August Burns Red @ House of Blues - Houston, TX

American metalcore band August Burns Red made its way through Texas this past week and luckily for us Houstonians, we were able to catch them Thursday evening at a jam packed House Of Blues.

If you know me personally, you know my excessive obsession with metalcore so when I heard the August Burns Red – 20th Anniversary Tour was also bringing The Devil Wears Prada AND Bleed From Within along with them I was stoked beyond words could explain.

As the venue dimmed and the crowd got hyped up, Bleed From Within entered the stage. Starting off their 6 song setlist with “I Am Damnation”, “Stand Down”, and “Pathfinder”, they made it obvious they were here and ready to get us pumped for a headbanging night ahead of us. I had absolutely no idea these guys were from Scotland and apparently have never been to America before this Tour with ABR. Between songs, Vocalist Scott Kennedy was really raving about his excitement on being in the states with his super heavy and adorable accent which made it even more of a great set. Their throat-punching energy and pureness radiated through the building and that was just the beginning of this eventful night.

Up next was Ohio-based Metalcore gods, The Devil Wears Prada. This band was actually the very first Metalcore band I ever listened to. It was these guys that led me to the crazy obsession with this kind of music in the first place so being able to see them again along with covering and photographing it all, was just so surreal. I tried to contain my excitement during their set so I could focus but man oh man, it was definitely a task to do. “Watchman”, “Danger: Wildman”, and “Born To Lose” were their first jams of the night and I can still feel the ringing in my ears from their electrifying and unique sound. TDWP consists of a whopping 6 members on their roster and EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. OF. THEM know exactly what they are doing to make each song just brilliant.

Lets just say the fans (including myself) were screaming along to every song while Mike Hranica vocally tore into the crowd.

It was now Time for August Burns Red, and after the two incredible opening bands, it was obvious that things were about to get even more intense and crazy.

Entering the stage, the crowd went completely nuts and the energy had to at least tripled in size. We had already had our fair share of crowd surfers and mosh pits but once ABR was present, everyone was ready to get wild and it was also time for some hardcore circle pits. At one point, I looked back and saw 4 crowd surfers coming my way towards the front of the barricade and I realized at that exact moment that THIS was exactly how I always pictured an ABR show.

To go along with their 20th Anniversary Tour, the 18 song setlist consisted of songs throughout their whole catalog so everyone was able to get a little slice from each album. Ending their set with “The Eleventh Hour”, “White Washed”, and an epic drum solo, it was clear, August Burns Red is truly a one-of-a-kind band when it comes to experiencing their shows live and right in front of your face. The obvious energy, the raging emotional vocals, and the stabbing laser light show, this was the perfect concert to start off my 2023 year.