Review: ESCAPE THE FATE Killer Performance at Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel

 

At the sight of Escape the Fate‘s backdrop, the roar of the fans was almost deafening as they awaited the band’s arrival. The overhead music came to a halt as the lights suddenly dimmed and gave off a blue hue to the stage, a strong hint that it was time for Escape the Fate to rock the stage. “I was fucking sitting on the balcony at my friend’s house, named Kenny with our old singer and we were smoking refried cigarettes and at the time I was thinking of a band name,” Max Green, the band’s bassist, explained to Upstate Metal’s Kate Drexel earlier that evening, when asked about the creation of the band name. “I was like ‘Alright, it’s gotta be something that’s chant-able’, something we can clap to and so I wanted something with a three in it, so it can be abbreviated cool. So it was like…I feel like it would’ve been like doodling names or whatever else with just cool words or whatever and it kind of just fell into place, to be honest. I think we were writing down ‘escape’ or talking about fate or something like that, like ‘Man, those two look cool together’ and it’s cool with the E and the F, you can do something cool with it, just fell into place with Escape the Fate.”

After each member made their appearance, Escape the Fate didn’t hesitate for one moment as they began with the title track from their latest record, Ungrateful, followed quickly by “Issues” and the second single from the album, “You’re Insane.” The crowd was pumped and the moshing that started off slowly, intensified. “When we usually write, our real guitar player, Monte [Money] would just send a demo and I would write vocals but when he would explain how he would write it. That’s why I’m excited to see how he would write this next record, actually sit down and do it as a band because that’s something we’ve always wanted to do but haven’t done, it’s just more of he sits down…I think “Gorgeous Nightmare” was “Bad Romance” or some other Lady Gaga song,” said Craig Mabbitt (vocals), as he explained the song-writing process. “He would listen to Top 40 shit and write it and tell me about the song, and I’m like ‘Well, thanks for telling me because I can’t get the fucking melody of the main song out of my head.’ So yeah, that’s how it always works, you know, you’d always be like ‘C’mon, I want to write’ and you just kind of have to wait for him to send you a demo to write to so…yeah, that’s always been the process.”

Following the performance of “Gorgeous Nightmare”, Escape the Fate continued with “Until We Die”, one of Mabbitt’s favorite songs to perform live, and finished their set with “This War is Ours”. The fans wholeheartedly cheered and chanted the band’s initials and a large satisfying grin spread across Mabbitt’s face. “Just the fact that I get to come out here and play music and do what I love to do and play for people that appreciate me and hang out with my friends, not only is it very humbling, because I enjoy it and I’m very grateful for my opportunity to do what I do, but it helps the time go by as well because I have a family back at home that I miss every second of everyday, that definitely helps so grass is always greener. That’s what I always say.”

Escape The FateFinally, at the end of the interview, Drexel got to ask her favorite question: what does music mean to you? “Well, I’d say for me, personally, everything. It’s what got me through my day as a kid, it’s what I used to lock my room door after my dad would kick my ass and blast music as soon as he left the house because I couldn’t do it while he was there,” reminisced Craig. “As soon as he was gone, my mom would have to deal with the wrath of Craig and I would just blast music. It’s what I did my whole life. I played violin in the 5th grade then I moved to the saxophone and I started singing and now it’s what pays my bills and still helps me get through the day because I get to express myself. I can sit down and write a song whenever I want to so…music is everything to me.”

All in all, this band put on one hell of a show and the vibe from the crowd and Escape the Fate was through the roof! Be sure to check out the band’s Facebook page for future tour dates, this is one performance you will not want to miss!

Photos by: Kate Drexel

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