ENTER SHIKARI, Blessed By A Broken Heart...
ENTER SHIKARI, Blessed By A Broken Heart, Don The Reader, Astraya Falls
Posted Dec 17, 2007, by Cristal <3.
Genre: Alternative;
Arriving at Chain Reaction on December 6th, you could already feel the colorful energy in the air inside the very popular venue of Anaheim. This was a very special night to not only the fans but also the bands that were playing. The room started with only about 50 fans but as the night progressed it was packed wall to wall.
Astraya Falls were one of the bands priviledge to play with the line up since this group of young men have yet to be signed to a major label. All living in different cities, Astray Falls formed in 2007 to make a this Screamo/Experimental/Rock band. The first thing I noticed was the TRLOHA shirt that lead vocalist, Ryan Masters, wore during their set which has been well known for leading rolls in amazing bands today. Drummer, Jarrid Wilson, impressed the crowd with his double bass skills which led into random break downs in songs you wouldn't imagine but meshed so well. Off their recently released demo that came out in October, Astraya Falls played "If You Don't See The Shack". Right before leading into a break down, Ryan Masters screams out lyrics "How cliche is this?", which the crowd took as their chance to dance. Astraya Falls definetly showed brotherhood in this band. Towards the end of the set, how could Astraya Falls impress me even more? Synth/Keys/Keytarist, Adam Wellington, did a Windmill with his keytar! A-mazing!
Next up was Don The Reader. This Electro/Hardcore band had a dramatic change of fans from Astraya Falls and by this I am referring to the age of the crowd seemed older. This band definetly reminded me of Norma Jean which included amazing double bass use by the drummer. I wasn't able to see their whole set but from what I heard from backstage, it was getting wild for these guys. You can now get Don The Reader's recently released EP for free off their site.
Bring on the hair and metal!!! Blessed By A Broken Heart opened up with your classic metal lazer lights and can't forget the fog. Lead man, Tony Gambino, anounced that Blessed By A Broken Heart's long awaited CD "Blood On Your Hand" will finally be released April 29th of 2008. They played a new song off this up and coming CD which I can tell is going to be amazing since the fans went out of control during this song. BBABH has a great variety of using Synth, Screaming, and of course the piercing sound of Metal that drive all BBABH fans crazy. More than half way through their set, a fan jumped on stage to sing with Tony Gambino during hit song "Don't Stop". Tony Gambino than towered his way over fans sitting on the wall that divided both sides of the Chain Reaction floor to have more interaction with fans in the back of the venue. When finally back on stage, Tony than surprised everyone with a back flip off BBABH's stage stairs, keeping in mind how small the stage is already. Blessed By A Broken Heart left the venue full of their heart warming fans with "Mic Skillz" which included Sammie, from Astraya Falls, playing bass for the last half of the song.
The headlining band was UK's up and coming band Enter Shikari who we got to meet and take pictures with before they went on stage. These guys are amazingly nice by the way. What's so great about the boys of Enter Shikari is that they go full out at every show no matter how tired or even sick they are. At the begining of their set, Enter Shikari's lead men Rou and Chris were stage diving and crowd surfing while still playing their instruments. As the lights dimmed down, what stood out for Enter Shikari and their fans were their blinking rings and glow sticks that were attached to the fans and also the boys instruments. Drummer Rob, always was up from his throne dancing along with fans and band members which included performing the Robot. Towards the end of their set, Enter Shikari fans built a human pyramid that reached the ceiling of the venue to show the band how much of an influence they are to these kids and how big of fans they really were.Chain Reaction literally turned into a night club that night. To end the night Enter Shikari played a Drum and Bass instrumental and danced with all their fans which included rockers Blessed By A Broken Heart.
A special thanks goes out to my new photographer Mikey Woodside. If you'd like to see more pictures which includes us with 3 of the bands, check out : SOON TO COME!
www.myspace.com/astrayfalls
www.myspace.com/donthereader
www.myspace.com/blessedbyabrokenheart
www.myspace.com/entershikari
ENTER SHIKARI
