I’ve never really listened to August Burns Red outside of hearing my husband play their music in our car, but when I saw they were going on tour with We Came As Romans and Hollow Front, I knew it was going to be a fun show to photograph.
It was an extra hot Sunday in Asheville, so hot that I felt like I was receiving a big warm hug when I got out of my car to walk up to the Orange Peel for the show. Up first for me was Hollow Front, a five-man band from Grand Rapids, MI. Their members are as follows; Tyler Tate (Vocals), Dakota Alvarez (Guitar/Vocals), Devin Attard (Drums), Brandon Rummler (Bass), and Lee Albrecht (Guitar). The arrival of their debut album “Loose Threads” in June of 2020 saw Hollow Front declared an immediate must-watch, clocking over 1 Million streams in its first week and 4 Million+ in a matter of months. Offering a moment of reprieve from the outside chaos and a reminder that we aren’t alone, “Loose Threads” – though released in the chokehold of an impossible global landscape – appears to have surfaced at its destined point in time. Formed only a few short years ago, they now find themselves signed to UNFD. They have since released three more albums with their fourth album release on May 27th of this year. It is apparent they have continued to keep the attention of the metal community.
Tyler’s vocals were BRUTAL, just as I remembered. This was my second time seeing them live so I knew exactly what to expect. Their guitarist seemed to be having the time of his life, I caught him smiling super wide several times. I don’t know much of their music, but I can say the crowd LOVED them and their stage presence was immaculate. Their set had me feeling super pumped and ready for more. I wasn’t ready for them to leave the stage but before I knew it their set was over! I also saw they will be at Blue Ridge Rock Fest this year, so if you’re going make sure you catch their set. I promise you won’t regret it!
Next up was We Came as Romans. The band is from Troy, Michigan, an upscale Detroit suburb that gave birth to the band’s blend of post-hardcore and melodic screamo. The current members are Joshua Moore (guitar), Andy Glass (bass), David Puckett (drums), and David Stephens (vocals). In the early days of their career, the group headlined shows in the Michigan area before graduating to the national circuit, where they opened shows for the likes of Our Last Night, Gwen Stacy, and the Number Twelve Looks Like You. We Came as Romans took time off in September 2008 to record an EP, Dreams, which they released for free two months later. Over 50,000 copies were downloaded within its first week of availability, and the band used that momentum to sign a contract with Equal Vision Records in early 2009. They returned to the studio with Joey Sturgis (who had previously recorded the group’s EP) that same year to work on a full-length album, To Plant a Seed, which was released that fall. The band toured ceaselessly after being signed to Equal Vision, with multiple trips across the United States, Canada, and Europe as well as New Zealand and Australia. In 2011, the band began work on Understanding What We’ve Grown to Be, a lyrically darker affair than To Plant a Seed. Amid constant touring, the band released the record in September of 2011 to positive reviews, peaking at the number 21 slot on the Billboard 200. Arriving in 2013, Tracing Back Roots offered up a cleaner, more melodic take on the genre, a musical shift that became even more pronounced on 2015’s eponymous We Came as Romans. In September 2017 the band issued the title cut from its fifth studio LP, Cold Like War, which was released later that October. All of those albums were recorded with Kyle Pavone on vocals, who sadly passed away in August 2018. David took over on vocals. The band’s most recent album Darkbloom released in 2022.
I had never seen We Came As Romans so I was super excited to be there to photograph them. I can say that I was not disappointed at all. As soon as they came onto the stage the crowd went wild. They opened with “Darkbloom” and quickly set the mood for the rest of their set. On the left side of the stage, Andy was hopping around and spinning with his bass. I could tell he was having the time of his life on stage. They continued the night with hit after hit like “Daggers” and “Plagued” halfway through their set David took a moment to talk about Kyle’s passing and how much he meant to the band and dedicated their performance to him. It was super sweet and I’m pretty sure there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. They quickly picked back up again and had the whole venue jumping and singing along with them. Crowd surfers were flying and so were t-shirts. It was just as hot if not hotter in the Orange Peel than it was outside but no one cared, they just took off their shirts and ran into the mosh pit for more. They ended their set with “Blackhole” and while I didn’t want them to leave just like everyone else in the crowd, I was excited because that meant August Burns Red was next.
August Burns Red is a metalcore band from Lancaster, PA. The current band members are John Benjamin “JB” Brubaker (lead guitar), Brent Rambler (rhythm guitarist), Matt Greiner (drummer), Jake Luhrs (vocals) and Dustin Davidson (bass). The band formed in 2003 while some of the members were still in high school. The band recorded a demo and followed that up with their first EP, Looks Fragile After All in 2004 with indie label CI Records. It is said that their name came from a sad story about former lead singer Jon Hershey‘s ex-girlfriend, “August,” setting fire to his dog house, while his dog “Red” was in it. The often told story ends with the newspaper headlines reading “August Burns Red” and the band taking their name from there. However, searches of newspaper archives from Lancaster, PA from 1989 to 2005 do not show that any such article was written and the whisper is, of course, that the story came from the band member’s imaginations because it was more outlandish than what really happened. After signing with Solid State Records, the band’s debut album, Thrill Seeker, made small waves in the metalcore scene and led to high expectations for the young band. The band’s 2007 sophomore release Messeners fulfilled those expectations, debuting at #81 on the Billboard charts and selling more than 80,000 copies. The momentum created led the band to get spots on the Warped Tour. The band was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2016 for Best Metal Performance for the song “Identity” from its 2015 release “Found in Far Away Places”, and again in 2018 for “Invisible Enemy” from “Phantom Anthem” in 2017. The band has released nine studio albums to date; their latest, Guardians was released on April 3, 2020.
Finally, it was time for them to take the stage. I was standing in the pit singing along to “Chop Suey” over the PA when all of a sudden Jake pops out of nowhere with the rest of the band and starts singing along! Talk about a rad way to take the stage. I had no idea they even had a cover of it till then. I was hooked from the start. Everyone quickly parted a huge pit and squeezed in as close as possible to the stage to get the best view and make the most of their experience. Everyone at the rail was jumping up and down and singing along. It was great to see especially since my last show was a pop show. The vibes were amazing and they even had me eager to get in the pit or something! My blood was pumping and I was eager for the rest of their set. They played “Vengeance” and “Paramount” next which had me wishing I knew more of their music because I felt left out seeing everyone else singing along. I also found it super funny that “JB” was performing in FLIP FLOPS. As soon as I saw them I couldn’t help but giggle. Really reiterates the fact that they are just normal dudes in a band doing what they love, and comfortably at that. At one point I went to the middle of the pit to get a better photo of Jake and almost got taken out by a flying mic! I forgot that I was told to watch out because he likes to swing it around. Gladly nothing was hit and I was able to catch a shot of him swinging it while it was SUPER CLOSE to me. It was scary and amazing all at the same time. Before long their set was over and they left the stage, but quickly were brought back out for an encore of course. They closed with “Marianas Trench” and “White Washed” up until this point I thought the crowd was as wild as it would get, but boy was I wrong. People jumped around in the pit and flew into the air to crowd surf even harder than they had all night. It’s also important to add that by this point Jake was COVERED in sweat so much so that it was dripping off his hat and his shirt looked like he just jumped in a pool, that’s how much he was moving around. I’m sure the 90-degree heat didn’t help either but it was crazy to see it actually dripping so much as if he went swimming. All in all, it was an amazing show. They all sounded and looked amazing on stage and I can’t wait to see them again.
Their full setlist from the night was:
- Chop Suey!
- Vengeance
- Paramount
- Invisible Enemy
- Beauty in Tragedy
- Back Burner
- Dismembered Memory
- Ties That Bind
- Bloodletter
- Ghosts
- Meddler
- Defender
- Composure
- King of Sorrow
- Marianas Trench
- White Washed
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