The “About That Life” Tour 11/4/13

November 6, 2013November 6, 2013 Derek Soto About That Life, Attila, Canon, Canon 24-70, Canon 6D, Fit For a King, Gramercy Theatre, IWABO, IWrestledABearOnce, Live Concert, LiveNation, Metal, Sinestra, Sinestra Studios, Texas, The Gramercy Theatre, The Plot In You, Upon a Burning Body

What do you get when you cross a band who has wrapped up 14,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 22 on The Billboard 200 chart. (Blabbermouth.net statistics) and a band who’s resume racked up a Vans Warped Tour spot, Tours with Born of Osiris, We Came as Romans, Asking Alexandria, Motionless in White and now Attila all in 2013??? You get ONE AMAZINGLY rowdy tour. Atlanta based Artery Records artists “Attila” and Texas bred “Upon A Burning Body” of Sumerian Records team up to venture across North America on a tour that has SOLD OUT almost every state it has played, and this one was NO different. Alongside these two powerhouse’s are bands who respectively hold their own accomplishments within 2013. They are “IWrestledABearOnce“, “The Plot in You” & “Fit For a King” All 5 bands SOLD OUT New York’s Gramercy Theatre Monday night and here are the results. I was also granted An All-Access, so I got to hang out and converse with members of all the bands. Considering I have shot Attila in the past, this night was gonna be special for them, so I had to be at my best.

650+ attendees occupied the theater with patrons beginning the line as early as 10am. “Fit For A King” started the festivities with a simple yet robust 20 minute set. The lighting was lacking with arrays of orange and red. An idealistic nightmare for photographers but some of the best photos went to the drummer, Jared Easterling. Ryan Kirby, the lead singer, was eccentric considering the band had to make the most of the time allotted, to which they wholeheartedly did. Under “Solid State Records”, The band played most of their work from their debut album “Creation/Destruction” with Solid State. Ryan Kirby was an awesome fellow. We chatted backstage, he allowed me to take a photo with him and gave me the setlist which is as follows: “Warpath”, “Bitter End”, “Ancient Waters”, “The Resistance” and “Hollow King” Most of the time after the set he was at the mercy booth downstairs chatting with fans and taking photos. The smile on his face said it all.

Next on the band listing was Rise Records own “The Plot in You” and right off the bat I knew I had a character on stage in Landon Tewers. His stage presence is live and full of energy with zero fear of the audience. He would hold the microphone stand out to the front row and beckon them to sing or scream as the set went on. Josh Childress was another character all in his own. placing in black makeup across his chest and back, Childress backstage was hysterical. Watching the bandmates all sing R&B songs in goofy fashion to knock off the anxiety. To Josh, it was more hype and excitement. He explained to me how much he loves being on stage and how every night is ALWAYS a different scenario. I wholeheartedly agree because no matter how many times you play the same set-list, the venues, the states, the people are all different. I always felt that being on stage was more about endurance of time but the ENJOYMENT factor found in Childress was infectious. The lighting was treacherous as the top lighting engulfed Childress in a harsh rapid fire light and stayed on him for the duration of the three songs we were allowed to cover. When the light was good, it was all house lights for the crowd and Landon interacted with the crowd. I managed to escape with quality material, just wish I got more. You can tell this band loves being on stage and making their fans know they are loved. “The Plot in You” has a very bright future which I hope to see flourish with members of a music community of this caliber. The set-list is as follows: “The Fathers Seed”, “Troll”, “Filth”, “Premeditated”, “Cheyenne Weeps”, “Fiction Religion” and “Miscarriage”

Me with Landon Tewers of The Plot In You

Me with Josh Childress of The Plot In You.

“IWresltedABearOnce” … goodness me do we have history. The first time I experienced this band live was when Krysta Cameron was lead vox. It was at Starland Ballroom in 2011 as they were on tour for the 10 year anniversary of “As I Lay Dying” and on that tour were “The Ghost Inside” “Sylar” & “Of Mice & Men” It was an outstanding tour (except for the part where I got stranded in NJ, but thats another tale to tell) IWABO is now joined by Courtney LaPlante, who I have seen tour as she replaced Krysta who left the band after giving birth to her first child. Courtney was the new girl as she entered Santos Party House in Manhattan when IWABO toured with Chicago natives “Oceano” but you could not deny her potential. One year later, we are here at Gramercy with Courtney at the helm. Lighting was sub-par for starters. Mostly reds and greens but my archenemy made a return. STROBE lights ladies and gentlemen are the DEVIL. I am light-sensitive, so my vision seeing stuff like that kills my eyes. Surprisingly, my experience of working with troublesome light led me to some experimental, but positive results. Playing the game of light with Steven Bradley and Courtney LaPlante was awesome. Rickshaw, their bassist always has his own aura and newcomer John played the secure one. He did have some moves though, but the lighting allowed ZERO photos of this due to black and orange radiance. Courtney has filled the shoes of Krysta and indeed looks to be a longtime singer for this band in the years to come. I am proud of her and happy to see her success bloom as well as the entire band. Steven even brought his dog Mildred to the tour. We all hung out in the back room talking and swapping animal stories. It was wholehearted fun being with them all again. There was no setlist available for this set.

Me with Courtney LaPlante and Rickshaw of IWrestledABearOnce. Thanks to Nick Emde for the photo.

“Upon A Burning Body” was more like Upon a UNBELIEVABLE DISASTER. The photo pit was evacuated during the second song due to the sheer calamity Danny Leal was unleashing to this venue. The lights were harsh, brutal reds and purple for shadows and fluorescent clear atop. Made for one challenge yet again, ESPECIALLY working with the crowd-surfers behind me. I was in shock as the band played their third song “Devils Advocate” mainly because of the sheer amount of crowd-surfers that came through the barricade. The security team was SEVERELY overwhelmed and watching patrons fall over was even more difficult to see. The pit was utter chaos, the surfers were relentless and me watching the calamity unfold, had to pick my jaw off the floor. These fans were like watching the zombies in Brad Pitts “World War Z” motion picture. Bodies upon bodies in waves accompanied the loud breakdowns and screaming fans who also sang with Leal. I had the pleasure to meet him backstage and talk with him. A very laid-back person with a demeanor that does not yell egotistical, his commanding performance deems respect. He’s got mine with the fervor he adds to the stage. Their set-list is as follows: “Showtime”, “Intermission”, “Devils Advocate”, “Mimic”, “Once Upon a Time”, “Game Over” & “Sin City” Funny story, before I left the event I confronted Danny for the set-list to which his friends began throwing him off about his own set-list. It was humorous to see the guys have a good time by the bar. I also managed to take a picture with the good sir. He was very humble and grateful for my work I was doing for the band.
We reach the end, “Attila” There is alwats a surprise with the headliner, that surprise was simple and effective. “One song ONLY” was beckoned across the photo pit area as requested by the band. With disappointment of this rule, I upheld my loyalty to the security team and did my best. The results came out very well. The band literally gave us 10-15 minutes tops to get our work out. I honestly didn’t wanna be in there due to what I just witnessed with Upon a Burning Body, but I made my way backstage after I did my initial shoot. The crowd did most of the work with more surfing, singing, screaming and representing Stay Sick Clothing (Which is the lead singers clothing line) The set-list is posted in the gallery for Attila and there is literally only a photo gallery of the first song. I could not believe that 650+ people can lose their minds like they did that fateful Monday night. I was happy to see the results of my work, and to see how the other bands responded to my personality and work ethic. This tour did justice and bought the phrase “SOLD OUT!” not only on the Gramercy Theatre marquee, but to every other venue they have toured.