Concert Recap: From Ashes to New's "Blackout" Tour, Pt. II in Jacksonville, NC (May 15, 2024)

I’ve been to a decent amount of concerts over the years and have been blessed to have seen so many different artists, and the touring band I’ve seen the most is the Pennsylvanian nu-metal powerhouse From Ashes to New — having seen them five times from early 2019 to now, I’ve been lucky enough to have never seen them perform outside of my hometown of Jacksonville, NC. Whether they’ve shown up as a support act, co-headliner, or headliner, they’ve always put 1,000% into their live shows, with each crowd being bigger than the last. Their latest studio album, Blackout, marked another step up in songwriting and production, with their live show reflecting that growth as well. The first leg of their “Blackout” Tour last winter consisted of some of their biggest headline shows to date, and I can confirm that their most recent performance on the Hooligans Live stage in Jacksonville, NC on this spring leg was their biggest yet, with next-level production as well as a stacked support lineup.

With four support acts for this tour, there wasn’t a lot of room for local openers this time around, but the support slots flew by relatively quickly. I got inside the venue about halfway through the first opener, alternative metal artist Elijah. While I only got to see the last two songs of his set, I was super impressed with not just his music, but his energy — while his band was on stage the whole time, Elijah ventured out into the crowd for most of the time I saw him performing, either standing on the barricade in front of the audience or climbing onto the rails of the VIP section. The crowd loved every second of it as well, and I’m excited to see how far his career will take him. Right now, he’s everything you want in a new artist — big choruses, relatable lyrics, and contagious energy.

The momentum continued with the Texas-based rapper Phix, who kept the energy going through his brief but impactful set. Having a more rap-heavy sound along with some melodic moments here and there, he fit right in with the nu-metal spirit of a From Ashes to New show. What was even more impressive was his drummer, who was only 11 years old but insanely talented. As a former band kid, I love seeing people get into playing music at a young age, so getting to see someone successfully performing at a level like that was really cool to see.

The next artist was Ekoh, a rap-rocker with a fair amount of rock sensibilities. With a DJ and a live drummer, he commanded the stage for as long as he was on it, also occasionally stepping out into the crowd and taking selfies with people as he was performing. I can’t speak much about the rapping because I’ve always been more rock and metal-focused, but as a wicked casual rap fan, I was impressed with his skills along with his ability to cross genre expectations between rap and rock. This current generation of emerging artists is inspired by a multitude of genres, with artists like Eminem and Linkin Park being primary influences for many of them, and getting to hear so many of their takes on crossing those musical boundaries is really fun. However, nothing was more fun than the way Ekoh closed his set — while performing “Freeverse 3,” he encouraged anyone in the crowd wearing Vans shows to bring one of them up to the stage, signing them while he was rapping. I just hope everyone got their shoes back, but aside from that, his set was a lot of fun to watch.

Direct support came from the reputable pop-punk group Point North, who may have been the biggest musical outliers on the bill, yet still put on a great show. Most of their setlist came from their latest album, 2023’s Prepare for Despair, and another highlight was their performance of their new single “Bring Me Down.” Their lighting was very moody, with a lot of purples, greens, and blues, along with a lot of haze, but it matched their music very well. Having listened to their music for a few years but not seeing them live before this point, I was glad to see them with a band like From Ashes to New, and hope to see them in or around the Jacksonville area again at some point in the future.

Much like the last time From Ashes to New played in Jacksonville, they got the crowd going by walking out to none other than “Backstreet’s Back,” and then immediately ripping into material from their Blackout album. Playing nine of the twelve songs from their latest release, the band still managed to have the rest of their discography represented throughout the show, playing at least one song from each of their albums — other non-Blackout highlights included the traditional closer “Through it All,” “Scars That I’m Hiding,” “Panic,” and “Crazy.”

As far as the stage show goes, this is the best From Ashes to New show I’ve ever seen — granted, I’ve said that after just about every time I’ve seen them live, but I legit mean it. They sound incredible and their lighting/production setup is unbelievable — between the video monitors covering the entire back side of the stage (and Mat Madiro’s drum riser) and the moving head LEDs pointing out into the crowd, this tour had the best overall look out of any other time I’ve seen the band perform live. It’s also important to note that vocalist Danny Case made it a point to shout out the band’s behind-the-scenes crew on stage halfway through their set, not just because they do a great job every day, but also because of how well they work under adversity. Before this show, the band’s bus had a tire blowout and didn’t get to the venue until much later than they were supposed to, and their crew was working right up until the audience was allowed into the venue to get everything set up and under control. Had Case not mentioned that, nobody would’ve known how much pressure they were dealing with during the day, because the show went off without a hitch and they managed to top themselves once again in their history of performing at Hooligans Live.

It was very apparent just how big of a step up this tour was for From Ashes to New, because their show looked like it was made for larger venues. Headlining the House of Blues in Myrtle Beach prior to this show at Hooligans is enough of an indicator of how far they’ve come, but getting to see that kind of production crammed onto the Hooligans stage in a much more intimate setting makes for a better concert experience in my opinion. While the band’s time of outgrowing this city may be coming in the near future, they’ve built quite the loyal following here in Jacksonville, NC with how many times they’ve consistently played here over the years (they’ll be in the double digits soon), and I just hope that as they band continue to reach new heights and achieve the success that they deserve, that they don’t forget the hardcore fanbase in B-market cities like this one.

From Ashes to New Setlist:

1. Armageddon
2. Dead to Me
3. Broken
4. Monster in Me
5. Scars That I’m Hiding
6. My Fight
7. Heartache
8. Echoes
9. Hate Me Too
10. My Name
11. Barely Breathing
12. Crazy
13. Panic (w/ Elijah)
14. One Foot in the Grave
15. Nightmare (w/ Ekoh)
16. Through it All

From Ashes to New touring absence won’t be very long, as they’re about to hit the road once again this fall for two tours supporting Set it Off and Nothing More (including a stop in Myrtle Beach on September 13, for the eastern Carolina people reading this). For more information and to buy tickets, click here.

Support the bands by checking out the links below:

- Elijah: https://www.elijahofficial.com/

- Phix: https://phix806.com/

- Ekoh: https://ekohmusic.com/

- Point North: https://www.pointnorthband.com/

- From Ashes to New: https://www.fromashestonew.com/

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