It seems like a ritual at this point—As I Lay Dying stops through Minnesota and I’m there, along with Jared Mehle, who took
some amazing photos during the show. As I Lay Dying are one of the few bands that I never miss when they come through the area. So, another year, another As I Lay Dying show, and another great performance to write about. This year they were on tour celebrating their decade of existence and promoting their new “album”
Decas. I use quotes since it only has 3 new songs and the rest of the material on the album is covers and remixes, none of which really held my attention, but that’s a conversation for a different place. Coming along with As I Lay Dying were an odd combination of bands—Sylosis, Iwrestledabearonce, The Ghost Inside, and Of Mice & Men.
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| Photo courtesy of Jared Mehle |
Unfortunately, since this was an all ages show that started at 5 pm at
First Avenue I didn’t get there in time to see
Sylosis. Even more unfortunate was that I did make it in time to see
Iwrestledabearonce. I’ve seen a lot of bad performances and terrible bands over the last decade, so it would take a lot for me to really hate on a band, but Iwrestledabearonce easily notched their way into the top five worst bands I’ve ever seen. They’re beyond frustrating because they have talent, but they actively choose not to use it and instead all they do is dick around, play stupid “funny” songs, and utilize the worst aspects of what’s hot in today's trends. They make use of unneeded bass drops, noodle around aimlessly, have a female lead singer who screeches uncontrollably, play portions of covers (notably the Inspector Gadget theme song), and ultimately just screw around. I have a hard time seeing how anyone can give half a shit about this band, but apparently they’ve managed to trick enough kids into thinking they’re somehow worth listening to. Sad.
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| Photo courtesy of Jared Mehle |
Cleansing my palette of the filthy taste Iwrestledabearonce left in it,
The Ghost Inside came out and threw down. This is the second time I’ve seen these guys, and they have an amazing amount of energy throughout every song they play. Mixing material from both of their albums, they kept their foot on the throttle for their entire set, doing their best to get a somewhat apathetic crowd moving. It’s captivating seeing a band ooze aggression as they play. If you’re going to play metalcore, a naturally angry and abrasive genre, you should look and play angry. If you don’t know how to do this, go watch The Ghost Inside. They’ve got it nailed.
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| Photo courtesy of Jared Mehle |
Taking the stage right before the main event,
Of Mice & Men showed that they had quite a following here in Minnesota, which I didn’t expect at all. Of Mice & Men play a standard
Rise Records style of trendy metalcore with clean choruses to sing along to between harsh verses with breakdowns tossed in here and there to show how “heavy” they are. I’m really over the whole
Rise sound, but Of Mice & Men executed their take on it adequately and they kept the crowd in it. It’s always a little odd seeing a bunch of 120 pound kids on stage trying to be tough, but they played their roles well enough. There’s nothing that made Of Mice & Men stand out from the myriads of other cookie-cutter metalcore bands out there, either good or bad, so all I can really say is that they did a decent job of playing to their fans in the crowd while keeping everyone else relatively entertained.
Since this was an all ages show and Of Mice & Men took their sweet time getting set up,
As I Lay Dying’s set had to be scrunched right into about 55 minutes in order to meet curfew. They took the stage and kicked right into “The Sound of Truth,” getting the crowd riled up and ready. This worked great as an opening song as it combines everything the band does well—aggressive verses, sing-a-long choruses, solid progressions, and a couple of great solos. They then moved into “Upside Down Kingdom,” which is the first time I’ve seen them play this song. Of their entire set, it was the only song that felt a bit out of place. I suppose that it works fine as a follow up to the opening track because of the uptempo pace and breakdowns throughout the verses, but if one song could be axed from their set, this would be it.
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| Photo courtesy of Jared Mehle |
The remainder of their set consisted of an even sampling from their discography—“The Darkest Nights,” “Through Struggle,” and “Confined” (their closer) from
Shadows Are Security, “Anodyne Sea”, “Parallels,” and “Condemned” from
The Powerless Rise, “Nothing Left” and the title track from
An Ocean Between Us, and then the classics “94 Hours” and “Forever” from
Frail Words Collapse. They also played “Paralyzed” from
Decas, which was fun to hear and is easily the best track on the album. And let’s also not forget the obligatory drum solo that
Jordan Mancino performs 3/4 through the set.
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| Photo courtesy of Jared Mehle |
As with every As I Lay Dying show, the entire band has great stage presence and is energetic throughout the show. There’s no denying the talent that each of the band members possesses as their performances are always tight and controlled. All in all they’re at the top of their game… well, except for one weak spot that I tend to notice each time I see them. As great as
Tim Lambesis’ vocals are on As I Lay Dying’s albums, I often find that his live vocals don’t quite have the “oomph” or fullness I’d expect. This is a relatively minor complaint, but is something I consistently notice during their performances.
There’s a reason As I Lay Dying have been around for a decade—they’re great at what they do. I have yet to attend one of their concerts and be disappointed, this stop being no exception. They captivated the crowd, had everyone nodding along, and showed why they're one of the top tier talents in the genre. If you get a chance to catch them when they come through your town, it’s definitely worth the money.
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