Atreyu with special guests Whitechapel, He Is Legend & Santa Cruz gave Rapids patrons a hell of a show Thursday night 11.7.19. The set openers rocked out hard and warmed up the crowd which was really needed that night. Niagara Falls had its first sighting of snowfall that day and by the end of WhiteChapel it was snowing heavily outside. He Is Legend with a heavy southern metal sound and unique riffs & Santa Cruz got things started while WhiteChapel kept the heat going indoors with their set and stage presence. They delivered strong, thunderous vocals and heavy metal anthems with three guitarists it is a strong musical experience in person.
Atreyu was already coming in strong with a fan based set list that has a huge range of their hits new and old. This band has released seven studio albums since 2002 and has given us consistent, heavy ballads over the years. “Ain’t Love Grand”, “The Theft”, “Bleeding Mascara” to name the few heavy crowd responders. It was a real treat to have Atreyu come to Rapids Theater for its intimacy and venue setup. The crowd was nothing but love in response, making it obvious to serenade vocalist Alex Varkatazs back and he took notice. There was a lot of appreciation shown thought out the night and the guys just seemed very unpretentious and truly prized their fans. Interactive stage men, heavy rocking vocals from frontman Alex and drummer Brandon Sallar that sound exactly like their recordings, that’s some of what you get at an Atreyu show. A packed tight, huge mosh pitting crowd with fists and devil horns that were a persistent theme all night. At one point the bassist Marc “Porter” Knight ran into the pit and played! Rumor has it someone lost a tooth that night so that can put in perspective the kind of activity that’s found in the crowd. Passionate people nonetheless whether you understand it or not its just the fire the music ignites in us that sometimes expressed in that form just releases a lot of energy. The last three songs couldn’t have been better with ” Five Vicodin Chased With a Shot of Clarity”, “Untitled Finale” (which side note has always been a favorite of mine and to hear Brandon say this was one of his favorite songs written was a pretty awesome moment), and ending with “Lip Gloss and Black”. Atreyu put on a tremendous live performance from beginning to very bitter end, being a fan since 2002 this was my first time finally seeing them in person and was not disappointed in the least bit. From the familiar vocals to hearing all of their classics just makes you excited for what could come in the future from them.
