La Dispute has really caught my attention since their sophomore LP, Wildlife. This was a show I couldn't miss. Three bands were opening for them so let's get right to them. The first was an New York outfit called Sainthood Reps. They were alright to me. Simple songs played with some passion. Their music wasn't my perfect cup of tea. Many songs weren't very memorable and nothing really stood out, aside from the last track they played, which was definitely the loudest and funnest of their setlist. I remember the vocalist got a nasty knock on the head but he shrugged it off. Something also worth mentioning is the lead guitarists pedal board; he had like fifteen different pedals. What.
Next up was All Get Out. They were definitely the most "Indie Rock" of the four bands that shared the stage but they still have their hardcore moments. They started with a rather upbeat song with the vocalist singing in a type of southern accent, which kind of caught me off guard but then transitioned into hardcore. The stand out moment for their set (or hell, maybe even the whole night) was when the vocalist went solo playing softly on his guitar and singing and screaming with such intensity. He even left the mic and simply used his own power for his voice. The room was dead quiet. He let out a huge scream. That feel. At the end of their set, during the climax, he climbed up a few amps and jumped off of them. They were a really entertaining band and I'm really curious to hear their studio work. These guys were easily my second-favorite set of the night.
After them was Balance and Composure. All I can say is that I was pretty disappointed. After a band like All Get Out, these guys were really underwhelming. All of their material sounded the same to me. There were no standout moments, no change in intensity. And the intensity didn't even feel that high to begin with. They had three guitarists that pretty much just made these uninteresting textures that swallowed up everything. The drumming was the only thing that I can say that I liked. Maybe their studio work is better, I don't know. All I can say is that this performance didn't do anything for me and was easily my least favorite set of the night.
And then, the piece de resistance, La Dispute. My favorite part was just of fun the vocalist is, moving like he was having an epileptic episode throughout the show. He also interacted with fans a bunch as well which is something that I like. They mostly played new material from their latest album, but they did play two songs from way back. On one of them, the vocalist actually forgot the lyrics. He was pacing around trying to remember, and finally it came back to him with the accompaniment of the audience. The folk here were hardcore fans (no pun intended) who knew the lyrics to everything. I felt left out. Their live performance sounds a lot like their studio work. Not much difference to note at all. They played King Park for their encore. It was kind of amazing. Anyway, to wrap up, it was an incredibly fun show and I'd recommend anyone interested in Hardcore/Post-Hardcore to try to catch them on the remainder of their tour.
