the acacia strain

The Acacia Strain played at Santos Party House on Saturday night, here’s the one photo that’s semi-viewable that I was able to take. I didn’t venture any closer to the stage n fear of getting my face moshed on beyond recognition.

The Acacia Strain at Santos Party House

my upcoming calendar.

shows to get excited about in the next month or so:

10th January – Trophy Scars, Pianos Became the Teeth, The Saddest Landscape & Descender at the Yippie Cafe

15th January – The Hope Conspiracy, Blacklisted, United Nations & Mother of Mercy at the Cakeshop

16th January – The Acacia Strain, Disembodied & Torchbearer at Santos Party House

20th January – The Audition, The Dangerous Summer, Sparks the Rescue & The Right Coast

23rd January – Magrudergrind, Defeatist, Black Kites & Ramps at the Cakeshop

30th January – Between the Buried and Me at the Filmore

3rd February – MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK!!! at the Filmore

4th February – Anti-Flag, Cancer Bats & Aiden at the Highline Ballroom OR Cold Cave at the Mercury Lounge

12th February – Four Year Strong, Strike Anywhere, Title Fight & This Time Next Year at the Gramercy Theatre

18th February – New Found Glory, Saves the Day, Fireworks & Hellogoodbye at Irving Plaza

pretty siked for this one.

Soldout at the Gramercy Theatre.

August Burns Red/The Acacia Strain/Impending Doom

10/18/09 Gramercy Theatre NYC

The line that greeted me when I arrived at the Gramercy Theatre on Sunday night for the last stop of the August Burns Red/The Acacia Strain tour stretched down the block and around the corner. Despite the almost freezing weather conditions that New York was experiencing, the line moved fairly quickly without too many complaints from everyone waiting.

The length of the line meant that once inside I only caught the closing bars of opening act My Children, My Bride but from the little that I heard, I liked them.

California-based Impending Doom were up next. Before the show I’d never heard of them  but after watching them kill their short 25 minute set, I have to admit that I’m now a fan. Maybe I’m just a sucker for metal bands with hair long enough to put most girls’ to shame, or maybe I just love the raw energetic music that I heard; either way, the crowd seemed to love them and the pit took up more than half of the dance floor throughout the set.

After a short break between the bands the lights went down, the crowd roared and in turn greeted were by the now infamous Kayne West sound-bite “Taylor, Imma let you finish but….” before the lights came up and The Acacia Strain blasted into ‘See You Next Tuesday’. Their set was intense and the crowd loved every bit of it. Frontman Vincent seemed to love antagonizing the crowd with his banter, – I’ve never seen so many kids get punched in the pit before (at least three got knocked out) but maybe it was just my birds-eye view up high in the seats that allowed me to witness it all. The stage decorations were also something to be noted, – 8 foot tall banners of a bloody polar bear and a scary looking snowman. The band ripped through a ton of songs, including ‘If I Ruled the World’ and ‘I am the End of the World’.

The Acacia Strain and their backdrops

Although the previous bands all proved their worth, before August Burns Red even took to the stage it was obvious who the majority of the crowd were here to see. As the roadies hoisted the ABR banner above the stage people cheered and the already-packed dance-floor filled with even more people until they spilled onto the stairs and seats behind it. I’m more of a fan of The Acacia Strain but ABR still held my attention for their entire set.

When the only downside of the entire night is that most of the bands only had sizes L or XL left of their merch you know it’s been a good night. Also, props to ABR for playing their set in thongs (whoops, I mean flip-flops!).