On Monday night at the August Burns Red concert at The Fillmore Charlotte security wasn’t just watching the crowd. They had their eyes on us – the photographers, and for good reason too. For more than three hours before the co-headliners took the stage, security had saved our bacon (and cameras), more than a couple times as crowdsurfers hurled their way over the barricade. At some point it was apparently decided the photo pit wasn’t just a divider between the band and the fans – it was a landing zone. Nobody in the pit seemed to mind, we all knew what to expect by the end of the first opening act we were seasoned veterans of the pit. 

By the time the August Burns Red took the stage, Boundaries, Heavensgate, and co-headliner Amity Affliction set the tone for the night. It sounds like a copout but I can only describe it as heavy, really heavy. Whoever picked the bands for the Horizons Tour nailed it as every band on the lineup just felt right. With four bands on the tour it was a marathon night and it was one of the most packed shows I have seen at The Fillmore. There was hardly any real estate to squeeze into and I am not convinced that crowdsurfing wasn’t just the fastest and easiest way to make it to the bathrooms on stage right. 

We almost made it halfway through “Meddler,” the band’s opening song, without a size 12 boot coming down on our heads, or getting shoved (and saved) by security. But the raining humans started coming down en masse and they didn’t let up. It was a chaotic spectacle that doesn’t happen at every concert, but when it does, it’s something to behold. 

A mainstay in the genre for two decades August Burns Red puts on a hell of a show. I was struggling to figure out how to explain the show, the music, and the atmosphere but struggled to put it into words. Then, I came up with an admittedly weird description.

August Burns Red is like a smoothie while some bands are like fruit salads.  

Like I said, it’s weird, but I stand by it. 

Don’t get me wrong, both smoothies and fruit salads are great in their own right. They’re made up of mostly the same ingredients, but they’re two very different things. To further explain, take for example the melodic and twinkly intro to “Mariana’s Trench.” The guitar is clearly the focal point, it’s technical and the opening riffs are beautifully textured, but as soon as you think you have an idea of where the song is going something happens and that entire notion you have is flipped upside down. 

First the drums kick in and they hit hard, then the growled vocals joined by the rest of the band until suddenly that fragile twinkly sound is shattered. The guitar and melody are still there, but they’re no longer the focal point, instead everything blends together and they become one…like a smoothie. The way the guitars, growls, and the double bass hits of the drums by Matt Greiner blended together, the music stopped being individual instruments you could pick out. Instead it became a wall of sound, and mixed with the crowd the concert was much more than musicians playing instruments and fans watching and enjoying the show.

Metalcore isn’t subtle, not with lyrics or sonically. It might sound overly aggressive for some, and at times I’ll admit it did become a lot. For the longtime fans of the band I am not telling you anything you didn’t know…well, besides the smoothie simile. But for someone who hasn’t ever been to a show in the genre, this is one worth considering. For those who have their doubts about the music, the bands, or the fans, consider the aphorism I’m stealing from the back of a t-shirt from a guy standing in front of me.

It was a band shirt, I can’t remember which band, but it described the concert perfectly, “Angry music for happy people.” 

That pretty much sums up what you can expect if the other shows on the Horizon’s Tour match the level of talent and energy from the band and the fans. And I can confirm I have seen more angry people at ‘happy-music’ concerts than I ever have at a metalcore show. 

So if you’re a fruit salad kind of person there’s nothing wrong with that, but who knows, maybe you’ll enjoy a smoothie as well. 

The Spring Horizons Tour is just getting underway and wraps up in mid-May in Pennsylvania before August Burns Red takes things downunder with an 8-show tour in Australia and New Zealand.  

I’m Music Magazine was invited to catch the show on camera (and yes, all lenses survived the pit), you can check out the photo gallery below.

Review & pix by I’m Music Magazine Photographer/Music Journalist Michael Praats

August Burns Red