Atreyu with Memphis May Fire, Ice Nine Kills, Sleep Signals
The Summit
Denver, Colorado
December 4th, 2018
Words and photos by Alexis Springer
Atreyu’s In our wake tour is coming to a close with only a couple of locations left on the map. One of their stops being in the Mile High City. The lineup for this tour was stitched together perfectly. Opening the show was Minneapolis band Sleep Signals. They got the crowd pumped up for what was soon to come.
The next band on the bill was Ice Nine Kills from Boston, Massachusetts. From the moment they stepped onto that stage to the last beat of the drum, their set was more than just live music. It was extremely fun to watch and be in their crowd. To play the part in their most recent album, The Silver Scream, they eerily slipped into the roles of well-known horror characters. The entire crowd bounced and sang to “The American Nightmare” while Spencer Charnas (vocals) Whipped out his razor hand. Eight songs were not nearly long enough to watch them perform. When INK has their next headlining show, consider me there. Maybe I will wear a jigsaw mask and try to fit in with them.
The next band was up and Nashville natives Memphis May Fire slew the stage. They only played one song off of their latest album Broken which was surprising. The song “The old me” appeared to be the most well-known out of the whole set. I would go as far as calling it the crowd favorite. They threw it back to the album challenger to get the pits open and heads banging. They pulled in songs from The Hollow, This Light I hold, and unconditional as well. They closed their set with “Vices” the perfect precursor to Atreyu. Memphis May Fire is Never a disappointment live.
The final set of the night arrived. Atreyu started off with the absolute perfect opening song. “In Our Wake” Blared through the venue with every fan screaming louder than the one next to them. I actually got chills about 10 seconds into the song. The set list continued to bounce back and forth perfectly for all fans of all albums. I have to say I have never seen a band interact as much with the crowd as often as they did and I have been to a lot of shows. It created an entirely different environment rather than just urging the crowd to make a circle pit. Alex Varkatzas chose to be in the crowd more than he was on the stage. He sang with the fans instead of for them. At one point he was in the back of the venue handing out with some fans on the landing. We lost sight of him again but still heard his vocals. I blinked and he appeared right next to me on my platform. The interaction was something you don’t see very often but much appreciated. Dan, Brandon, Travis, and Porter really knew how to perform as well even though they were tied to the stage. They had constant eye contact, synchronized movements and you could tell they were just having an absolute blast. About halfway through the set they took a break and announced they were scouting for “fan of the night.” A trophy was held up with the venues name on it and they set it down to start watching. The excitement amplified and all of Summit Hall was in the air with smiles on their faces in hopes to win this giant piece of metal. The trophy was given to one of their biggest fans, who knew every word to every song played; Well-deserved Alysia (Fan of the night). Atreyu had a couple of guest appearances join them on the platform. The California band played “Bleeding Mascara” and much to our surprise, Spencer Charnas came back out on stage and absolutely rocked the end of the song. They closed their set and were brought back out with the old age chanting “one more song.” However, Instead of one, they blessed us with three. Dan and Brandon came back on stage and Rick Rolled the entire crowd. With laughter and hundreds of vocals “Never Gonna Give You Up” was played very softly and definitely unexpected. They continued their encore with the cover “You Give Love a Bad Name” and Finally ended their setlist with “Lip Gloss and Black.” Matty Mullins came back up on stage to collaborate for the song and It was nothing less than perfect. I truly look forward to the next time Atreyu comes back into the Denver area.
