On Sunday (2), Architects, Stray From the Path and Make Them Suffer hit the Palladium in Worcester, MA. Metal Insider contributor Alex Salfer-Hobbs and photographerNathan Katsiaficas hit the show and filed the following report.
Architects are close to wrapping up the North American leg of their All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us tour and I had the pleasure of catching them with photographer Nathan Katsiaficas in Worcester, MA on Sunday night.
From start to finish, this tour was a banger—Make Them Suffer opened, kicking the pit off early and getting the crowd nice and warmed up for our favorite political shit-starters: Stray From The Path.
Stray From The Path came out and played one of the most insane sets I’ve ever seen them play—and that’s saying a lot because they ALWAYS kill it. Beforehand, they had posted on Instagram, “Worcester tonight. Always a show you circle on the calendar. Cannot wait to play.” I guess that was supposed to be a warning? Either way, Stray brought their A-game and, at one point, vocalist Andrew Dijorio asked, “Who wants to be in a music video?” He proceeded to tell the crowd he wanted to see “one-hundred crowd surfers,” resulting in the entire bottom level of the Palladium being violently tossed towards the stage during the second half of their set. It was EPIC. I was happy to see them play their newest single, “The House Always Wins,” and I was SO STOKED when Sam Carter came out to do the vocals for his part in “First World Problem Child.” It was a fitting ending for a perfect set. After Stray finished up, there was only one thing left: Architects.
Stray From the Path
Full disclosure: I’ve seen Architects several times before, but I have been itching to see them again since they dropped All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us in 2016. When Architects’ guitarist Tom Searle passed away shortly after the release, I had no idea whether they would continue to tour the album—or tour at all. And who could blame them if they didn’t? The grief resulting from the loss of such a brilliant musician and artist was palpable for months, both inside and outside the music community. When Architects announced their North American tour, I knew it was something I couldn’t miss. However, no amount of anticipation or excitement could have adequately prepared me for the truly unforgettable show I was privileged to witness Sunday night.
The setlist for Architects was stellar from top to bottom. Predominantly boasting songs off of All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us and Lost Forever // Lost Together (with the undeniably heavy “These Colours Don’t Run” thrown in for good measure), Architects pulled no punches. The energy in the venue was absolutely insane, and vocalist Sam Carter mentioned several times that he “…couldn’t do anything but smile” when the crowd was this crazy. Architects sounded nothing short of amazing. Sam’s vocals were on point, and the guitar and drums were as clean and brutal as ever. There was not a single song where the crowd was not thrashing and jumping all over the place, and the venue was sold very close to capacity—which is ironic because they had initially been scheduled to play on the smaller stage and the show had been moved to the larger area last-minute.
The encore of their set was a seriously special experience, and definitely one of the most emotional performances I have EVER witnessed. Architects came back out with “A Match Made In Heaven” and the room lit up. Sam then took a moment to address the elephant in the room before starting their final song, speaking directly about guitarist Tom Searle’s passing, at which point the band was clearly overwhelmed. More elegantly than I could possibly paraphrase, Sam told the crowd that everything they do—every song, every show, everything—was for Tom, and that Tom lived on at every show. In this interlude before the closing song, their grief was palpable, but so was their resilience. Sam introduced the final song and dedicated it to Tom, and then Architects played “Gone With The Wind,” in the most emotionally raw performance I have EVER seen by a metalcore band. It was an incredibly touching tribute to Tom; there really aren’t words for how it felt to be a part of such an intimate and beautiful show– it was a genuine privilege to be present.
Architects
There are still dates left on this tour in Canada, and I strongly encourage anyone who can see them: DO IT. This is such an impressive tour and with a top-notch collection of musicians. You will not be disappointed!
04/05/17 London ON London Music Hall
04/06/17 Toronto ON Danforth Music Hall
