Concert Review: Escape The Fate, New Years Day, Fearless Vampire Killers, Like A Storm

Concert Review, Munich, Strom, Feb. 4th, 2016 by Alex Bock, https://twitter.com/abphotomjp

 

Last Thursday we had ‘Weiberfasching’ in Munich. It’s part of the final days of the carnival season, where women are officially on the hunt for men’s ties, to cut them off the necks of their owners. No problem for the show that night, because fortunalety I was attending a Rock show, not an office party nor a carnival ball.

When I saw the concert announcement a while ago and the support bands that where added over time, I thought, wow, what an event. Four awesome band in one night. The club they played, oftentimes starts shows at 9.30 pm, which is pretty late, considering they have to be over by midnight for youth protection reasons. Fortunately, the promoter also thought that this might end up in a race against time, so they changed doors and show-start time to 8.30 pm, which kinda worked out fine.

Like A Storm hit the stage at around 8.40 pm, so a decent amount of people was already inside. The still tight schedule left the band with time for only a few songs. I already caught Like A Storm live the first time they were in Munich with Black Veil Brides in March 2015 and I was really happy when they were added to the set list. Among the songs that night was their latest single ‘Become The Enemy’ and the by now well known ‘Love The Way You Hate Me’. Chris also played the didgeridoo a few times, which was pretty awesome, because who else uses that instrument on stage, esp. in Europe and also esp. in the Rock genre. I’m hoping they come back to Germany pretty soon. There’s two weeks of shows left. Then the band will get back home and after a well-deserved break, they’ll play another US tour from 04/26 – 05/27 with Sevendust and Trivium. Make sure to catch them on there or anywhere else they might play. You won’t regret it.

Second on the set list where Fearless Vampire Killers, the only European band that night. As you might know, FVK are from the UK. They started out in Beccles and currently reside in London. They are one of the busiest bands I know. Always keeping close contact to the fans through videos, posts, shows, DJ-ing in clubs, writing/releasing novels, fan club meetings and so on. In October 2015 they released a mini-album called ‘Bruises’. They already put out three music videos from that record for the songs ‘Bruises’, ‘Feeling Alive’ and ‘Regret’, which tell a consecutive story. Make sure to check them out on youtube. You’ll find the links here: https://musicjunkiepress.com/video/fearless-vampire-killers-release-new-video/

But back to the show now. Like the last times I saw Fearless Vampire Killers live, they again delivered an awesome set. Kier and Laurence, the two vocalists/guitarists of the band, take turns in singing and guitar playing. Both being equally good in both jobs. These days there’s so many bands on the market, it’s hard to differ. But FVK’s songs are different. Their records and the books tell stories, which makes a record much more complex. The music is not a simple intro/verse/chorus/breakdown/verse/chorus, it has much more varieties. The set list that night included new songs like ‘Bruises’ and ‘Regret’, ‘Neon In The Dance Halls’ from their latest full-length ‘Unbreakable Hearts’ and ‘All Hallows Evil’.

After that tour, they’ll play another headliner show through the UK starting March 2nd in Newcastle. Final shows is March 10th in Norwich. Go grab your tickets now, ‘cause they are selling fast.

Around 10 pm New Years Day got on stage. Different line-up than last time they were here with Escape The Fate. Only constant in the band is Ash Costello and Nikki Misery. Visually it was a very foggy and dark set. Starting with NYD, the crowd began getting wilder. There was lots of movement in the audience. They played songs from their recent album ‘Malevolence’ like ‘Defame Me’ and also one of their most popular songs ‘Angel Eyes’. The part of Chris Motionless was taken by Craig Mabbitt. It’s always more awesome, when songs that are a duet, are also performed as one and Craig did and awesome job together with Ash, even though his voice sounds completely different.

Come 11 pm the stage was ready for Escape The Fate. A few minutes before show start the stage was already drenched in clouds of smoke. When the band finally appeared the crow really went crazy. Lots of crowd-surfing. Craig Mabbitt had to catch quite some ‘heavy’ crowd surfers and managed that pretty well without any break ups in his performance. I wonder where security was during the show. Sure can’t be the singers job to help people get onstage and not crash on the monitors. Anyways, ETF really got the crowd going, singing along every word and cheering throughout the set. They played for almost an hour. Song list included ‘Just A Memory’, ’10 Miles Wide’, ‘Ungrateful’, ‘Alive’, ‘Something’ and ‘One For The Money’. After the two encores ‘The Guillotine’ and ‘This War Is Ours’ the show ended shortly after midnight.

 

All four bands hung around after the show to talk to people, sell their merch, sign stuff and take pictures, which is always great, but not the norm these days, esp. the headliners are making themselves scarce lately.

The tour last for another two weeks approximately. Go grab a ticket and enjoy the show.

For more information on any of the bands go visit their social media and homepages

Escape The Fate

Fearless Vampire Killers

New Years Day

Like A Storm

~ Review and all photography by Alex Bock, https://twitter.com/abphotomjp

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