By: Jared Stranberg
The day after Valentine’s Day, fans of metal music were still seeing red, or rather, the band August Burns Red at the Bourbon Theater in downtown Lincoln.
Despite the frigid cold, concert goers were lined up outside the Bourbon for nearly half an hour before doors opened, excited to see metal bands Crystal Lake, Miss May I, Fit For A King and August Burns Red. Once doors finally opened, all the early arrivals huddled inside, visiting the merchandise stands, getting drinks and finding a spot in the venue to enjoy the show.
Opening the show was Crystal Lake, a lesser-known band that is based out of Tokyo, Japan. Even though most of the crowd didn’t know them, they made sure to make quite the impression. Speaking as a former percussionist, I can tell you for certain that their drummer was capable of incredible feats, as he started the show with a fantastic solo. It didn’t matter that the whole room wasn’t crowded yet, their stage performance and presence was on par with every other band in the concert. Considering this was their first tour in the states, I was genuinely impressed.
After Crystal Lake finished, Miss May I took the stage, and they also rocked it. Their stage presence and energy got me into their performance more than their actual music did. Given, as a metal enthusiast, their songs were occasionally predictable, you could always tell when a heavy drop was about to arrive. It didn’t matter, however, as the amount of people in the venue had energized each other enough that everybody seemed to have a great time.
By the time Fit For A King was setting up, the crowd had been completely filled. Especially in the area closest to the stage, everybody was shoulder to shoulder, and Fit For A King knew exactly how to use that. As there had already been a few mosh pits and crowd-surfers early in the concert, they actively encouraged such activities. In fact, towards the end of their performance, the lead guitarist and the vocalist both crowd-surfed on their feet, playing and singing while carefully keeping their balance. The band also summoned members from the previous two performances to come out onto the stage and play with them, a nice collaboration to witness.
Finally, it was time for the headline act. A curtain behind the drumkit stand was pulled down to reveal the logo for August Burns Red, a flaming ‘U.’ Smoke machines, dramatic lighting, it was all there to truly establish a stage presence worthy of a headlining band, and they had the music to back it up. Perhaps it’s because I’ve been following this band for some time, but I believe the instrumentation, articulation and overall musical capability this band has is unparalleled by any other metal band that I have heard. The three previous bands in the concert all had this similar sound in terms of guitar and vocal performances. August Burns Red, however, was unique in every single song. That is why I believe that the band is so widely popular and was certainly the best performance of the night.
No matter the minor gripes about some of the composition styles of the first three acts, each band’s presence on stage was incredible and enjoyable. Fans (I included) ended the night sore, sweaty and slightly deaf. And if there’s one thing I know about metal fans, it’s that we wouldn’t have it any other way.
