Asking Alexandria has Clifton Park stand up and scream

Old school fans of Asking Alexandria cannot miss the 10 Years in the Black Tour. On November 15, Asking Alexandria alongside Born of Osiris, I See Stars, After The Burial, Upon A Burning Body and Bad Omens, brought the tour to Upstate Concert Hall in Clifton Park to showcase not only the best of the Sumerian Records, but the best of each band as well.

img_4233

Asking Alexandria, headliners for Sumerian Records’ 10 year anniversary tour, have a surprise waiting for fans coming out this month. For any new fans of Asking Alexandria who expected to see songs from their latest release, The Black, performed on this year’s tour, you are surely mistaken.

img_4372

Bad Omens opened the show with clean, intense, harsh vocals by vocalist Nicholas Ryan. They were the best way to start the night, especially impressive being the drumming by drummer Nick Folio. Their set allowed for the crowd surfers to come out early, and were just what the audience needed before watching Upon A Burning Body.

Texas natives, Upon A Burning Body, woke up the crowd to the fullest during, “Texas Blood Money.” A fan favorite by Upon A Burning Body, this was the first song of the night that really got everyone in the venue up and moving. At the end of the song, a couple in the crowd starting ballroom dancing to the Mexican interlude that followed the song.

Encouraging the crowd to be active, frontman Danny Leal invited fans to come up to him and give him a high five. “Don’t be afraid, every single one of you get the f-ck over here,” said frontman Leal.

Although this show was not a sell out and not everyone had arrived at the venue yet, during Upon A Burning Body’s set, there was a reminder of what a concert should really be like. A smaller number of fans were all working to get everyone off of their feet that wanted to crowd surf, and making sure they would get safely to the front of the venue.

Following Upon A Burning Body were metal group After The Burial. The excitement from Upon A Burning Body carried over into After The Burial’s set, with frontman Anthony Notarmaso encouraging shaking people around in the audience.

“If you came here with a friend start shaking this mother f-cker side to side. I promise if you do it, they will smile,” said Notarmaso before performing, “Collapse.”

Before performing their last song, the crowd was so upset about their set being over, fans started yelling profanities from the crowd towards the stage encouraging them to stay longer.

I See Stars, who released a their new album, Treehouse, over the summer, has gone from playing The Vans Warped Tour to being a part of this ten year celebration with Sumerian Records.

With their unique style of blending electronic and metal together, I See Stars were one of the most entertaining and energetic performances from the tour. Frontman Devin Oliver left no area of the venue untouched, whether by jumping on top of stereos to reach out to fans, or going up against the audience themselves.

img_3662

“I want you to sing louder, I want you to jump higher,” said Oliver.

Although performing a majority of their set to promote Treehouse, there are some fans who were hoping for earlier I See Stars songs to appear on the setlist, like their 2012 song featuring Danny Worsnop of Asking Alexandria, “Endless Sky.”

All of the energy given off from Oliver was given back to him by the reactions from fans during their entire set.

Heavy metal quintet, Born Of Osiris, were the heaviest band on the tour, and fans knew it immediately. Although it can seem odd going from the upbeat style of I See Stars to the heavy style of Born Of Osiris, the shift was not as strange as fans may think.

Playing songs like, “Follow The Signs,” were exactly what they crowd needed to be ready for headliners Asking Alexandria.

Despite being named the, 10 Years in the Black Tour, fans of Asking Alexandria may find themselves pleasantly surprised about the content played by Asking Alexandria. This tour not only surprises original fans with old content, but they actually go through their evolution as a band.

Asking Alexandria, who reunited with original vocalist Worsnop and parted ways with vocalist Denis Stoff soon before the tour began, gave, according to Worsnop, “a whopping five days before the tour started,” to prepare for the tour.

img_4434

With a lack of preparation and the confusion from fans, Asking Alexandria are using the 10 Years in the Black Tour to perform the stages of Asking Alexandria, starting with performing from Reckless & Relentless, followed by From Death To Destiny, and ending with songs from Stand Up and Scream.

According to Worsnop, bringing himself back into the mix makes the band feel they are back to how they were, “When it was five guys in a beat up RV in a Walmart parking lot in New Jersey.”

The chemistry between every member of the band surpasses any expectation. Despite being, in general, well-rounded musicians, the energy and connection between the members of Asking Alexandria is enjoyable for everyone to watch.

Every member of the band, whether it’s guitarist Ben Bruce, or guitarist Cameron Liddell, make sure to get up on speakers and get as close to fans as possible.

Worsnop, who has had vocal issues in the past, surprised the audience with the way his live performance has improved. His vocals, especially on songs like, “The Final Episode,” and “A Single Moment of Sincerity,” sound remarkably like the original recordings from 2009.

As well as going through the evolution of Asking Alexandria, the band also paused between songs to share stories and give background on some of the songs and the albums themselves.

“I’m not addicted to drugs anymore, that’s cool,” said Worsnop to introduce the middle of the show where they started performing songs off of From Death To Destiny.

The performance by every member of Asking Alexandria is not only incredibly impressive, but you get a sense that these five guys who started the band together, missed their time performing together. Any fan of Asking Alexandria looking to see old school Asking Alexandria songs performed, cannot miss out on the 10 Years in the Black Tour.

Comments are closed.