The rain couldn’t put a damper on a night that was filled to the brim with music. Hardcore Shatterproof fans waited in the pouring rain just to get a chance to sing along to some of their favorite songs at Aggie Theatre.
“The whole scenario is really cool,” said Tighe Eshleman of Sink In before his band took the stage as one of the opening acts. “There is serious talent the whole night and that is something special to have.”
Accompanying the Fort Collins based band was another hometown local Saints of Never After, as well as acts Sink In, Ivory Circle and Silver + Gold. The one thing that every band had in common was new music. Whether they were playing previously unreleased material or were new to Fort Collins, there was a sense of discovery, and the music was as unique as it was fresh.
While not nearly as hardcore as some of the other acts on the bill, Ivory Circle came out with stunning vocals and an atmospheric set. They had the chance to perform some new material off their upcoming EP, which includes a wide variety of sounds. Ivory Circle set the bar high for the rest of the show.
That doesn’t mean Saints of Never After didn’t know how to play in front of a home crowd. They had as many guitar solos as they had new songs, and there was a fresh vibe coming from the band. While they couldn’t be any more drastically different in style from Ivory Circle, they managed to show the crowd a great time. With a winning stage presence and plenty of emphasis on movement, they certainly were some of the more exciting musicians on stage.
Then we hit the half way point with Sink In. In-between their energized and post-hardcore songs, they would take a chance to tell the crowd to check out as much new music as possible. While they themselves were performing new material from their upcoming album, they wanted to remind the crowd just how important it is to listen to the other bands.
The calm before the storm was when Silver + Gold took the stage. This band got the crowd moving in a different way from Saints of Never After and Sink In. While their music isn’t anything remotely hardcore, the band still put in as much effort into their set as the hardcore acts that night. It was a lot more of a chill tone with Silver + Gold, but it was still engaging and enjoyable.
Finally, the night ended with Shatterproof, a band that is coming off the high of signing a record deal and putting out a new EP. From start to finish, their set was well preformed and perfectly execute. Everything from the TVs playing videos AND each song timed perfectly to the band members jumping around and interacting with the audience, the were not complaints about the band’s set. Shatterproofs encore even had a Backstreet Boys cover that would make Nick Carter jealous, and the fans loved every bit of it.
What you can take away from a show like this one is that even with a wide variety of acts and music styles there is going to be something to new to enjoy. Even if you don’t like what is being played, you are getting to experience live music in the way that it was meant to be; this was the sentiment shared by each band throughout the night.
