Underoath Destroy The Fillmore

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Seeing Aaron Gillespie from Underoath play at Emo Nite last month was a tease. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it was great, and hearing him perform some quintessential songs from my life in acoustic form was absolutely amazing but it made me so anxious to see Underoath in all of their power and that’s exactly what happened on Monday night.

The entire line-up for the Monday night show was amazing (admittedly it would have been more amazing with the original line-up containing Every Time I Die (RIP) but I digress) but I was super excited to finally see Spiritbox live. I’ll be honest, I know nothing about this band but everyone keeps on talking about them so I was intrigued and ready to see what all of the fuss was about. Unfortunately, when I got to the door of the box office, I noticed a sign taped to the door. It was a super generic sign that basically just said “Sorry, Spiritbox won’t be performing tonight”. My heart sank a little bit– not going to lie but I was definitely not as upset as some people that I noticed as I walked into The Fillmore. Many of the conversations I heard while I was making my way to my normal spot revolved around the disappointment of Spiritbox not being there. Once I got to my spot, I hopped on social media to try and figure out what had happened. Unfortunately, Spiritbox had a case of Covid hence the last-minute dropping off of the show, I do wish the band a speedy recovery and truly hope they find a chance to come back out to the Twin Cities so I can finally see what all of the hype is about.

New York-based Stray From the Path was the first band to take the stage. I’ll be completely honest with you guys- SFTP is one of my personal favorites and I have seen them multiple times so maybe I’m just being biased here but they killed it on Monday and honestly may have stolen the show. Full of energy and power even though their sound was a bit out of left field for an Underoath crowd if you’re asking me, SFTP kicked off their first song and I don’t think there was a single moment where any of the four members of this band were standing still for more than a second until the very end. Vocalist Drew York didn’t seem to mind that it was taking a little bit for the audience to warm up to SFTP’s hardcore sound– he was all over the place just doing what he does best– owning the stage and bringing a sense of energy to the room that just can not be put into words. Although their set was short, they played a bunch of songs that I had been dying to hear including “Subliminal Criminal”. Regardless of what you thought about this band musically, there’s no denying that they destroyed the stage and set the bar super high for the following two acts.

Just like I was honest about my bias for Stray From The Path, I’ll be honest about my bias against Bad Omens. Unfortunately, there was some drama that went down with another band that I really love. I won’t get into the details because it’s absolutely a he said, she said type situation but I think just the fact that Bad Omens got into a mess and ultimately dropped off of a tour due to some arbitrary (again, my bias is showing, I’m aware) paperwork (or flyer work if you get my drift) just left a really bad taste in my mouth. I tried to forget about it as the band took the stage but their overproduced sound just didn’t really help their case for me. I’m not at all saying that Bad Omens were bad on Monday night because they weren’t. They took the stage with a sense of fury and power that had me blown away. Their sound was flawless (albeit a bit overproduced for my liking) and their obvious connection with their fans was stunning to watch. It’s like my dad always says, they are great at what they do, I’m just don’t really like what they do.

Although the stage turnover between Bad Omens and headliner Underoath felt like a lifetime, it also somehow felt like it flew by. Maybe it was the anticipation in the air or my own personal anticipation, regardless, I was stoked as the band took the stage. Other than a little two-year break, Underoath has been on the top of their game since 1997. Although their 2004 album ‘They’re Only Chasing Safety’ is really the only album that I really ever obsessed over, there’s no denying the power that this band comes with or their cult-like following and I will never miss a chance to experience that live.

Underoath wasted no time jumping into a dynamic performance full of both old and new songs. Although clearly, my favorite tracks they played on Monday were from that 2004 album, every song came with such an undeniable sense of power that it was impossible to not fall in love with every note that passed. Much like Stray From The Path, there wasn’t a single moment where this band was just standing there and playing. There was so much movement, so much energy– it was honestly quite staggering. That energy was mirrored perfectly by the excited audience. Although it was clear there were many other people in the audience who were there for the nostalgia factor just like myself, there were also many kids screaming along to some of the newer tracks from Underoath including songs from their brand new album ‘Voyeurist’.

Underoath’s fifteen-song set just was not enough if I’m being quite honest. Much like when Bad Religion had to drop off of the Alkaline Trio show in Saint Paul, I expected Underoath to make up for some of the time by adding some more songs to their set as if to compensate for the dropped band but that didn’t happen. Don’t get me wrong, seeing them perform “It’s Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door” and “A Boy Brushed Red Living in Black and White” was absolutely amazing but I think I was just expecting a little bit more. That being said, the band sounded flawless and, as mentioned, their stage presence was the perfect icing on the cake for the Monday night show.

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