Photos & Review: letlive & Architects US Tour
Featuring: letlive., Architects, I The Mighty & Glass Cloud
The Marquis Theater, Denver, CO. 4/25/14
Photos by: Shannon Shumaker
Review by: Kalyca Lawrence
It’s a decent night in downtown Denver and a crowd is already is lining up, anxious for tonight’s lineup. Personally, I’m a bit excited myself since most of the bands on the ticket I have not heard of (I’m here for Architects). So I’m hoping to be blown away and if not, well there’s a bar inside and I have a twenty…
The first opening band is I the Mighty from California and quite frankly, I’m not expecting anything. I don’t set the bar high for opening bands so I don’t have to be disappointed so early in the night. But tonight is no ordinary night and I am pleasantly surprised by their clean vocals and jammy undertones. Surprised enough to, gasp, enjoy the first few songs. And unlike other starter bands, each song played doesn’t sound like the last lyrically or stylistically which I have to say I’m grateful for. I only catch the title of a few songs out of five, “Failures” and “Speak to Me.” I pulled up the songs later on my free time and I certainly recommend them as an introduction to the band’s sound.
To continue with the night of not sure what to expect, Glass Cloud takes the stage. Once again this a new band for me and with a name like “Glass Cloud” I expect a pandy, indie jam. Where I the Mighty feels like something that could be played on 93.3 (for those that listen to the radio anymore), Glass Cloud is a kick to your teeth and liking it underground. They open up with “How to Survive Suicide” and I have to quickly switch from the afterglow of jammy nodding to preparing for the mosh pit to explode with adolescence as bodies start flying. The bass and drums are heavy, the vocals throat-scratching raw, and the bassist has me transfixed for longer than five minutes. That guy is fucking happy!
Now here is tonight’s show, for me anyway. I had listened to the Architects awhile back after a friend recommended them and swiftly regarded them as every other screamo band out at the time. I apparently didn’t learn my lesson though and when that same friend (along with a few others) raved about their newest album Lost Forever // Lost Together, I had to give them another go, and boy am I happy that I did. So as Architects enter, I am pumped to be blown away by some of my personal favorites like, “Gravedigger,” “Naysayer,” “Colony Collapse,” and “Broken Cross” to name a few. And though the band has a few technical difficulties they never lose their energy or let it throw off their performance. Their vocalist is top notch, album quality, which is a relief because sometimes with screamo bands you don’t know what you’re going to get when the vocalist takes the stage.
The last band to grace the stage is letlive., who I was lucky enough to watch two months ago opening for Bring Me The Horizon. Now their music is great and their set (white flowers anyone?) is something to see… but that’s not why I stay to watch them. To me their presence is with vocalist Jason Butler who is a sight to behold on the stage. If you ever, EVER have an opportunity to see this band live ,TAKE IT because Jason is a cannon ball up there. With each song, “Dreamer’s Disease” and “Muther,” the audience practically climbs over each other in an effort to get a piece of Jason as he leans over the edge. The energy on stage is almost on par with the insanity of the crowd. At one point there are so many fans on stage that have crowd-surfed there that I wonder if there is any security for this show at all. As their set comes to an end Jason manages to climb a speaker which I didn’t think possible at the Marquis, but there you go. Soon things start flying, wires are pulled, and letlive. keeps living. I, along with the crowd, will leave the venue exhausted, but with a smile on my face.