Escape The Fate Featuring The Emo Orchestra – The Crest Theater, Sacramento, CA 5/24
By Jeffrey Easton
The EMO scene that grew out of the Warped Tour era still pervades to this day because It was never a phase. You may grow older, but your blood still bleeds black because you never grew out of your music. You still hear MCR in your head, if you think about some girl from High School, you might think of If It Means A Lot To You. Angsty? Miss Murder or Ohio Is For Lovers, this stuff never leaves you. As a photographer, I spent my summers from 2004 to 2017 shooting Warped Tour In Southern and Northern California and sometimes looking back on my catalog of pics I have wondered what happened to those kids that were in my crowd shots, well tonight at the Crest Theater, I had that question answered.
Escape The Fate are perfect to revisit the scene as they have been apart of it for years and they have played with the bands they cover and have excellent stories. The night opened with the Emo Orchestras intro as Escape came out to their own Not Good Enough For The Truth. There were 2 Acts for the night and ETF opened and closed each act with their own material, hey you gotta promote yourself as well. They proceeded to take the packed Crest Theater back to their youth with 2007s Thnks Fr Th Mmrs from Fall Out Boy. The crowd lit up and the night was on its way. In between the songs, Craig would give his insights into the tracks, why they were performing them, why they meant what they did and with Aerials, it was simply stated, you have an orchestra, why wouldn’t you? I love System Of A Down and loved their rendition, their own brand of heaviness. They then dove into Good Charlottes The Anthem, which to me, really set up the Emo scene, the rebelliousness of it at least. I got to shoot GC in 2008 in Anaheim, they packed the old House of Blues and lit the place up. Another one of my favs, and by way of reaction, the crowds, was Smile In Your Sleep by Silverstein. I first saw them in 2006 on Warped Tour in Pomona, Ca, they ripped the stage apart. Escape The Fate really gave the track justice with their rendition as Craig is a versatile singer and the band are nothing but seasoned professionals. If you are watching an Emo oriented show, and you do not hear MCR, you are not at an EMO show so that was resolved with The Ghost Of You from Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge. MCR Made their small debut on the 2004 Warped Tour but Grandstanded the 2005 edition and on the grounds of the Long Beach Arena I saw them play in front of multitudes of screaming fans and I really feel that this scene that Escape The Fate is playing tribute too solidly planted its roots. AFI of course was loved and from to me, their best album, DECEMBERUNDERGROUND with Miss Murder. That heavy bouncing bass line and cock sure vocals are perfect for ETF to deliver and had the theater screaming them back to the band. The first act was closed out with the sentimental If It Means A lot To You from A Day To Remember. If this doesn’t move you, you have no soul. They blew out their own blistering Dearly Departed from their Out Of The Shadows album which ended the first set on serious high. An intermission ensued and the second act was not to be missed.
Act 2 opened with the aggressively heavy This War Is Ours from their second album of the same name and the second act was on. Diving into the nostalgia, they tapped Face Down from The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, their first single from 2006. It was one of their biggest hits and put them on the Emo map and ETF gave it their own treatment and new life. One of the stand outs of the second act of was A Boy Brushed Red Living In Black And White originally released by Underoath on their amazing 2004 release They’re Only Chasing Safety. I got to shoot them and interview Underoath on the 2005 Warped tour, getting to know them as a still young and up and coming band so this moment was special to me. Escape did this track justice with their manic heaviness, they had me from the first note, I can only say thank you. Turning the corner, they hit on Dear Maria, Count Me In from All Time Low, released in 2008 at what I think was one of the heights of the emo scene. The track was funny, the video was great, and it just hit all the right spots. Escape The Fate had the night rolling, the set list was great for Act 2, the band is so talented they can adapt into any of the bands they were taking on with ease, and the fans sang as if the original band was on stage. It was the consummate Emo night. Emo did take center stage with the next cut with ETF dipping into Blink 182s 2004 single I Miss You. If there was ever a breakup or an I want you back song, this is it. Craig invited everyone who was there with someone they were into to come down and dance, and they did. The bottom of the theater was crowded with slow dancers and people singing along with the band. It was a beautiful sight. If you never listened to Hawthorne Heights, you might not have been as deeply Emo as you thought. Their debut album, The Silence In Black And White contained Ohio Is For Lovers, released in 2005 and that is the next place Escape The Fate took us and as dark and aggressive as HH was, Escape upped the anti on it. As stated before, it’s not an Emo concert if My Chemical Romance is not a part of it and with them playing The Ghost Of You they solved that but more is better so cue their second best known emo anthem I’m Not Okay(I Promise). The crowd lit into them, singing every word back to the band as loudly as it was given to them. Act 2 closed with One For The Money from their 2013 album Ungrateful album but of course the lights did not come on, a few people started leaving but the chants of one more song started coming from the fans, you know its not over. Remember what I said about My Chemical Romances’ second-best known Emo Anthem, well the best known was then let loose as the encore because you absolutely cannot do an Emo Tour without playing Welcome To The Black Parade. If you went home let down from this performance, you came with the wrong expectations, this was an amazing tour, Escape The Fate were fab, the Emo Orchestra on it all night and perfect. It was a night of nostalgia for me because I saw the bands in clubs, Warped Tour, I sat down with some of them and talked about some of these songs, it took me back to those sweaty summers in Pomona, the parking lot of Long Beach Arena, Cal State Fullerton. Thanks Escape The Fate for that, it was a great night. If the Emo Orchestra Tour comes near you, you have to go.
The Emo Orchestra Site
The Escape The Fate Site
By Jeffrey Easton
The EMO scene that grew out of the Warped Tour era still pervades to this day because It was never a phase. You may grow older, but your blood still bleeds black because you never grew out of your music. You still hear MCR in your head, if you think about some girl from High School, you might think of If It Means A Lot To You. Angsty? Miss Murder or Ohio Is For Lovers, this stuff never leaves you. As a photographer, I spent my summers from 2004 to 2017 shooting Warped Tour In Southern and Northern California and sometimes looking back on my catalog of pics I have wondered what happened to those kids that were in my crowd shots, well tonight at the Crest Theater, I had that question answered.
Escape The Fate are perfect to revisit the scene as they have been apart of it for years and they have played with the bands they cover and have excellent stories. The night opened with the Emo Orchestras intro as Escape came out to their own Not Good Enough For The Truth. There were 2 Acts for the night and ETF opened and closed each act with their own material, hey you gotta promote yourself as well. They proceeded to take the packed Crest Theater back to their youth with 2007s Thnks Fr Th Mmrs from Fall Out Boy. The crowd lit up and the night was on its way. In between the songs, Craig would give his insights into the tracks, why they were performing them, why they meant what they did and with Aerials, it was simply stated, you have an orchestra, why wouldn’t you? I love System Of A Down and loved their rendition, their own brand of heaviness. They then dove into Good Charlottes The Anthem, which to me, really set up the Emo scene, the rebelliousness of it at least. I got to shoot GC in 2008 in Anaheim, they packed the old House of Blues and lit the place up. Another one of my favs, and by way of reaction, the crowds, was Smile In Your Sleep by Silverstein. I first saw them in 2006 on Warped Tour in Pomona, Ca, they ripped the stage apart. Escape The Fate really gave the track justice with their rendition as Craig is a versatile singer and the band are nothing but seasoned professionals. If you are watching an Emo oriented show, and you do not hear MCR, you are not at an EMO show so that was resolved with The Ghost Of You from Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge. MCR Made their small debut on the 2004 Warped Tour but Grandstanded the 2005 edition and on the grounds of the Long Beach Arena I saw them play in front of multitudes of screaming fans and I really feel that this scene that Escape The Fate is playing tribute too solidly planted its roots. AFI of course was loved and from to me, their best album, DECEMBERUNDERGROUND with Miss Murder. That heavy bouncing bass line and cock sure vocals are perfect for ETF to deliver and had the theater screaming them back to the band. The first act was closed out with the sentimental If It Means A lot To You from A Day To Remember. If this doesn’t move you, you have no soul. They blew out their own blistering Dearly Departed from their Out Of The Shadows album which ended the first set on serious high. An intermission ensued and the second act was not to be missed.
Act 2 opened with the aggressively heavy This War Is Ours from their second album of the same name and the second act was on. Diving into the nostalgia, they tapped Face Down from The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, their first single from 2006. It was one of their biggest hits and put them on the Emo map and ETF gave it their own treatment and new life. One of the stand outs of the second act of was A Boy Brushed Red Living In Black And White originally released by Underoath on their amazing 2004 release They’re Only Chasing Safety. I got to shoot them and interview Underoath on the 2005 Warped tour, getting to know them as a still young and up and coming band so this moment was special to me. Escape did this track justice with their manic heaviness, they had me from the first note, I can only say thank you. Turning the corner, they hit on Dear Maria, Count Me In from All Time Low, released in 2008 at what I think was one of the heights of the emo scene. The track was funny, the video was great, and it just hit all the right spots. Escape The Fate had the night rolling, the set list was great for Act 2, the band is so talented they can adapt into any of the bands they were taking on with ease, and the fans sang as if the original band was on stage. It was the consummate Emo night. Emo did take center stage with the next cut with ETF dipping into Blink 182s 2004 single I Miss You. If there was ever a breakup or an I want you back song, this is it. Craig invited everyone who was there with someone they were into to come down and dance, and they did. The bottom of the theater was crowded with slow dancers and people singing along with the band. It was a beautiful sight. If you never listened to Hawthorne Heights, you might not have been as deeply Emo as you thought. Their debut album, The Silence In Black And White contained Ohio Is For Lovers, released in 2005 and that is the next place Escape The Fate took us and as dark and aggressive as HH was, Escape upped the anti on it. As stated before, it’s not an Emo concert if My Chemical Romance is not a part of it and with them playing The Ghost Of You they solved that but more is better so cue their second best known emo anthem I’m Not Okay(I Promise). The crowd lit into them, singing every word back to the band as loudly as it was given to them. Act 2 closed with One For The Money from their 2013 album Ungrateful album but of course the lights did not come on, a few people started leaving but the chants of one more song started coming from the fans, you know its not over. Remember what I said about My Chemical Romances’ second-best known Emo Anthem, well the best known was then let loose as the encore because you absolutely cannot do an Emo Tour without playing Welcome To The Black Parade. If you went home let down from this performance, you came with the wrong expectations, this was an amazing tour, Escape The Fate were fab, the Emo Orchestra on it all night and perfect. It was a night of nostalgia for me because I saw the bands in clubs, Warped Tour, I sat down with some of them and talked about some of these songs, it took me back to those sweaty summers in Pomona, the parking lot of Long Beach Arena, Cal State Fullerton. Thanks Escape The Fate for that, it was a great night. If the Emo Orchestra Tour comes near you, you have to go.
The Emo Orchestra Site
The Escape The Fate Site
