Concert Recap: Alesana, Palisades + Vampires Everywhere - The "Trilogy Tour, Part I: The Emptiness," Jacksonville, NC (August 19, 2022)

August 19 was a loud and heavy Friday night at Hooligans Music Hall in Jacksonville, NC, thanks to post-hardcore legends Alesana bringing the first part of their “Trilogy Tour” to the Onslow County venue. A two-hour trek from the band's Raleigh roots, Alesana wasn't alone on their east-coast expedition – direct support came from New Jersey's premier alternative metal act Palisades, along with emo metal veterans Vampires Everywhere and Florida-based newcomers Our Sorrows completing the bill.

For this particular show, however, the first band to take the stage was a local metalcore band called Still Searching, coincidentally hailing from the same town as Alesana. Unfortunately, I can't say a lot about their set because I wasn't in the venue when they were playing, but I want to spend some time talking about them because not only is their studio work worth the attention, but this was also an important show for them because it was announced to be their last before going on an indefinite hiatus. A lot of local fans came out in support of them, which was great to see, and I hope there’s a chance for a future return. 

Following Still Searching was Our Sorrows, who left the stage as fast as they stepped onto it – their brief and in-your-face set was powered by Chris Tims’ intense vocals and Kyle Kendall’s crushing guitars, supplemented by the rhythm section of drummer Cameron Tims and bassist Austin Delancey. The biggest issue I had with the band’s performance was that it was hard to hear Kendall’s clean vocals, which wasn’t even their fault. Regardless, they left an impression on the audience despite their short time on stage and got the crowd ready for the top three bands on the bill.

Next was Vampires Everywhere, the gothic/industrial metalcore figures from Las Vegas, NV. After Drake’s “Energy” and Gerard McMahon’s “Cry Little Sister” (from the 1987 film The Lost Boys, the movie that also inspired the band’s name) played back-to-back on the speakers, the band stepped onto the stage and immediately ripped into their classic song “Star of 666.” Despite some minor sound difficulties, it was impossible to not feel entranced during the band’s performance – frontman Michael Vampire had a commanding stage presence that I can best describe as a mix between Marilyn Manson and Ronnie Radke, Jesse James Smith’s drums sounded like thunder, and the guitars had the perfect tone for the vibe of the music.

For those who may not be familiar with Vampires Everywhere, there’s a pretty good chance you’ve heard their music if you shopped at Hot Topic in the early 2010s – vocalist Michael Vampire has received a lot of unfair criticism over the years for using autotune in some Vampires Everywhere songs, which is a big no-no in the rock/metal community, but those critics fail to realize that it’s an artistic choice and an homage to his musical influences from other genres. It’s not because he can’t sing, because he’s actually a very talented vocalist – if his other musical efforts like Dead Girls Academy don’t prove that, then seeing a live show will. Some songs even sound better live than they do in the studio, but don’t just take my word for it, go see it for yourself.

As far as the setlist goes, Vampires Everywhere also had too short a set but still managed to make the most of it. The songs mainly consisted of new tunes that were released after the band’s 2021 revival, with several cuts from last year’s Awakening EP and 2022 singles “Sudden Death” and “Tear Me Down.” There was still room for older favorites like “Immortal Love,” but personally I was perfectly content with how this setlist was structured. I’m of the belief that the band has never sounded better than right now and the music they’ve made since their recent resurrection is some of the best stuff they’ve ever done, so to hear a good chunk of their new material in a live setting was amazing and they put on a great show for as long as it lasted.

Vampires Everywhere Setlist:

1.     Star of 666

2.     Witch

3.     Tear Me Down

4.     Sudden Death

5.     The Hills (The Weeknd Cover)

6.     Immortal Love

Before the headliners was Palisades, and I’ll be completely transparent in saying they were the band I showed up for. As much as I enjoyed the other bands on the bill and as glad as I am to have seen them, Palisades was the real headliner for me and the band I was most excited to see. I saw them the last time they came to town, back in 2019 on the “March Into Madness Tour” with co-headliners From Ashes to New and Ice Nine Kills, but a lot has happened with the band since then and I was eager to see the new era of Palisades in action.

To say the absolute least, Palisades didn’t disappoint – the only complaint I have is that their set was too short. A lot of the setlist was comprised of tracks from their new album “Reaching Hypercritical,” but staples such as “Let Down” and “Erase the Pain” still managed to make an appearance as well. Old-school fans were also treated to the throwback “The Reckoning,” off their second album, 2013’s Outcasts, which was an unexpected surprise to many, myself included. In regards to the band’s energy and overall vibe on stage, the tone was set with them walking out to Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” and seamlessly transitioning to the hard-hitting opener “Sick of the Attitude” – a switch that sounds insane on paper, but works perfectly in practice. This moment alone is a good indicator of what to expect from a Palisades show – their music is intense and heavy by nature, but they still manage to have a good time on stage and keep the energy up.

Musically, Palisades is extremely cohesive on stage and one can tell how high their performance standards are, because they sound as close to identical to their studio recordings as they can get. Aaron Rosa crushes the drums like it’s nobody’s business, Matt Marshall and Xavier Adames flawlessly execute their guitar parts, and Brandon Elgar is a vocal powerhouse that seems to breeze through each song, emphasizing the fervor of the new songs and bringing a new life to the old ones.

I was able to interview Brandon before the show, and I can’t say enough how much fun it was to talk with him and how thankful I am for his time and generosity. Thanks to him, I was able to take photos and videos with my professional camera during their set because he was able to give me permission from management to do so. He didn’t have to make that gesture or go through the hoops to make sure everything went through correctly, but the fact that he did says a lot and I greatly appreciate it. In the end, the still photos didn’t turn out great, but the videos looked pretty good and ended up in the final video of the interview, which can be seen here.

Drummer Aaron Rosa was also hanging out and taking pictures of us while we were shooting the interview, and it was a blast talking with him before and after the show too. With music being such a big part of my life, it’s easy to put my favorite bands and musicians on a pedestal because of how much their songs resonate with me, but Brandon and Aaron were so chill and so down-to-earth that talking with them felt like hanging out with the homies, and I feel like it made the interview that much more fun. The moral of the story: listen to Palisades and go see them if they’re playing near you, you won’t be disappointed.

Palisades Setlist:

1.     Sick of the Attitude

2.     My Consequences

3.     Invincible (Die Down)

4.     The Reckoning

5.     Sober

6.     Let Down

7.     Fade Away

8.     Erase the Pain

9.     Better

After Palisades, it was time for Alesana to take the stage and they wasted no time flying through the entirety of their third album, 2010’s The Emptiness, a rock opera/concept album heavily inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s “Annabel Lee.” What stuck out the most to me during their show was how much they sounded like they do on the album – they were really tight musically, but the vocals were also top notch. In a genre that’s very vocally demanding and sounds unsustainable over time to the layman listener, it’s incredible how well Dennis Lee is still able to hit his high and low-range screams with the same power and ferocity more than a decade later. To that point, rhythm guitarist Shawn Milke is also a beast for being able to sing in the same high range as he did on the album. Many vocalists would be struggling to continue hitting those types of notes and resorted to down-tuning certain songs live by this point, but Alesana’s vocalists have impressively been able to stay away from those troubles, which just goes to show the importance of technique.

Not only was Alesana able to perfectly replicate their sound live, they were also extremely energetic on stage, as if the album just recently came out and this was the first time the songs were being played live. Lee thrashed and flailed about on stage, embracing every ounce of excitement from the crowd while the crowd reciprocated the thriving feeling of that same energy. I don’t know about anyone else that was there, but it felt even more special to be seeing them in a place like Jacksonville, because it’s about as close as you can get to a hometown show without being in the town of Raleigh itself. Local or not, the support was definitely there in full force Friday night, with the audience on their feet, moshing, and singing every lyric back at the band. The intimacy of a small venue like Hooligans makes it feel like an even more special experience, because the whole crowd feels so close to the band in those settings. Especially with a band like Alesana, a band considered by many to be pioneers of modern metalcore, I’m glad to say I was a part of that experience this past weekend.

Alesana Setlist:

1.     Curse of the Virgin Canvas

2.     The Artist

3.     A Lunatic’s Lament

4.     The Murderer

5.     Hymn for the Shameless

6.     The Thespian

7.     Heavy Hangs the Albatross

8.     The Lover

9.     In Her Tomb by the Sounding Sea

10.  To Be Scared by an Owl

11.  Annabel

Encore

12.  Tilting the Hourglass

To sum it all up, it was a great weekend of heavy music, I’m happy to say I’ve seen these bands live now (twice for Palisades) and I hope they all come back at some point in the future and play longer sets.

For videos from the show, click here

Support the bands by checking out the links below:

-       Still Searching: https://www.stillsearchingband.com/

-       Our Sorrows: https://www.oursorrows.com/

-       Vampires Everywhere: https://linktr.ee/Vampireseverywhere

-       Palisades: http://wearepalisades.com/

-       Alesana: https://linktr.ee/alesana

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