ATREYU – THE BAPTIZE TOUR – AT THE WEBSTER THEATER

Local Scene

2021-11-24

ATREYU – THE BAPTIZE TOUR – AT THE WEBSTER THEATER

Crown The Empire

Atreyu

The world renown metalcore band Atreyu transported their hard hitting Baptize Tour to the Webster Theater in Hartford. In support, Atreyu brought along Crown The Empire, Tetrarch and Defying Decay to round off a ferocious bill. Another resolute band, Saul, couldn’t make it due to transportation issues which was a disappointment to me as I had never seen them live.

Tetrarch was the first band I saw. My apologies to Defying Decay as I missed their performance. Tetrarch’s front man, Josh Fore was dynamic throughout their seven song set. His control over the audience was amazing. His vocals soared throughout the room. Diamond Rowe, their audacious lead guitarist was totally on point. Her guitar licks were monstrous. The backbeat of bassist Ryan Lerner and drummer Ruben Limas was explosive. Tetrarch opened with the strong “Stitch Me Up”. Every tune afterwards was edgy with their big hit, “I’m Not Right” being a major highlight. Tetrarch’s songs are all fierce and they are a band on the rise.

Dallas’ own, Crown the Empire was next. Lead vocalist Andrew Rockhold was thoroughly captivating. He had complete control of the stage. Bassist Hayden Tree’s unclean vocals were a perfect counterpoint for Rockhold’s melodic stylings. Brandon Hoover’s guitar had a driving character and Brent Taddle on drums was a powerful force. Crown the Empire’s sound is fearlessly pulverizing yet it retains a certain anthemic affection. The Webster crowd really appreciated their aggressive nature.

Opening with “In Another Life”, Crown the Empire drove through a ten song voracious performance. Rockhold was intensely propulsive from beginning to end. “The Fallout”, “What I Am” and ” Dancing with the Dead” were surely fan favorites. “Blurry” was a huge success. Crown the Empire closed out with a fiery rendition of “Machines”. The Webster was enthralled.

The moment they took the stage, headliner Atreyu was met with a thunderous response from the throng. You knew who the audience came to see. The band consists of Brandon Sailer (Clean Vocals), Dan Jacobs (Guitar), Travis Miguel (Guitar), Marc Mcknight (Bass/Unclean Vocals) and Kyle Rosa (Drums). Atreyu just released their newest full length, Baptize.

Atreyu‘s seventeen song set hit tunes both from Baptize and a good amount of their past hits. They opened with “Baptize” and went immediately into “Becoming the Bull”. The audience was already energized. “Right Side Of the Bed” followed but when they went into their enormous hit “The Time Is Now” Atreyu had a sizable sound issue. The P.A. went dead. No vocals, mics or instrumentation except for the drums. This happened mid-song. To the band’s delight the room kept singing. Not only singing but singing with a brazen vigor. Seller fed off this energy and the band was astounded. It was a special moment.

After a short intermission to let the sound crew fix the issues Atreyu returned. The band came back with a pummeling intensity and you could feel that a close heartfelt bond between the group and the room had formed. There was a magical aura in the air. The rest of their performance was imposing. Seller was an engaging showman constantly drawing the audience in. McKnight’s bass, unclean vocals and stage presence were intrepid.

Atreyu left no stone unturned. They played numbers off of Baptize such as “Save Us”, “Weed” and “Untouchable”. They also delivered muscular versions of older material such as “Bleeding Mascara” “Falling Down”. The high spot of the night had to be the spectacular “Warrior”. The Webster went manic. Atreyu came to play and play they did. In fact, they slayed.

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