Every Time I Die/Knocked Loose/Harms Way - Middle East, Cambridge, MA 3/16
By Rickelle Tavares
To say that things got wild, reckless, out of hand, insane or anything of that nature is an understatement. Every Time I Die just so happened to have a Boston date of their Low Teens tour and it was beyond sold out, the venue was packed as soon as I entered.
There were a few openers that night but what really hit the jumping point was Harm’s Way, it was my first time seeing them live and they gave us hell. Hailing from Chi Town Harm’s Way brings the punch of hardcore that you’ve never felt before. Upon first glance I was kind of like “okay these guys look like they can throw down” but moments into the set things just got wild. They’ve been around since 2006 and have earned an incredible reputation and following, which really showed that night. Tons of people rushed to the front of the venue to see them, and they started thrashing immediately with no hesitation. They played a song called “Infestation” which made things go from mild to scary! People were being thrown around like rag dolls, it was honestly so great to just get to watch. One thing I will point out is that their lead vocalist Jay was massive, you’ve got this upper heavy band with these killer songs and a hell of an intimidating vocalist. Everything about them is solid, especially the performance they had, for a band I’ve never seen live I felt like they were so likeable and just GOOD!
Now coming out next was Knocked Loose, they came all the way from Kentucky and they know how to get down. I’m personally a huge fan of them, they recently released Laugh Tracks which I feel Is a 10/10 for them, everything flowed so smooth and it was a sick album. Once they came out on stage everyone opened the pit as wide as they could and things just took off from there. If you can imagine a song coming on when you were getting into a fight it could easily be any of knocked looses songs. They have sick riffs and Bryans vocals are just so nasty, it combines so perfectly, I honestly feel like they’re a breath of Fresh air for the industry a much needed one. I was watching people almost throw themselves over the stage to get a chance to scream in Bryan’s mic, the audience was wild during this set. They’d crowd surf to the front then jump on the stage and come flying back into the crowd. Knocked Loose definitely encouraged this behavior which was great, they weren’t some pretentious band that didn’t want anyone on the stage, they wanted to throw down with all the fans. They ended up playing my favorite song by them called “Dead Ringer” which is such a masterpiece, from start to finish you cannot right the urge to want to rage. Boston took things to a whole new level entirely, the venues ceiling started to drip and I started to see people with blood on their clothes. If you didn’t get hit or have blood on you were you really even at a hardcore show?
Now was the moment everyone was waiting for ETID was about to take the stage and you could feel the apprehension of the audience. ETID had just recently hit MA with Beartooth and I can recall how wild that performance was, but it was also insanely sick and they are an extremely unique band. They formed in 1998 and have been nothing but consistently great with every album they’ve released since then, but this tour was focused on their newest album “Low Teens” . People that have been “day one” fans had all said it was their favorite release and what better way to celebrate the success than a tour! Just to give you an idea of the conditions of the venue moments before ETID hit the stage, there was no room to stand, the floors were covered in water and beer, and everyone was dripping sweat but in the middle of winter. As soon as all the boys hit the stage there was a loud scream from the middle of the crowd that said “BRACE YOURSELF FOR IMPACT” and brace ourselves we did. They opened with “Underwater Bimbos From Outer Space” and it was almost indescribable how reckless things got.
The energy they had on that stage poured out and fed right into the crowd, who you’d assume would be a little worn from the previous bands, but nope they were going harder! Jordan and Steve were so much fun to watch, every so often they hurl themselves over the stage and in to the crowd while still hitting every note. Keith is just such a great performer, as energetic as he’d get there would be a few seconds where you would catch him just looking over the crowd and smile. That’s one of my favorite moments at any show. It’s when an artist is appreciating the people who took the time and money to come out and see them do something they love doing. During the song “The Coin Has A Say” I tried to just listen to the song without watching everything else that was going on, it really helped me appreciate how talented ETID is, you really can’t compare them to any other band or say they copied anyone, they have such an incredibly unique sound. Now was beat, bloody, and sweaty everyone was they didn’t want to let ETID go that easily so when they left the stage the “encore” chants started immediately. Once they came out it was nothing short of organized chaos, everyone, and I mean everyone got on stage with them while they played “Indian Giver”. Jordan even had the head of security up on his shoulder while he was playing, and the rest of the band was hidden in the enormous crowd of people. The show was a 10/10 and it such an incredibly solid line up with some very talented bands. I can’t wait to see what ETID has in store for us with Epitaph but I’m sure they’re going to continue to keep doing what they do best!
Every Time I Die Official Site
Knocked Loose Official Site
Harms Way Official Site
