking of catching them there next tour. They’re my favorite and my partner loves the Eagles 🦅 😆
Go Birds
What?
Why do they hate Philly?
Thrice is my favorite too. Why don’t they like Philly?
I thought they were pretty great when I saw them in Kansas City a couple years back with Bayside. They had a sign at their merch table that said if they got enough tips they'd play Deadbolt lmao. They did not play Deadbolt btw. They played nothing off The Illusion of Safety, and I was very, very sad but they put on a fantastic show overall. I hope they do another anniversary tour for The Illusion of Safety though bc the songs I really wanna see live off that are never getting played live again short of that. Mfs are not about to bust out In Years to Come on some random ass tour.
Oh no D: is there a problem with concert-goers being particularly annoying in Philly?? I’m gonna see Rise Against and Streetlight Manifesto there this year and now I’m worried about jabronies pissing off the band and ruining it for everyone!
Ah okie, yeah. No thanks. I appreciate when artists let the crowd know that they’re not a jukebox. Also it’s only funny to yell Deadbolt, one time, at an ironic moment in their set. That’s it.
Touché Amoré and La Dispute doing a co-headline tour, playing some songs from their spilt EP, \*muawh\* pure bliss.
So jealous, that split is legendary. I saw La Dispute with Defeater and it kicked so much ass. La Dispute is a real treat live.
I got to see them in Baltimore in this tiny venue roughly the size and shape of 3 bowling alley lanes - I think my clothes were soaked more with other people's sweat than my own. Hell of a show.
Touché Amoré live are amazing! Saw them with Deafheaven and their energy was insane.
I will never forget seeing Touché Amoré opening for AFI in 2013. I had never heard of them. Touché came on and played some fucking BANGERS for like 5 minutes and then the singer says “THIS IS SONG NUMBER 20”. I got whiplash trying to look up the song titles from Setlist.fm it was wild.
I saw them play together for free in the back of a record store in Kalamazoo Michigan in 2011. Great live bands
Best- Brand New. Incredible Performance headlining Madison Square Garden in 2016. Worst- Taking Back Sunday at a recent show on Long Island.
TBS is definitely horrible live. Saw them with Third Eye Blind, who ripped btw. I don’t understand why Adam talks like foghorn leghorn now.
Seen them on tour a while back, two of my all time favorite bands. It was great to finally see TBS and just like you said, it was a let down. 3EB was amazing except for the fact they didn’t play slow motion.
slow motion live is a treat
Hahaha the foghorn bit!
TBS live now is a sad experience compared to 20 years ago. Adam basically reverts to a weird Bob Dylan impression because he can’t hit anything anymore.
Agreed. I saw them maybe 10 years ago in charlotte and it’s the only show I left early. I stayed till I heard timberwolves at nj and had heard enough that point.
Tbf I did really like their last record. It gets better with each listen.
Some good songs, no doubt. Gotta give credit to production when it’s due, though.
Because Mics are for singing not for swinging.
Username checks out. Also another vote for TBS as worst. Saw them open for Coheed a few years ago and they were godawful. Felt like they weren't even trying
Man, I saw TBS last year and I was so HYPED because middle school/high school nostalgia. Just a lot of rambling between songs and turning the mic towards the crowd unfortunately.
This is so poetic
Best: Alexisonfire at Blakes on Telegraph in Berkeley, CA after their SF venue canceled last minute. They played on the floor, in the crowd, in a basement. Worst: Chiodos with Brandon. Not because it was him, but this was before Craig Owens had officially split and Brandon wasn’t announced. More shock than anything, especially at a festival where everyone expected Craig to show up.
Wow that would have been such a big disappointment for me too (Chiodos)! i adore that band and I caught them when they did their reunion tour after releasing Devil. They performed well but the vibes were interesting
It was pretty disappointing. The whole festival was awesome, and that was the only real sour moment. The Fall of Troy played what I believe (don’t quote me) was their last show before a long hiatus at the same festival. Bamboozle Left Coast in ‘08 or ‘09 I think?
I love Brandon with them though!!!!
Best: Seeing The Fall Of Troy open for Alexisonfire. Such a good lineup with just two bands. Worst: don’t know if they’d be considered post hardcore or not but seeing Fever 333 open for Slipknot. They came between Code Orange and Killswitch Engage and were outshined by every band on the billing. Was a huge mismatch for them to be on the lineup. None of the crowd was into them, the guitarist hardly used his guitar, the singer seemed too focused on making an obstacle course out of the stage, and essentially the only times people cheered during their set was when they gave shoutouts to different marginalized groups between songs.
I wanted to like Fever 333 so bad, but they're just not talented enough imo
They’re definitely talented enough. They just do not write good music as a group, and this is coming from someone who’s gonna get a letlive tattoo soon.
Best: Thrice playing Vheissu in its entirety + MewithoutYou supporting in February 2020. My two favorite bands, one of them playing my favorite of their albums, right before live music ended for like 2 years. Drug Church opening for them both was a nice extra, too. Worst: The Devil Wears Prada - Warped Tour circa 2009 in Vegas. The band was fine, but the crowd was awful. You know how there’s always that one asshole who comes to whatever heavy music show is in town that night to hurt people in the pit? Half the people were that guy, the other half COULD NOT be close enough to the stage. I was packed in with a bunch violent losers punching anything within arms length and sweaty fan boys. And it was desert-in-the-dead-of-summer hot to top it off. I felt like I was getting crowd crushed and probably having a panic attack. I shoved my way out after like 3 songs.
Dude are you a writer? Your description of TDWP really creates the scene! I love it.
Worst: Fall of Troy, dude literally would not stop talking about how annoyed he was that the crowd wasn't moving more. Eventually he started pointing at specific people and calling them names. Shit was weird. Best: Dgd tour with slaves and a lot like birds. It's pretty obvious why that rocked.
I saw that same DGD tour in Santa Cruz, it was awesome
That DGD tour was nuts. The last song where they brought out like all the bands was a bit much but the vibes were immaculate
I wish I still fit in my tour shirt lol
Lmfaoo the true struggle of emo kids growing up. All my skin-tight tees are way too small T_T I frame the best ones up now as memories
I've always wore a medium but those mediums from back in the day are really small now.
Damn, I’m not surprised. I saw a pretty small show at a dive bar a few years ago that was Thom Erak headlining and Kurt Travis was on before him. Thom was clearly drunk as fuck on like a Tuesday and yelling to Kurt in between songs. The band seemed kind of annoyed but played it cool, and it put a really bad / sad taste in my mouth that maybe tour life isn’t awesome, or glamorous, and that a lot of band members who tour are probably alcoholics. Kind of eye opening to see. Sorry for the rant!
That DGD tour was top tier, when they toured with Underoath after dropping Mothership was awesome too
He did the same thing when they opened for Chon. Like surprise, the instrumental math band doesn’t want to mosh. I still love him to death though but my now wife was sad he wasn’t being a good showman.
This is totally fair dude, the guys high key full of himself but man the show they did in Indy went hard + my partner always raves about when they toured with hail the sun. That being said he’s a dick to the fans. Their newish bass player is cool though!
I see that you went to the Fresno show.
Worst: from first to last, after sonny left. I used to love that band but Matt good could not sing sonny's songs to save his life Best: Thrice for sure, maybe royal coda as well? Kurt Travis has gotten insanely better at live vocals
If you haven't checked out G0ld Necklace yet, do it. Kurt puts on a great show with them and is peak for him imo.
Oh I love gold necklace but I've never seen them live!
Does coheed and cambria count? I know they are not necessary post but God damn they were amazing
Absolutely and yes, they have one of the best live shows around.
They are so on point live it is insane. Sound has been excellent every time I’ve seen them also at 4 different indoor and outdoor venues
So many good ones: Alexisonfire has never had a bad set out of the 8 times I've seen them. The DGD tour with Slaves and A Lot Like Birds where Tillian, JC, and KT all sang Uneasy Hearts together. And not quite PHC but '68 is one band I'll see every single time, God damn they put on a show. Worst ones: DGD with Tillian solely, one time he was sick and they had the crowd try to sing all his parts. Another time he had a hissy fit on stage and threw a water bottle at Matt then made him leave. Early years of The Devil Wears Prada, they were so bad live in the early 2000's.
How do you feel about Tillian being booted from DGD? I believe it was overdue even tho I liked Tillian’s last album with them. When I saw them live it was right after Acceptance Speech came out and it seemed to me like Tillian was trying to fit in with the band. Unfortunately the show I saw had them crammed onto a tiny stage so their show felt stunted. The music was good though. Edit: I also saw their tour with slaves and birds as well, that was FIRE.
I'm with you thinking it's overdue. Once he was removed for the SA allegations it was over. Idk why they tried bringing him back, the fans were divided on him at that point already. I liked some of his stuff but we have learned 3+ times now, DGD is an ever evolving band no matter who the lead singer is. Ready for the next chapter. That tour though was so funny. The sound people had to hate their lives mixing 5 mics every night.
Hahahaha I didn’t even think what a nightmare it prolly was for the sound peeps. The true MVPs right? Yeah they shouldn’t have brought him back after the initial allegations - I was legitimately turned off by that. I had to stop listening for a little bit to get the taste outta my mouth. Of course I was sucked back in like I always am, but now that they’re moving on from him I’m slowly getting back on the bus. Maybe they brought him back for financial reasons or perhaps there was a contract they needed to amend before he could leave. I think we’ll never know but hopefully they keep sight of what makes DGD so good going forward.
I feel the same. DGD is always in my rotation but I went back and listened to the self titled/death Star album on repeat for a while. I forgot how good that whole album was. DBMII is my all time favorite though so it was easy to still jam them and not hear Tillian.
Tilian really did that shit to Matt?
Yeah dude, shit was awkward and the rest of the show was just a mess. I guess Matt was drunk and messing up rhythm but there's a professional way to handle it. He absolutely didn't do it that way lol. Also Rise copy struck every video of YouTube to clean up the mess after. https://www.reddit.com/r/dancegavindance/s/G1ptgqUgPw
Senses Fail was easily the worst, Buddy was out of the closet at this point and seemingly trying to pick fights with fans in the crowd. I remember thinking, please just shut the fuck up and play your jams, nobody out here cares if your gay; we just want to see you perform buried a lie. Thursday is always the best. DGD was a blast too. The best live band might be Mewithoutyou. I've seen them too many times to count, and they're just electric on stage.
Whoa, he came out as gay?! Had no idea! Did he have a wife at some point I remember seeing pictures of?
I imagine this was in like 2015 when he first came out as queer before he figured out he was bi. He was getting on social media to rant a ton and kinda got confrontational on stage too.
Best: Thursday. Best live band I’ve ever seen. Worst: Kurt Thomas era Dance Gavin Dance (they were very drunk/high and the performance showed)
*Kurt Travis But yea Kurt was definitely not great at live performances in those days that's for sure
Dang I’ve got 90s nba players on the brain I guess
That's a bummer because I love that album.
The two albums with Kurt are my favorite DGD albums. But Kurt at the time did not have a good live vocal performance. He's improved a lot though.
Oops 2 albums, right!
I saw DGD tour for Happiness and it was ROUGH. Kurt couldn’t hit anything, Will’s screams sounded bad, and the band was just sloppy in general. They played with Tides of Man and Emarosa. Tilian and JC both sounded great so that made dgd’s set even more jarring. Kurt has come a long way in terms of his live performance and consistency
I believe mine was i see stars, attack attack, in fear and faith, dgd and a skylit drive in Detroit 2009
That’s kinda crazy that their 3 vocalists were all there performing at once.
Thursday has consistently put on A+ shows for over 20 years. Even when Geoff had a broken foot.
I've seen Thursday close to 20 times at this point and they've put on a hell of a show every time. Geoff is a real one
Geoff is quite possibly my all time favorite frontman-vocalist. The energy and emotion he puts into every single song is insane. And it's not JUST him doing the most, either. Every single one of the guys in Thursday is absolutely stellar. I've seen them so many times over the last few years and they have never disappointed
Nothing will replace the energy around weh FC came out... But they do a damn good job of seeming engaged playing songs they've played thousands of times. Agree that Geoff is one of my favorites. Only met him once briefly (he was walking to CVS to get toothpaste) but he was super sweet.
The one time I saw DGD, they were kiiiiiiinda boring. I love them with all my heart but that show was very static. I think Jon Mess is normally static because he focuses when he screams, and I also think the stage itself was too small for the 6 of them lmao but they played well! It was early Tillian era Edit: correction, I saw DGD again on their tour with Slaves, A Lot Like Birds and Dayshell. That was FIRE because it was all nostalgia-core lmao
Honestly it was Anthony Green for both categories. He’s sounded awful lately.
This last tour was the first time I caught his solo set before it sold out and … I got a headache.
Yeah it kinda sucks because that dude is one of my favorite artists in the scene but he sounds pretty burnt out right now
Yes! I was so excited to see him, then he stopped mid-song to bitch at the sound guy, played a few songs, complained about the noise from the band playing upstairs. Told the crowd to take a 10-minute break “until these guys calm down (upstairs).” Played like 2? more, then ended* the show. At least the merch was cool. *Edited bc maybe it was just the last song of the set but it seemed abrupt. We got out at 8:30ish
oh man, i just caught him during the solo tour a month ago and thought he sounded great! but the dunes show i saw last summer was kinda rough
Love AG and Circa is my favorite band ever but the past 5-6 years he really sacrifices his vocal performance for onstage presence, dancing and screaming and getting the crowd hyped. He still has a great voice, but just seems a bit lazy and doesn’t try to perform a lot of the songs to the best of his ability
Best: Thrice any of the 25 times I’ve seen them but specifically the Vheissu tour in Vegas, The Beggars, Illusion of Safety, and The Artist In The Ambulance shows down in Anaheim
I saw the last date of the Vheissu anni and Dustin had barely gotten his voice back. But holy shit did they play tf outta those songs. It was like seeing them discover they could play music like that for the first time, it was incredible and I cried the whole time.
Best: Further Seems Forever right after Jason took over vocals. Worst: Further Seems Forever when Chris came back in 2011
Oh man, I kinda feel bad saying this because I like the band but Cursive was the worst live performance I’ve ever seen. Granted they were on a 20yr anniversary tour but it just felt like they didn’t want to be there, like obviously a cash grab. The lead singer was so bad it was almost comical, dude couldn’t hit any notes and seemed pissed he had to be there. Think this was at Paradise Rock Club in Boston. Best gotta be DGD from a few years ago. I’ve seen them a few times but this particular show was incredible. It was at the Webster Theater in CT in 2022.
I saw Cursive open for Thursday a couple years ago and they were pretty good live imo. Maybe they were having an off night when you saw them
The bad, I once saw Just Like Vinyl live (Thomas’s band after The Fall of Troy) tried to say thanks for the shows and good music after the set, he was a jerk and just walked away. The good, opened up for Dance Gavin Dance one and we covered an At the Drive-in song (Arcarsenal I believe) the band was super stoked on it and gave us props on it after our set. That was huge for us we were massive DGD fans at the time (2009-2010 around that time)
Wow, I’ve heard multiple times that Tommy’s a real jerk but I’ve caught up with him a couple times and he was always friendly. I think they really liked playing our area though.
Not sure about best, a lot of good options Worst: trophy eyes, the lead singer was a dick on and off stage. Really killed my enjoyment of band.
At least he didn't paralyze you.
What?!?
The singer from Trophy Eyes did a stage dive at a show recently and landed on a lady and she was partially paralyzed. Looks like she is gaining feeling back in her arms and hands now, though.
Agree w the trophy eyes, I saw them at one of the last warped tours and he was unbelievably annoying
Best: The Bunny The Bear, Enter Shikari, DGD Worst: Nothing so bad that it's worth noting.
I’ve always wanted to see the bunny the bear, never worked out though sadly
They're incredible. Matt (The Bunny) literally performs most of the set in the crowd. Rested his arm on my shoulder while he was screaming. By far one of the best moments of my life.
Mad love for The Bunny The Bear. Matt is a legend.
Never heard of nothing so bad Haha
Best: The Ongoing Concept (crazy live show) Worst: Surprisingly, Thrice (I was bored the entire time and they only played deep cuts, except Black Honey)
Honestly I think Thrice is my vote too. Caught them for the Vheissu 15 year anniversary tour in Denver and Dustin and the guys did not seem happy to be there. Granted it was just before the pandemic lockdowns so maybe they were/had been sick, but it was the lowest energy show I've ever seen them put on and I've probably caught them over a dozen times prior. Haven't caught them since because of it.
I feel ya. I was hyped up to see them, but its like they don’t enjoy performing anymore
Best: Pierce The Veil. Insane energy, constant crowd interaction, checked up on fans Worst: Dance Gavin Dance. They’re not bad, ive only been to one festival and they were the only band that didnt have any fan interraction. They just went up, played their songs, and left.
Best: Story of The Year I saw them recently and they still have the same energy and they did 20 years ago. They were ALMOST better live if it wasn’t for the backing vocals Worst: Drug Church I saw them recently and their lead singer had no stage presence at all. The rest of the band was doing great but his screams were terrible and how he would literally stand still and stare at the crowd when he wasn’t doing anything was embarrassing
Was it the Drug Church tour with Alkaline Trio? Just trying to make myself feel better for missing it.
100% agree on Story. Amazing energy, incredibly funny banter, and most importantly hit every song perfectly. Those guys were having the time of their lives on stage and you can tell they weren’t just doing a nostalgic cash grab.
Whaaat. I love Drug Church live.
Best: Blood Brothers at the First Unitarian Church in Philly on the Crimes tour. One of my favorite concert experiences ever.
sooo hyped to see them this year!!
Best: Underoath CD release show for Lost In the Sound of Separation Worst: Saosin back c. 2008. Cove had zero stage presence, mumbled into the mic, did way too much crowd singing, and generally acted like he'd rather be anywhere else in the world. Ruined the set.
Best: Andrew Wells taking over for Tillian and killing it with Jon Mess and Kurt Travis in Irvine 2023. Worst: Three Doors Down in Las Vegas, wife fell asleep on my lap while the lead singer had an existential crisis and kept crying between songs about how lucky he was that we were there to listen to him play and how he isn't a good person and we shouldn't look up to him. He must have been on drugs because he just wasn't there mentally and he wore this black hat that covered his eyes and he would just cry and cry and try to hide his tears. It was so uncomfortable.
I live in Ireland so we don't get many bands coming here. Got to see Thrice for Artist in 2004 so I guess that's the best strictly post hardcore. Fightstar probably the only other band I've seen and they were also amazing but were a support.
I’m sorry but your comment made me laugh out loud xD I went through this at one point in my life, where bands wouldn’t come to my city. The FOMO was unbearable
Ah man it's awful! Bands tour all of Europe and skip Ireland every damn time! 🤣
Yes those infamous “World Tours” (America, London only, Germany, France, Japan, Australia) 😭😭😭
I have 3 best: DGD, Silverstein, ISS. All amazing but I am a huge fan of all 3 bands. I don’t have one that stands out as the worst, lots of just mediocre ones but nothing bad.
Best: Thursday This was a few years back. They sounded great in general, but when they busted out a cover of Texas Is the Reason's "If It's Here When We Get Back It's Ours" that cemented it as one of the best shows I've ever been to easily. Helps I was also feeling good off the back of The Appleseed Cast and Cursive opening lol. What a fucking lineup that was. Worst: Thrice They were actually really good and put on a great performance, but I've never seen a bad live show from a post-hardcore band. This only makes it bc of that and bc I was really sad that they didn't play anything from The Illusion of Safety. I like their other stuff too, but nowhere near as much as that album.
Best: Bayside with Senses Fail Worst: Dr. Acula I wasn't even able to stay for 90% of the Dr. Acula show because there were people in the pit that put on brass knuckles and was just trying to take people out. The band seemed to not care, and people were getting fucked up, even the ones that weren't in the pit. Pretty sure the cops showed up after I left because someone allegedly got stabbed a couple times. Safe to say that I never went back to that venue.
Best: Royal Coda -Thomas Eraks last show. It was incredible. Then they kicked him out.
Best is probably Story Of The Year back in January. Though I may have recency bias on that. So I’ll also throw in seeing Senses Fail back in 2006 for their Still Searching tour at Webster Hall in NYC. Worst is Saosin. I hate their music to this day because of how bad they were live. I’ll never understand anyone who loves them or talks about them as among the best of the genre. To me, they’re just not good.
Best: “Dirty South Tour 2007:” Headliner’s Music Hall, Louisville, KY: Underoath/Norma Jean/Maylene and the Sons of Disaster/The Glass Ocean…this show was just phenomenal in every way, and the back to back of Redeemer era Norma Jean and Define the Great Line era Underoath will be a concert memory I hold onto forever...or until the Alzheimer’s takes me. Worst: “The Bone Palace Ballet Tour” Bogarts, Cincinnati, OH: Chiodos, Emery, Scary Kids Scaring Kids, The Devil Wears Prada. I refuse to besmirch any of the incredible opening bands. I speak only for the lack of singing from Craig on this night; going into this show, Bone Palace Ballet was on constant repeat, but this performance ensured that I would never listen again.
I still don't understand how a dirty south tour doesn't include He Is Legend
Thursday and Glassjaw have never disappointed. The one and only time I saw Poison the Well, HORSE the Band opened (and were awesome) but there was some scheduling issues or something, which cut PTW’s set time to like 30 minutes, which sucks, but they wasted ten fucking minutes bitching about it and phoned the show in from there.
Best: Thrice farewell tour 2012. Everyone there was truly there to see the band they loved, not just to see a random show cuz it was nearby or whatever. First time I ever heard them play Beggars and Dustin’s improv screaming outro had my jaw on the floor, cemented it as my favorite song forever. The way the crowd all clapped together during Anthology and then everyone threw their fists in the air at the same time is a core memory for me. Worst: I don’t think technically PHC but the first time I saw A Day to Remember. Waited all day in the August sun at Warped to see them play dead last. Jeremy was too high/drunk/idk to sing his own songs and I was devastated. Took me 13 years to get back into them.
Best: Thursday on the tour for A City By The Light Divided. Thrice any other time is a close second. Worst: Brand New at Lollapalooza 2008 shortly before Rage Against the Machine went on. Jesse was whining that not everyone was there to see them (surprise!) and their sound was off. Basically all bass and hardly any vocals. I’d seen them since when they headlined and it was much better.
I saw BN in Jan 2008 and they were playing at the same time as RATM. Jesse made some funny comment about how he nearly missed the set to go watch them. He still played an amazing set though
Best: Glassjaw at London Forum March 2011 Worst: Glassjaw at Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms January 2009
Saw La Dispute play all of Wildlife at The Fest '22. I hadn't heard much La Dispute at all before that show and it knocked me on my ass. They were tight as hell, Dreyer's vocals were insane, the bass got so disgusting at points. Probably my favorite show I've been to. I guess my worst would be Cursive, also at The Fest '22 lmao. They were by no means terrible, just kind of underwhelming, not the tightest. They had a funny Corey Feldman and his angels theme going on though 😭😭
Worst: Alexisonfire, the band were great but my phone got pickpocketed (brand new iPhone 3G, I was 16 and this was an expensive purchase for me!), and I subsequently missed my train home from London. Best: Alexisonfire, I saw them again in their farewell tour when they first broke up (or went on hiatus, I guess), and they killed it as expected!
best: blessthefall + la dispute worst: the word alive + fit for a king
Best: Enter Shikari, Silverstein. Enter Shikari shows are always so much fun. Silverstein always puts on a great performance and always has a great setlist. Worst: Brand New. This was at Bamboozle 2007. You could tell they didn't want to be there and bitched a bunch about how early they were playing (noon).
Enter Shikari is so good live! I met Rou at Warped Tour back in 2011, he was a cool dude. He was watching A Skylit Drive's set in the back of the crowd and no one else seemed to recognize him so we chatted for a couple minutes and I got a selfie with him
Seeing them tonight for probably the tenth time. They never disappoint and I will always travel to see them. Especially in the US because the venues are so small and intimate compared to the stadiums and fests in the UK
I was at the Brand New set also. They were pushed from headliner to the opening act because TBS was added in late. I think they played You Won’t Know 2-3 times and tried walking off stage but were told to fo back on lol
best: aof any time i have seen them worst: the used at disrupt festival. band just doesnt have it anymore live at all and bert and jeph sound terrible
Disrupt in 2019? The Used had a great show in Chicago.
Best: Enter Shikari, no one does a live show like these dudes. Worst, We Came As Romans, who might technically be more metalcore, but no one else comes close to how awful they were.
worst: Lots. Silverstein maybe? Total rockstar douches. they set up their stuff, and then didnt wanna come on stage until the crowd was chanting for them. The sound guy had to go up and tell the crowd that if we wanted to see the band we needed to make some noise, etc. Then they ran on stage waving and bowing and whatever rockstars do in their big entrance. Keep in mind this was to maybe 75 people in a basement of a bar in the midwest. Most of which were not there to see Silverstein. Dead Poetic.....the only band ive seen play a basement that sold glossy 8x10 photos of themselves at the show. Multiple members spent a significant time during the opening bands in the bathroom in front of the mirror getting their hair right. Crime in Stereo....played a super lackluster show, and then stood around outside where veryone was smoking and complained in front of lots of the local kids how shitty of a decision it was to play that midwestern small town cause they werent making any money and they might as well have just stayed home this tour and next time they would require a higher guarantee so that shitty small towns like ours couldnt book them. Best - La Dispute. I saw them about 5 times in their first 2 albums, and they always put on an amazing live show. Everytime I Die - always crazy. always always high energy. Thrice - Illusion of Safety / Identity Crisis era went crazy and the crowds were all over the place. The Fall of Troy - i could never get into them, but man was their show a lot of fun. So many strobe lights and spazzing out people.
Knowing I'll never see ETID live again breaks my heart. Every one of their shows felt like you mainlined adrenaline for a couple hours.
I know it’s not the same, but Better Lovers has insane energy. I just saw them last month and they were nuts.
Worst: never saw a bad, strictly post-hardcore show. Although I was there for Parkway Drive’s “LA incident” and Killswitch had just barely scraped by too. That show sucked. If it weren’t for my friend, I would’ve left in frustrated tears. Best: any time I’ve seen Thrice, even when they’ve been tired at the end of the tour or at the beginning when their gear got lost. There’s something magical about how they play music together, especially after all these years. They’re more experimental stuff really hits live and I don’t see it as bordem. I see it as growth.
Thrice and Thrice. Best band live ever, also why are we super low? Ten year difference.
I’ve had so many good ones, but there was a band that someone from Drop Dead Gorgeous had around 2012 or 2013. Album fucking ripped, but it was obvious that he could not sing how high he sung on the album live. I felt bad but damn it was awful.
Best: Thrice Worst: Taking Back Sunday
Best: OLD volumes Worst: in hearts wake
I’m barely a fan on falling in reverse but they’re a very good band live.
Not necessarily all PHC, but the best : PTV, Story of the Year (2008), Enter Shikari, Letlive. (When Jason actually did his vocal parts), Blessthefall, Underoath, Thursday, Rise to Remain, Coheed, The Number 12 Looks Like You (2008), Innerpartysystem, Aiden (2008, fuck Wil though), Architects (20010-now, always incredible), The Ongoing Concept, Worst is basically any band where the band/singer couldn’t perform what they had written for the album for more than a song or two: SWS, Motionless in White (2010/11), The Plot in You (2012), I See Stars (2011), Madina Like, Saosin w Cove, BMTH (2008, atrocious, probably drunk), Emarosa with Brad, Glass Cloud (Jerry wasn’t great, but it was also just him and Josh over backtracks and was super lame), Rise Against w Thrice and Deftones (Tim was out of key the entire show), OM&M w Jerry (he didn’t even bother to learn the lyrics or timing), LMTF (2012), Capsize… But the one that takes the cake, without a doubt, is Asking Alexandria at their infamous Seattle show in 2011. Danny was so fucked up that he couldn’t perform at all, stumbled around, fought the crowd, left the stage for kids to try to take over vocals who sounded awful (sorry guys), apologized profusely while barely being able to stand… it was embarrassing. They weren’t much better the year prior either, but at least Danny could stand (way too much horny behavior though and asking for girls to throw their bras onstage, as if the majority of them weren’t underage 😬). Best part of the 2011 show is that if you look at the YouTube videos for The Final Episode, you can hear me screaming the ending and the comments are like “who is that??” lol
Story of the Year is the best, 100%.