Back in February when the Pierce The Veil and Beartooth Australian tour was announced the Sydney show was booked for Enmore Theatre. With tickets selling fast for the high demand tour the promoters quickly upgraded the venue to the Hordern Pavilion. Now fast forward to late July and the night of the sold out show has finally arrived.
It’s a cold Thursday night in Sydney as thousands of emos of all ages line up outside the Hordern Pavilion. Spotted amongst the crowd were members of various bands including Yours Truly, Between You & Me, Red Hook and Unwritten Law. Now you know you’re at a must see show when so many other bands are there to watch.
First on stage were Californian post hardcore band Dayseeker starting out their set with “dreamstate”. The room had started to fill as fans were eager to get their money’s worth for this American triple bill. Dayseeker’s frontman Rory Rodriguez vocals soared through the venue for the ultra pessimistic “sleeptalk” and the darkly emotive “crying while you’re dancing”. Ending their set with impressive new track “neon grave”.
With the room now filling up after a short break it was time for the next band. Ohio metalcore band Beartooth took to the stage with the rampaging intensity of a cocaine fueled bear. Firstly unleashing their track “devastation” onto us while shirtless frontman Caleb Shomo screamed every word as erratic lighting hit the stage. Then giving us “the lines” taken from their first album released back in 2014. We got to hear brand new song “might love myself” getting us all eager for the band’s forthcoming album. “Riptide” had the whole crowd dancing and the biggest singalong moment was for “in between”.
Throughout the set smoke and confetti cannons billowed out from the front of stage adding to the chaos on stage. Caleb indulged in a shoey before getting the crowd jumping to “the past is dead”. The set culminated with Caleb ending up with his guitar amongst the crowd as the band played “the last riff”.
San Diego’s mexicore heroes Pierce The Veil burst on stage as confetti cannons shot out signalling the beginning of the fiesta. Starting off with “death of an executioner” from their new album The Jaws of Life. Followed by fan favourite “bulls in the bronx” then playing new spirited track “pass the Nirvana”. For “hold on till May” audience member Brittany was brought on stage so Vic could sing to her. If that moment wasn’t special enough already for Brittany as the song ended Vic gifted her his guitar for being such a huge fan of the band. Since she had a Pierce The Veil tattoo it was well deserved. The main set closed with “the boy who could fly” followed by “circles”.
The band re-emerged onstage for the encore as Vic was met with chants of shoey from the crowd. Vic quickly shut them down by saying “I’m fourty years old I’m not doing that”. With the band then kicking into “Caraphernelia ” as Beartooth’s Caleb joined them on stage instantly making it a night to remember. Lastly playing arguably their biggest hit “king for a day” as phone cameras were thrust in the air so everyone could live in the moment. As the song finished Vic left the stage by saying “you guys are fucking amazing, thank you”.
Pierce the Veil left with their set clocking in at exactly one hour. I got the feeling after not coming to Australia for many years that maybe they could have played a few more songs but other than that I’d say they had flawless execution. Tonight both elder and younger emos collided in Sydney for a show that won’t be forgotten.
(Photos by Christian Ross)
