Blessthefall Fire Up Fans at Sold-Out Show in Columbus, Ohio

Metalcore quartet Blessthefall roared into Columbus, Ohio on their Hard Feelings Spring Tour Saturday night. The sold-out show at Woodlands Tavern was packed tight when I arrived. A lot of attendees were milling about the bar, at the merch tables or outside on the patio to get some air and catch up with friends.

It was quite steamy in the venue and got even hotter when Slaves greeted the crowd and took the stage. Slaves are a post-hardcore band from Sacramento California. They immediately dove into tunes from their albums Through Art We Are Equals, Routine Breathing and Beautiful Death. The heat didn’t stop the rowdy crowd from enjoying their set!

Next up was Palisades who wasted no time ramping the crowd up into a frenzy! Their latest full length album Erase The Pain, released late last year, has some of their best work to date. The title cut is especially strong and amazing live!

Blessthefall opened their set with some seriously blinding flashes of light that synced up with the synth intro to “Wishful Sinking”  which is from the Hard Feelings album. The crowd went crazy, especially the front row which was predominately female. The band kept up the intensity by launching into “Cutthroat” then a searing “Hollow Bodies,” followed by “Youngblood.” There was no mercy for the crowd as the band punched into “2.0”/ “What’s Left Of Me,” which never fails to get the crowd screaming along, “DEAD, We’re not dead, we’re not like you said!”

I was quite content where I was in the crowd with a pretty good view of the stage when Beau motioned for the crowd to get a circle pit going. As I was in the center of that area, I made my way to the edge so as not get pummeled! It always amazes me how fast a packed crowd can accommodate the tornado of a circle pit so fast! Beau nodded his approval at the pit which he could see from the platform he was standing on. He began smacking the ceiling in time with new drummer Connor White as he pulverized his kit. Beau spent a lot of time hanging onto the stage light supports with his face inches from the lights!

He also used this vantage point to reach out to touch as many members of the audience as he could while intermittently spraying them down with bottles of water. And not just a couple of bottles, I’m talking a half a dozen or so. There was water on the ceiling, in the lights, and at one point it looked like it was raining on the the front row! The crowd cared less, enjoying the it all as the band launched into “Up in Flames” and “Dead Air” back to back from their 2015 studio album To those Left Behind.

Guitarists Eric Lambert, Elliot Gruenberg and bassist Jared Warth took turns either leaning on, or climbing on the top of the two stage platforms to engage the crowd. In contrast to a festival stage show, venues like this allow the band to get up close and personal, melting the faces of the front row and the fans eat it up!

 

Late in the set, after or between “Sakura Blues” and “Welcome Home”, Beau took a breather and honed in on a family with their 5-year-old son at the far edge of the stage. He thanked them for being there with their young son and said the kid was probably going to be a future rock star to much applause from the audience! It was a sweet moment and nice gesture. I’m sure the family will never forget it!

The show ended well before midnight, which was expected given the early start time for this all-ages show. Everyone appeared to be seriously sweat-drenched and spent as they filed out the exits. It was a great night! The are a few more shows left on this tour in the US. Check it out if you can!

Presented by Bravoartist For more Blessthefall tour dates visit: www.blessthefallmusic.com