Birmingham can be an interesting, fickle place for live music sometimes. Tonight was one of those shows for sure. As I approached the venue 5 minutes before doors, there was simply a middling crowd queuing at the Academy3 entrance, which was a bit startling, since the show was advertised for the second room and I had packed my gear specifically for it. It wasn’t until I bumped into another photographer that I found out the room had been downsized due to ticket sales. With a stacked lineup of Metalcore acts from across the world, and it being the last night of the tour, I can’t imagine the sting the bands must have been feeling. But, being the optimist I am, I headed into the venue and began to head towards the stage, actually excited for the much more intimate room for bands of this calibre. The lineup of the night consisted of Australian metalcore four-piece Disect and American hardcore four-piece Great American Ghost as support, alongside Co-Headline performances from Japanese Metalcore titans Crystal Lake and American Metalcore legends Miss May I.
The first band of the night, Disect, hit the stage. The energy in the room didn’t pick up at first, but it didn’t stop the band from giving it their all. Ridiculously heavy track after heavy track was blasted through the amps on stage into the crowd, with the band doing everything they could to get people moving. After a few songs, the room was slowly filling up, and people were beginning to feel the music much more. After a couple of songs, the band addressed that they were actually a member down too due to an unfortunate case of sickness that had hit the touring party, leaving them to play without the bass live, which unfortunately did leave a noticeable mark on the sound, but I’ve got to give credit where it’s due. With everything that was very clearly going wrong with the show, Disect gave it 110% still and looked the entire time as if they were still having a great time despite the setbacks. I can always respect it when a band handles issues like this without affecting those there to see the show. The band’s sound blended modern metalcore with elements of the genre’s more extreme sides, with many similarities to Thrown. I highly urge people to give them a shot if you’re a fan of chuggy, breakdown-heavy metalcore.
Photography: Dan Stapleton @ Pulse Media Visuals
After an incredibly short changeover, Great American Ghost hit the stage (early). I’ve been a massive fan of these guys since I saw them support Polaris and Alpha Wolf in the Academy2 a couple of years ago, and was incredibly excited to get to see them play a stage this small. Immediately, the energy was ridiculous, and the onslaught of riffs and breakdowns flooded the room. Ethan’s stage presence as a vocalist is unmatched, and mixing in the band’s raw, aggressive sound creates an oppressive experience to witness live. The room took a bit of time again to warm up to GAG and get moving, even when prompted by the band, and at times, I could feel some of the band’s frustration, but this didn’t take away from the performance. In fact, I would say it added to it. The music was raw, aggressive, and angry, and with the issues the show faced behind the scenes, I believe this added to the performance in an incredibly real way. The band channelled this frustration and anger into the performance, making it something you truly had to be there to witness. By the end of the performance, though, the crowd had obviously been won over, and Ethan even joined in the circle pit for the closing song of the set, which helped make the room feel connected to the performance, helped make the crowd a part of the band, even for just a short moment. I’m excited to see GAG live again, and I urge everyone to catch them as soon as they can.
Photography: Dan Stapleton @ Pulse Media Visuals
After a quick smoke, I headed back in just in time for the start of Crystal Lake. For me, these were the main events for sure. I first found the band back in 2018 with the release of Aeon and have been a fan ever since. The band hit the stage and immediately started the performance. There was no small talk, just straight into the music. It was in this part of the set that the frustrations and anger of the bands and the crowd truly felt at their highest, but once again, this was channelled into the music, adding an extra level of depth that I found truly refreshing. Since the departure of Ryo Kinoshita, the band’s previous vocalist, I have felt that the fanbase hasn’t really given their new vocalist, John Robert Centorrino, a fair chance. Seeing him perform live, he is the perfect fit for the band, with ridiculous levels of stage presence and utterly monstrous vocals to match. On top of this, the setlist was outstanding, covering both the bands’ new, like Bludgod and Everblack, and old fan favourites like Watch Me Burn, Apollo and Lost in Forever. Crystal Lake put on an incredible performance, and I’m so damn happy I’ve got to see one of my favourite Metalcore bands in such a small, intimate room.
Photography: Dan Stapleton @ Pulse Media Visuals
After a final changeover, we had the last act of the night, Miss May I. This was the set I was most curious about for the entire line-up. They’re a band I’ve never really listened to, and one that I was hearing incredibly mixed feelings about in terms of live performance quality while having cigarettes between bands, but I went into the set with cautious optimism and was taken aback by the band’s professionalism and energy. If they did care about the night’s change of plans, the band didn’t let it show once. Shadow Inside, Pray For Silence, Architect, the entire setlist was great, and frontman Levi Benton had no issue commanding the room. Their performance and sound were clean, incredibly well rehearsed, and there wasn’t a moment that the crowd weren’t fully absorbed into the set.
Once again, Birmingham is a fickle beast when it comes to live shows. Sometimes it doesn’t matter how much a show is pushed, how beloved the bands playing are; the city just doesn’t turn out. There are 101 different things that could all be blamed for this, but at the end of the day, the people who weren’t there aren’t the ones that matter. Those who were all there appeared to at least have an absolute blast seeing 4 great bands play their hearts out, one of the most intimate shows they’ll probably ever get to see these bands play, and that’s what’s so great about live music. It’s about these shared experiences that you had to be there to truly see, and I, for one, am glad I was.
Photography: Dan Stapleton @ Pulse Media Visuals
