Back on April 7, 2019, Orlando FL was treated to one of the biggest parties hosted at Hard Rock Live. All That Remains and Attila’s co-headling Spring tour was wrapping up in Orlando. The fans were excited for it with droves of people coming out to the show that night. And there was a huge media presence in attendance that night. The atmosphere had the edge of excitement, like the moment you’re about to open a gift, as the fans waited patiently for the bands to hit the stage. And when they did, the crowd was very pleased.
Sleep Signals, the band from Minneapolis, MN have built a reputation as road warriors. With their high energy on stage performances and music to match, the band stays on the road often and has built a solid fan base. They’ve been supporting their EP At The End of the World and was recently in Tampa back in November 2018 with Atreyu, Memphis May Fire, and Ice Nine Kills. Sleep Signals is Robert Cosgrove (vocals), Sean Fitz (guitar), Cody Hess (guitar), Alex Nikolas (bass), and Clay Barnum (drums).
When they hit the stage with their bright lights and ripping guitar riffs they didn’t waste any time rocking on stage. Sean, Cody, and Alex moved around the stage from one side to the next, smiling, and playing up to the crowd. Clay ripping away at the drums with brilliant speed and skill was amazing to watch. And Robert’s vocals are truly something special. His range is wide, his power is strong, and he amazes the crowd with the notes he hits during the show. But, the best part I love about Sleep Signals is seeing how much they love performing for the crowd. The band plays up to the crowd and Robert is very charismatic when he engages the crowd. Some of the songs Sleep Signals performed included “Means”, “I’ll Save You”, “Suit & Tie Suicide”, and “Welcome To The Masquerade”.
Next up was the hard rock band from Las Vegas, NV, Escape The Fate. The band has been around since 2004 and quickly picked up steam with the release of their second album This War is Ours in 2008. Their success continued to build with their third self-titled album and a huge tour to support it. The band’s most recent album was I Am Human which was released in March 2018. Escape The Fate is Craig Mabbitt (vocals), Thomas “TJ” Bell (rhythm guitar), Kevin “Thrasher” Gruft (lead guitar), Robert Ortiz (drums), and touring musician Erik Jensen (bass).
The band hit the stage in a fury of rock and roar of approval from the crowd. Craig was all smile moving across the stage playing up to the crowd. Thomas and Kevin tore it up on stage with their fast-paced guitar riffs. The crowd was loving the performance and with good reason. Escape The Fate’s music is energetic, catchy, and makes you want to throw up some horns and bang your head. And as their set went on, the crowd was even more engaged, and Escape The Fate was playing even harder. When they wrapped up the fans were all cheering and screaming in approval. They provided a great fun set that evening continuing to set the tone that evening. Their setlist from that evening:
- Do You Love Me
- This War is Ours (The Guillotine II)
- Ungrateful
- Digging My Own Grave
- Empire
- Just a Memory
- Gorgeous Nightmare
- Broken Heart
- One for the Money
Next up was the first co-headliner, Attila. The band out of Atlanta, GA formed back in 2005 and released a demo album titled Fallacy in 2007. By the next year, they would release their debut album Soundtrack to a Party and start touring. The band started touring more frequently with the release of Rage in 2010 and have been non-stop ever since. Their success built from there with their care-free, hardcore performances, their genuine interactions with the fans, and having fun on and off stage. Their 2013 album About That Life debuted at #22 on the Billboard 200 and Chaos from 2016 peaked at #30 on the Billboard 200. Attila released their latest album, Villain, on February 22, 2019. Attila is Chris “Fronz” Fronzak (vocals), Chris Linck (guitar), Kalan Blehm (bass), and Bryan McClure (drums).
I already heard that Attila had a large number of guests that night at the show. And when they hit the stage, you would have believed the entire audience was their guests based on their response. Attila didn’t waste any time getting the party started with “Perdition” from Villain with its thunderous bass and guttural vocals and followed it up just as heavy with “Three 6”. Attila came to throw down and party with the fans and the crowd was happy to go along with them. Crowd surfers started making their way to the front of the stage. Moshers were going heavy in the middle of the floor. And Attila kept on rocking encouraging the crowd to let loose and have fun.
A fan ended up throwing a bottle on stage at the end of a song and Fronz said to the crowd the only things that should be thrown on stage were drugs or bras and low and behold the bras came flying on stage quickly. Women in the audience had no qualms pulling out their bras from under their shirts and throwing them on stage. Fronz, Chris, and Kalan smiled and started hanging the bras on the mic stands and continued their performance. I truly loved how fan friendly the band was telling them how Orlando is part their home (as half the band lives there) and if they see them out an about they should go over and say hello to them. And even proceeded to tell the fans a story or two of their partying excursions right before performing “Bad Habits”. Attila wrapped it up with “Pizza”, which the fans adored, and thanked everyone for coming out. Attila had a fantastic setlist that night:
- Perdition
- Three 6
- Toxic
- About That Life
- Bulletproof
- Moshpit
- Blackout
- Middle Fingers Up
- Party With The Devil
- Bad Habits
- Villain
- Proving Grounds
- Pizza
Last, and most certainly not least, co-headliner All That Remains was coming to the stage. The band from Springfield, MA originally formed in 1998 that Phil Labonte had as a side project while being the vocalist for Shadows Fall. After leaving Shadows Fall, he focused on All That Remains full time and the band released their debut album, Behind Silence and Solitude, in 2002. The album was considered more death metal than heavy metal they produce today. The switch came about with their second album, The Darkened Heart, in 2004. Their commercial success hit with their third album, The Fall of Ideals, in 2006. The band had tracks appear on the Saw II movie soundtrack and in the video game Guitar Hero 2. The band also was added to Ozzfest and Wacken Open Air in 2006. The band’s continued success through the years allowed them to release 6 additional albums. The band is touring on their ninth studio album, Victim of the New Disease, which was released on November 9, 2018. All That Remains is Phil Labonte (vocals), Mike Martin (rhythm guitar), Jason Costa (drums), Aaron Patrick (bass), and Jason Richardson (lead guitarist).
The lights went dark when All That Remains took the stage and then lit up as they kicked off with “Fuck Love” from Victim of the New Disease. Phil was killing the vocals, Aaron was backing him up smiling on stage, and Jason was smashing away at the drums. Mike and Jason were both very focused while they played with neither breaking a smile. They followed it with Blood I Spill from the same album. The band was ripping their way through their set to the cheers of the crowd. At one point, Phil paused to talk about the unexpected death of Oli Herbert, former lead guitarist, back on October 17, 2018. Phil talked about how it’s weird standing on stage and not seeing him standing there and how much he misses his friend. He also explained how fortunate they were to have Jason Richardson join them, as Oli had high praise for Jason as a guitarist, who became friends with the band. During the set, Phil asked the venue to turn off all the lights and for the crowd to light up the venue with just their cell phones. There weren’t any lights on at the stage either as they played and relied on the crowd to illuminate them. Their setlist even included “Everything’s Wrong”, “What If I Was Nothing”, and they wrapped up with “Two Weeks” from their 2008 album Overcome. The band took a bow and thanked the crowd once they finished. It was a much shorter set than I expected that night which was:
- Fuck Love
- Blood I Spill
- The Last Time
- Hold On
- Chiron
- No Knock
- Six
- Not Alone
- The Air I Breathe
- Everything’s Wrong
- Wasteland
- What If I Was Nothing
- The Calling
- Two Weeks
Overall, it was a very enjoyable show with a good mix of rock and heavy metal and great performances from all the bands.