Dayseeker with Rain City Drive and AVOID
Mercury Ballroom
Louisville, KY
May 18th, 2024
On May 18th, California metal-core band Dayseeker brought their Dark Sun Worldwide Tour to Mercury Ballroom to a sold-out crowd! I arrived at the venue a little after doors opened to a venue that was already at least halfway full of fans who were eager to get inside and secure a spot as close to the stage as possible. As the night went on, fans packed out the floor and the balcony, leaving few open spots to stand or sit! Opening the show this evening was Seattle hard rock/metal-pop band AVOID. These guys were super fun and upbeat, with singer Benny Scholl smiling and cutting up with the crowd during the band’s set, all while jumping all around the stage! At one point he even got out into the crowd to crowd-surf, with the fans soon leading him back to the stage, which made for a really fun moment. Performing mostly songs from their 2022 album Cult Mentality, they really got the crowd moving, and for those who knew the band, singing along! It was a really fun start to the evening! Next up was Florida post-hardcore band Rain City Drive. Full of energy on stage and very engaging with the crowd, these guys kept the energy high and the crowd dancing and singing. Singer Matt McAndrew had fun with the crowd, grabbing fans’ cellphones on a few occasions to record himself on stage before handing them back, much to the fans’ delight. Performing tracks from their albums To Better Days (2020) and Rain City Drive (2022), the band also performed their latest single “Medicate Me”, featuring Rory Rodriguez from Dayseeker. The crowd went wild when Rory walked out on stage to sing with Andrew! They performed a really fun set, making sure the crowd had fun!
Ending the evening was Dayseeker. Starting their set off with “Gates of Ivory”, “Dreamstate”, and “Crooked Soul”, the band performed a variety of songs from their 2019 album Sleeptalk and 2022 album Dark Sun, as well as a couple of acoustic tracks from their 2024 album Replica. Early in the set, Rory announced “Whether you are an old fan or new fan, I need you all to sing as loud as possible”, with the crowd proceeding to do just that. He later talked a bit about his father, who sadly passed away from cancer in 2021, saying how it never felt real to him while his dad was battling his illness that he would die. He went onto to say how hard it was to be in the room with his father when he died, after being told he only had months to live, and told the crowd “I don’t say all of this to bum you out, but I talk about him every night because he supported me and helped me to become a musician.” He went on to say how shows and crowds like this helped to pull him out of the darkness, thanking his fans for their unwavering support over the years. Towards the end of the set, Rory sang a couple of songs acoustically, with his band mates briefly leaving the stage. The first song was “Starving to Be Empty”, saying he wrote the song for a friend who had struggled with anorexia, dedicating the song to everyone out there who also struggles with it. He then sang “Paper Heart”, a song he said was about anxiety and how he had a good poker face and was good at hiding his anxiety but had his breaking points. He then brought the rest of the band back on stage to perform “Drunk” and “Sleeptalk”, before leaving the stage. The band soon came back out for a 2-song encore. Rory took a moment to express gratitude and love from the band to their fans, saying how having the opportunity to play in a venue such as this and sell it out means so much. He talked about how a lot of times in the past they would play to hardly anyone and weren’t sure if they would make it as a band and how they were so grateful for everyone’s support. Ending the show with “parallel” and “Neon Grave”, they thanked everyone for making the end of the tour so incredible! It was clear that both the fans and the bands had a great time tonight and hopefully they will stop in Louisville the next time they tour!
AVOID
Rain City Drive
Dayseeker
