We headed out to Arizona Pete’s on October 22 in Greensboro, North Carolina to cover New Years Day. It was Saturday night, there were four opening bands and we were ready to photograph them all while letting off some steam from a long work week. I’m sure there were a lot of other people ready to do the same thing. Dying Oath was the second opener and to be honest, I really didn’t know anything about them going into this except that they were metalcore. As the band were putting their equipment on the stage after a great set by Shakey Deville, you could see people slowly making their way to the floor as the upper part at the bar was still packed with people. The band got everything ready and began their set. I will apologize before I go any further that I do not know the titles of the songs that they played. What I do know is that they were killin’ it! You could see more and more people (two here, one here, two here) making their way from the bar down to the stage area. The band didn’t have long to play, but they were slowly roping these people in. By the end of their set, I saw so many people in 

shirts with their fists pumping high in the air. 

Their set was a rather impressive one to watch. The co-vocalist attack of Mindy Jackson and Nestor Idler was rather interesting to watch. There was a lot of equipment on that somewhat small stage, so the band didn’t move around much with the exception of these two. They were very engaging with the crowd and the way that they played off of each other was very cool. The gutteral growls that came out of Jackson were, at times, almost like something out of a horror movie. She can hang with any male in the business when it comes to those growls. Yes, she was that damn good! Their combination of clean vocals and growls/screamo or whatever the correct terminology is these days (all of these damn labels are a bit too much at times) worked really well. They both knew how to command a stage as well as the crowd. I can’t leave the band out because Jackson and Idler would have been accapella if it weren’t for them. The band had a twin guitar attack of Josh Hagee on lead guitar and Ryan Endicott on rhythm guitar.They were great, especially Hagee who layed down some might tasty solos. The rhythm section of Sean Stafford on drums and Kristen Sawyers on bass were solid. That right there is the foundation that everything is built off of. By the end of the set, well even before that, I was very impressed. 

I will admit that metalcore is not my cup of tea or shot of tequila. I like some, but not a lot (please don’t start with the hateful comments or emails) of it. Yet, I will admit when I see/hear something really good. I have to give props to Dying Oath because this band really does have it all together. I know I have said it already, but I was very impressed by the band. I always tell my photographers to show up early for a show. They may be there to cover the headliner, but we give all of the opening bands the same respect that we do the headliner. I know not all publications do that, but we do. You never know what you might see and hear and this night was a perfect example of that. I’m definitely keeping my eye on this band and would love to see them again. It would b interesting to see them on a bigger stage with more room to move around. Would I recommend this band to others? You’re damn straight I would and I will.

Review and pix by I’m Music Magazine Owner/Editor Johnny Price