Emo/Post-hardcore veterans Alesana brought their "Trilogy Tour: Part 1: Emptiness" to Cats Cradle in Carrboro, NC on August 18th 2022. Along for the ride as direct tour support, Vampires Everywhere also performed with local support Frontside. Unfortunately, Palisades was not scheduled to play this date, as well as secondary support band Gold Steps(MKE) had some van issues and couldn't make it to the venue to perform.
Label mates, Frontside, opened up the show with one of their most explosive performances to date. I have personally seen this band over 7 times and this was easily their best show. Not only did they absolutely slay their performance, they did their part in filling the role as "support." Far too often, support bands draw generally fewer people and fail to acknowledge the crowd showing up early, and staying to stick around for the touring package. Frontside not only brought out an extremely substantial draw, but encouraged the audience to stay. While a good amount of the crowd did leave after Frontside finished performing, thats definitely not to the fault of the band, rather, whoever decided not to sandwich them with the touring package. Just another example of why sandwich-ing local/regional support is usually a good idea for anything less than an arena level touring package. Frontside also played a new, unreleased song "Everything I Love Is Leaving" live, which was spectacular.
Vampires Everywhere played second and had an extremely high-energy, breakdown filled set.
I can say with certainty this band has their aesthetic game on point. The heavy makeup, the melodramatic stage moves, their vibe definitely fit the general soundscape of the Alesana fanbase. They were all visibly proficient at their respective instruments. I couldn't hear the vocalist except for when he was screaming so I can't even truly judge the vocal performance, as there was some kind of leveling issue with their vocals when singing.
After 12 years of the release of critically acclaimed album 'The Emptiness' there were many looming questions. Does Alesana still have it? Do these songs still hold up a decade later? Has the magic faded away? Are the fans just as loyal as they once were?
While I was definitely expecting a way larger turnout for this show(Alesana having personal friend and family ties in the Triangle) it wasn't an unsuccessful event. The fans that did show up were clearly mega-fans as they were going crazy, singing the words back to the band and dancing. Could/should there have been more people for a band of this stature, in this area, at this venue? Absolutely. What really saved the show from the lack of turnout, was the sheer performance quality from Alesana. Not only did they play all the songs off of the album front to back, they also played some unexpected crowd pleasers.
They are an extremely engaging band to watch, to say the least. Its clear while Alesana might not be as "big" of a band as they used to be, they still have a great live performance, and loyal fanbase. With a marketing push, if they were to release any new iteration of music, it would do very well. And with Slightly stronger touring support, could have another national tour where most shows sell out.
They continue the tour tonight with Palisades & Vampires Everywhere in New York City, NY and completes in PA on 8/28. Make sure to catch a date before the tour ends. Full dates below, head over to https://revivalrecs.com/tours for more info & tickets!
ALL PHOTOGRAPHS PROPERTY OF SAUCEWITHSPOONS MEDIA.
AUG 2022.