FROM ASHES TO NEW – LIVE – TOAD’S PLACE – NEW HAVEN
By Kat Gullage
FROM ASHES TO NEW SELLS OUT THE LEGENDARY TOAD’S PLACE
They made us sign a waiver.
I’ve been to the legendary Toad’s Place in New Haven a billion times, give or take. I don’t recall them ever having us sign a waiver. It stated, and I’m paraphrasing, Shit is gonna spill and make the floor slippery so expect that you might fall and break your ass. And if you do, you can’t sue Toads and a bunch of other entities. Toad’s has a strict no moshing policy and if you participate we can throw your ass out. Moshing can occur spontaneously and will be stopped promptly by staff. If you break your ass moshing, you can’t sue Toad’s or the other peeps listed on the waiver. Everyone had to sign it prior to entry.
We were there for Lancaster, PA’s From Ashes To New. I saw them once before, as the early opener for Motionless In White, at Mohegan Sun Arena. I peeked back at that review, I liked them but their sound needed to be tweaked in that 10,000 seat venue. On this night we were a sold out crowd of 1,000 in a historic rock and roll club.
From Ashes To New hit the stage and opened with “Armageddon” off their latest LP, Blackout. The place immediately erupted and the biggest mosh pit I’ve ever seen at Toad’s broke out in front of the sound board. Fans were crowd surfing and losing their fuckin minds. I think the band was genuinely like “Holy Shit.”
Lead singer Danny Case (whose perfect coif can only be rivaled by NFL quarterback Andy Dalton’s) stated “We only played one song and already know this is the best crowd ever.” “Our sound guy has a decibel meter and the record is 119 set by Albany.” (That was the opening night of this tour.) They gave us a coupla practice runs and then we gave it a go and of course set a new record with 120-something.
Another Blackout track is next with “Dead To Me”. The moshing continued non-stop, even through the too long cartoon intro to “Broken” off the LP The Future. Then it was back to Blackout for “Monster In Me”. Danny again, “Alright New Haven sing this one with me! As loud as you fucking can!” The crowd joins in for “Scars That I’m Hiding” from the LP Panic.
There is a girl in the pit holding her own against the mostly male participants. She’s like a roller derby queen out there. Meanwhile I’m throwing up lame ass attempts at kung fu moves just to defend myself. One of my faves, “My Fight” off their self-titled EP, From Ashes To New released in 2013, had us all jumpin.
Another too long intro for the next song, so let me introduce the rest of the group. Matt Brandyberry is the founder and co-vocalist. He’s more rap/clean and Danny is more raw/metal. Lance Dowdle on bass, drummer Mat Madiro and guitarist Jimmy Bennett.
The sound in the club environment is far superior compared to seeing them in the arena. All that intro hype was for another piece of Blackout, “Heartache”. Lance Dowdle sports different masks during the gig and at one point hits this stance that makes me wonder if he’s ever had professional dance training. He’s fun to watch.
Danny’s voice gets a bit lost during “Echoes”. Matt addresses the fans, “Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We feel more isolated all the time, social media is NOT social, going to a rock show is social!” “Hate Me Too” leads to a trip back to The Future for “My Name”.
Matt to the crowd again, “We opened here for Hollywood Undead and they sold the place out, no one knew who we were. I thought, wow, I want to do that one day. And thank you New Haven, we did it! We’re all here vibin on a Saturday night. We don’t always agree on a lot but we can agree on doing this! Ya know, I have a young kid at home and it’s hard to be away. I question my decisions all the time. But when I get on stage and see you, I’m reminded that I love you guys! Get those cell phones out and arms waving!”
We didn’t all do the phone thing but we were all swaying with our arms up for “Barely Breathing”. Things get ramped up again with their title track “Panic” and “Nightmare”. Matt addresses us one last time, “We have one rule. Take care of yourselves! We’re family. He crouches down and singles out a fan, “You good up front? Cuz your face looks fucked up.”
Danny announces that the club has something else going on after their gig so they have four minutes left to perform. “Wanna hear 1 more? 2 more? 5 more?” We get a track I didn’t expect, “One Foot In The Grave” and they wrap it up with “Through It All” from their first LP, Day One.
From Ashes To New gave us a tight set with great sound and the fans were wildin which made for a fun night. Danny said we “were the best crowd so far”. I asked Jimmy Bennett after the show if they meant that or if they said that to all of their audiences. He said it was “100% the truth”.
Haven’t heard From Ashes To New yet? They’re worthy of an add to your playlist. Catch em (at a smaller venue) near you, they’ll exceed your expectations.
Thank you faithful rockers and readers!
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