Pierce The Veil Rocks Detroit

Detroit, MI - It was a beautiful summer day. The kind you only get in Michigan.  The sun was out, 80 degrees, and a lite breeze.  A great day to wander the “D”.  So the DR2 crew did just that, getting downtown a little early and donating a little money to the casino, wandering Greektown’s  “Sundown in Greektown” event.  The streets were closed, street performers were doing their thing and everything was going great.  We wandered over to St. Andrew’s Hall, geeked for a great night of music. Pierce the Veil was headlining the show with support from I The Mighty, and Movements.  But, as soon as we entered we could hear I The Mighty crushing it on stage.  How could this be?  Movements, the opener, wasn’t due to hit the stage for another 15 minutes. What was the second band doing up? Unfortunately it was true, for some reason the show had been moved up and we didn’t get the memo. 

But we charged forward into the crowd to soak in all the music we could. We may have missed a chance to get our photog in the pit for the San Francisco based alt-rock melodic powerhouse, but we weren’t going to miss the set. We had previewed their new disc Connector but had never seen them live.  We at DR2 have always believe you need to see a band live to really see if they have that special something, I The Mighty did not disappoint.  Listening to the disc we had been greatly impressed with the craftsmanship of their music, the variety, and the vocals that could soar or scream.  In person, they displayed all of this, grabbing the crowd’s attention and rambling effortlessly through an energetic, tightly played set that displayed everything we expected and more.  This is a band that has a real shot to blow up even bigger than their recent surge in popularity has taken them.  Do yourself a favor and catch a show this summer!  You can get more info about tour dates and such here https://www.facebook.com/ithemighty .

I have to admit that we were definitely disappointed that we got to the show late, but, if there was ever any doubt that the night was still going to be great, it was erased when Pierce The Veil hit the stage and proceed to destroy the place! My god!!  These guys give us hope that rock isn’t dead, it’s just wearing different clothes!  Vic Fuentes (vox, guitar), his brother, Mike (drums), Tony Perry (lead guitar), and Jaime Preciado (bass) work the crowd like a well-oiled machine.  Vic has a very comfortable, genuine rapport with the crowd, effortless vocals, and anchors the stage show.  Jaime is the hype man, bounding across the stage, leaping into the air, gesturing to the crowd to jump, he is tireless. Tony is precise and incredibly gifted on guitar, shredding with ease and knows how to strike a dramatic pose (see pics in our photo gallery). Mike is a beast on drums and always looks like he’s having more fun than anyone in the building.  They are quite a combination.  The guys completely crushed it!! The crowd erupted into a frenzy when, about 4 songs into the set, Vic let everyone know that they were going to play every song on their new, Fearless Records release Misadventures that night, and they did!  They did some play some older favorites as well, even coming back out for a 2 song encore!  In all, it was an incredible display of balls-to-the-wall, shock-and-awe, a Rock-and-Roll spectacle at its best.  I shot the first 3 songs from the pit in front of the stage, and I have to tell you, it was AWESOME!  I have shot hundreds of shows, but every now and then you get to shoot a show that sweeps you up in the visual and musical experience so much that it takes your breath away and you just keep shooting and watch the show almost entirely through your lens, this was that kind of show.  I looked at the photog next to me as we exited the pit to enjoy the rest of the show from stage right and he had the same smile on his face that I felt I must have had as well.  All I could say was “These guys are awesome!” I feel like I keep saying that, but this was a show we at DR2 are going to be talking about for a while.  It was that rare chance to see a group that is at the top of their game, they made it look effortless and extremely fun. PTV’s fan base is rabid in their devotion and you could hear the crowd singing along with almost every song.  The connection they had with the audience, the undeniable quality of the music, the epic level of their performance, the impressive light show, every box was checked, this was an incredible show.  Seeing this group at a venue the size of St Andrew’s reminded me of seeing Kid rock in a similar venue, The Emerald Theater, both were playing an arena size show in an intimate venue.  Again, all I can say is…. AWESOME!

Hey, check out PTV’s website, it is very cool and interactive. PierceTheVeil.net  and if you haven’t bought all of their music yet, what are you waiting for? DetroitRockReview.com ~ The Only Place For Local Music News & Reviews!