In our music world where the pandemic is still going on, streaming concerts have become part of our normal world. Over this past year I’ve seen a good amount of streams and when I heard Falling In Reverse would be performing, not one, but two livestream events, I was elated. Over the years of covering and reviewing shows, Falling In Reverse holds a very special place for me. First getting to see them live at Chicago Open Air 2017 they immediately had me with their music and on-stage presence and I’d ensure I would try to review their shows any time I could. The way Ronnie Radke captures a crowd with his vocals, mannerisms, and those mic flips is something to behold. I certainly was not going to miss these livestream events.
Falling In Reverse returned to the stage with current members Ronnie Radke (vocals) and Max Georgiev (lead guitar). With the death of guitarist Derek Jones back on April 22, 2020, the band welcomed the return of guitarist Christian Thompson (rhythm guitar) who left the band 3 years ago to the day on April 16, 2018. The new lineup also included Wes Horton (bass) and touring member Luke Holland (drums).
Live From The Unknown Part 1 took place on April 16, 2021 at 9 PM ET. Unfortunately, for me and a number of people, we could not see the livestream event due to some technical issues. These things happen and eventually, I was able to get into the show. But, I decided to wait for the replay to become available so I could catch it from the very beginning. And I’m glad I did.
The show opened with Ronnie standing by himself on the darkened stage. I could tell it looked like rock beneath his feet. A piano played somewhere offstage as he performed solo “The Drug in Me is You Reimagined”. The song was released on February 13, 2020 as a tribute to the fans to feel the raw emotion of the song without the overlaying music and fast pace of the original. And Ronnie was right. The single is gut-wrenching and emotionally charged. It was a great start to the livestream.
As the rest of the band took the stage you could now clearly see the stage was set to look like a mountain top and the scenery around them was a CGIed open area of water below them and islands in the distance. Directly behind them were two massive moons in the sky setting for them the unknown area. I will admit, it looked pretty bad-ass. Falling In Reverse kicked it into high gear performing “I’m Not a Vampire” off the band’s debut album The Drug in Me is You from 2011. The band was completely in sync and absolutely sounded perfect. Wes and Christian performed backing vocals and Wes’ guttural vocals and screams were so good. I felt Falling In Reverse may have found the best version of themselves with this lineup.
They got hard and heavy with “Guillotine IV (The Final Chapter)” from 2015’s Just Like You and “Born To Lead” from 2013’s Fashionably Late. The guitars and bass riffs are weave and blended together effortlessly and hit so hard they’re thrashing. And then following that with “God, If You’re Above…” just kept us rocking. Falling In Reverse was full-steam ahead with no stops anywhere in sight.
As Ronnie promised to the bands, these livestreams would be like nothing fans had ever seen, and that promise held true. The CGI backgrounds and add ons during the entire event looked very natural. There were swarms of bats flying around the band towards the end of “I’m Not a Vampire”. Lightning strikes hit the stage and struck Max and literally made him electric during his guitar solo in “Guillotine IV (The Final Chapter)”, which looked amazing. And rocks started floating up from the ground and Ronnie had a fist of green fire during “Raised By Wolves”. The production team put a lot of effort into the special effects to make this event something special and it absolutely paid off.
Before the end of the livestream, Ronnie took a minute to thank all the fans for watching their livestream event. He gave huge kudos to the production crew and staff that worked on the livestream. He gave a RIP to Derek Jones and hoped the fans watched and liked the new singles of “I’m Not a Vampire (Revamped)” and “Popular Monster” and to check out Live From The Unknown Part 2 in two weeks on April 30, 2021 at 9 PM ET.
Falling In Reverse performed the original version of “The Drug in Me is You” with flaming meteors starting to fall from the sky behind them. They closed out the show with “Just Like You”. You can’t help but love that opening line of “I am aware that I am an asshole”. Ronnie asks the crowd to save them from the mountain they’re stuck on during the song. I admit I laughed hard when Ronnie blurted out “Oh my God, I’m fucking emo!” As they were closing off the song you hear a whistling in the air as a massive meteor strikes the island behind their mountain causing this massive cloud plume to start coming their way. As Ronnie is saying goodbye during the closing notes and to come see them in two weeks, if someone can get them off that fucking cliff, Christian blurts out, “Guys, guys, GUYS! What is that?!” pointing behind them. They all turn around as the massive cloud completely runs over the band as their screaming and then the cameras cut out leaving a technicolor sign saying “PLEASE STAND BY”.
Live From The Unknown Part 1 setlist:
- The Drug in Me is You Reimagined
- I’m Not a Vampire
- Guillotine IV (The Final Chapter)
- Born to Lead
- God, If You Are Above…
- Fuck You and All Your Friends
- Situations (Escape the Fate cover)
- Raised By Wolves
- The Drug in Me is You
- Just Like You
Falling In Reverse truly outdid themselves with Live From The Unknown Part 1. A great selection of songs, cool special effects, and a fantastic performance from the band. I’ll admit the only thing I truly did not like is the livestream was too short. A ten song setlist that the band plowed through in 40 minutes. Most livestreams I’ve seen this year are at least an hour long. I absolutely wanted more songs that night. Other than that, this event was awesome.
If you haven’t seen Live From The Unknown Part 1 hurry over to firmerch.com and get your digital tickets and special merch packages for these two livestream events. The livestream for Live From The Unknown Part 1 is available for replay until Sunday, April 18th at 11:59 PM ET. Don’t miss out!
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