The Unconditional Tour with Memphis May Fire 3/5/14

Lets start off by saying The Unconditional tour is in contention for my top tours of 2014. Bottom line, this tour was rowdy from start to finish. Beartooth in an opening position (surprised many of people including myself to see them in that slot) all the way to Memphis May Fire at the end. Irving Plaza was ONCE AGAIN the host for the chaos, as this place could not stop jumping.

Beartooth began the show with a MONSTROUS fashion. It was only fair enough to see how the first three songs were on point, while the lights were not (go figure). However, it was only towards the end of their set, that they finally decided to have a full fledged circus run rampant. Guitarists Taylor Lumley and Kam Bradbury entered the audience by jumping down into the photo pit and standing on top of audience members to play riffs and crowd surf as they played their signature music. Caleb Shomo was last to do this, as he jumped body first into the crowd and sang his head off. The balcony was perfect for obtaining these magnificent photos, hell I got the whole set. It was jumping as they saved the best antics for last. Even in the photo pit one of the guitarists jumped into the crowd. I managed to snag some photos of that also. For a twenty+ minute set, this was the start to a captivating night.

Hands like Houses and A Skylit Drive provided the ambiance factor for the show. The intensity was brought down a notch as both singers of each respected band took the energy of the audience and placed it into their singing. Performances were just spectacular. There sets lasted around thirty to thirty-five minutes with lighting being sub-par. Yet again I met my rival combination of red/purple and with A Skylit Drive, it was all focused on a search light surrounding. The entire stage was all black for a song and a half with only solid colors peering through. Then it was all blue. The intro was all black leaving lead singer Michael Jagmin to expose the audience with a massive flashlight. It was reminiscent to Jared Leto from Thirty Seconds to Mars. I never saw someone do that as long as I have been shooting, or at least I cannot recall. Nevertheless, it was still one hell of an opening.

The Word Alive has always been a fan favorite of mine to shoot. I love this band, and the four times I have had a chance to shoot them when they toured with Parkway Drive, Crown The Empire, I See Stars and now Memphis May Fire. Although I had a blast capturing them the past few times, the photos for this show were resounding. There was an essence in Irving Plaza that made the room shake and tremble as audience members jumped in unison and crowd-surfed across the auditorium. The most-pit was even worse. Sporadic circle pits overtook the room as concert goers dodged the madness or even just participated for the sheer fun of it. The balcony provided perfect aerial view for the crowd. No complaints from this shoot as this was easily my best outing with the band.

Memphis May Fire was up to close things out, and they did not disappoint. With an amazing light show and some of the best lights, my best outing with them was this night. BAR NONE… I never captured crisper photos of front-man Matty Mullins in my career. I could not contain my excitement singing alive in the lights, so spending 2 minutes to sing and get into the groove was absolutely necessary. Since Kellin Quinn could not make it, A Skylit Drive’s own Michael Jagmin came in to sing Miles Away. Another moment being on the balcony as I barely shot that song just to sing my head off.

This contender for best tour of the year is already in a league with many shows that have hit Irving Plaza. Its only March. With Spring coming right on in, the warm weather will determine the intensity of the upcoming show schedule for the first half of 2014. Lets only hope, that it is as strong and gratifying as this one.

Catch you rockers on the flip side!
–Derek Soto–

The Unconditional Tour Flickr Link: Click here!

Beartooth Gallery

Hands Like Houses Gallery

A Skylit Drive Gallery

The Word Alive Gallery

Memphis May Fire Gallery