Atreyu – November 24, 2021 – Palladium – Worcester, MA

Atreyu puts on a great show. What a fun, heavy, talented group of dudes. While not a mega-fan, I’ve been casually listening to Atreyu since their second album, The Curse, was released in 2004 (sorry – I must’ve not been paying attention when their first record was released). I say they’re a metal band, but if you want to get specific, the ole interwebs describe them as “metalcore, alternative metal and post-hardcore.” So, there you have it.

There were 4 or 5 bands who played prior to Atreyu, but we arrived late (very unlike me) because that’s just how it goes these days. When we got there, the band Tetrarch was about 1/2 through their set. My personal opinion – meh. Very Korn sounding. Just not my thing, but they were decent enough. Next up was Crown the Empire. Never heard of them prior to tonight. When the first song started, it was a pre-recorded piece that sounded like Stabbing Westward at first, but then the band kicked in and it was a lot of growling vocals. I thought “oh no. Not a full set of this.” But they redeemed themselves with the 2nd song and the rest of the night. These guys were pretty awesome and I’ll be checking out their albums soon. They lead singer was excellent, and entertaining. People in the crowd were passing up drinks to him through a lot of their set which is normally hilarious. But these days, I have to wonder, “will this dude end up with the ‘Rona?”

Atreyu. F#%ing great! Their lead “clean” vocalist Brandon Saller has a great rock n roll voice. He can sing, scream, hit the high notes, and hit the lows. And he’s quite entertaining. There was a lot of interaction and banter with the crowd which I always enjoy. To me, when a band takes the time to interact with the crowd, and even single people out and have short conversations, it shows they’re not just going through the motions. The band genuinely seemed to be having a good time up there. Throughout the night Brandon joked with the crowd, had some good laughs with a dude named Josh, and made up BS stories about his “karate” with bassist and “unclean” vocalist Marc McKnight.

They had a great set list opening with Strange Powers of Prophecy which, right out of the gate, showed the band’s talent. If you check this track out, it’s a ton of vocals which in the studio could be achieved with one vocalist and a good producer. But these guys pulled it off live with ever member singing and showing off their harmonies.

During Bleeding Mascara, they switched things up a bit. The lead singer moved to drums, the drummer moved to bass, and the bassist moved to lead vocals. That was very cool and not something you see often – and again shows off the talent to anyone who doesn’t appreciate metal and thinks “oh they’re just screaming.”

I love that they played Right Side of the Bed, Becoming the Bull, and Blow because they are great songs. Brandon also led the crowd in a verse of Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance with Somebody (which also is not something you’ll normally hear at a metal show) after bantering with a group of girls in the crowd. The encore was heavy and badass, but I’ll admit that I didn’t know this one. I know, I know. I suck! But at least I admit it.

For those who may be wondering, the mosh pit is still alive and well, at least in Worcester, MA. Crowd surfing too. Personally, I hate when I’m trying to enjoy a band and I have douchebags slamming into me or crawling over me, but this time I was able to stand back and watch. It made me laugh. Though the dude being escorted out who seemed to have a broken nose probably wasn’t laughing much.

No guitar picks for me this time, but that’s ok. It was a great show! And my first metal show in quite some time due to all the COVID crap and life in general. Get out there and have fun if you get the chance!

Also…to the woman who was dancing behind the right side of soundboard all night…I’m impressed! She never stopped moving from the time I arrived with my buddy Frank until the very end of the show. Now, they may have been the best moves, but she had fun! Ha!

I captured the night’s playlist, but need help with a couple of them. Here’s what I got:

• Strange Powers of Prophecy
• Baptize
• Becoming the Bull
• Right side of the Bed
• The Time is Now
• ? don’t know ?
• Lose it
• Weed
• When Two are One
• Save us
• Lead Sails
• Bleeding Mascara – switch
• ? don’t know ?
• Untouchable
• Falling down
• Warrior
• Blow

• ?Encore?