K//L Different Shade of Blue Tour Recap.

Tuesday the Different Shade of Blue tour came through Mesa AZ. Seeyouspacecowboy, Candy, Rotting Out, Stick to Your Guns, and Knocked Loose all played. Unfortunately I was unable to finish the night due to scheduling issues the following day. However I was able to see the three bands I was most eager to see. Seeyouspacecowboy, Candy, and Rotting Out. The first I have never had the opportunity to see.
Seeyouspacecowboy got strong response for being the first band up, and there were moshers and dancers from the beginning to the end of the set. I was not at all surprised at the energy of the band onstage as they have quickly become
heavily discussed in hardcore and metalcore. The bands performance was tight, the chemistry amongst members was clear, and it seemed that everyone was having a blast on and offstage.

Candys set was fun and energetic as well. I actually hadn’t seen the vocalist perform since he was in the band malfunction. I was thoroughly impressed with each of the songs the band played their encouragement to the crowd to get rowdy, and most of all their patience with the venue. The only issue I noticed during their set was due to having mic issues. Through, what seemed to be, the entire set the vocals we drowned out by every other instrument because the volumes were not checked properly, or the mic wasn’t working. It was clearly mixed of both. But the issues went almost unnoticed, as it were, by the crowd as dancing ensued by some of the patrons during each song. Thankfully, the mic issues were somewhat resolved about ¾ of the way through the set and vocals became easier to hear along with the rest of the volumes being less of a competition and more of a collection of musical chaos. I thoroughly enjoyed Candys set, and hope to see them play Arizona again soon.

Rotting out was an all out blast! From start to finish. The set was filled with so much energy it was palpable. Except for a few minutes in which a stage diving mishap occurred, every second of their set was a party. Stage dives, moshers, dancers, and friends were just having fun. For 30 minutes aggression, frustration, isolation, and negativity melted away in the lyrics of a band that hadn’t played in AZ in years. The sound issues and mic problems seemed to be resolved which was another great plus especially for a band as unique, and cherished as this in AZ. I have not much more to say aside from the fact that I’ve never felt or seen such a strong showing of hardcore pride as there was in the Nile Theater that night.

Unfortunately I missed the Stick to Your Guns and Knocked Loose sets due to my own schedule conflicting with my ability to see them. However, from what I’ve heard and seen both bands were well received and Knocked Loose always puts on a strong show.

More than anything, I believe that hardcore lives on and is going strong. It may not be the same sounds that many prefer or are used to, but the ethos, mindset, reason for the music, and desires are still holding strong to what it meant at the inception of hardcore into the creative community.

Disclaimer:
   Both Videos and the Photo are not my creative property I do not own them. 197 Media and Hate5Six own the rights to the videos. The photograph also does not belong to me, Photographer is Unknown.