August Burns Red has seemingly become an annual show for me over the last ten years or so. I’ve watched them since the early days in small clubs to now, where they are consistently headlining sold out 1000+ venues, and one (me) has to wonder how long it will be before they are headlining much larger venues like the Warfield.
They have escalated themselves to the heights of the metal-core/metal world during this time, separating them from others in the genre and creating a more mature sound that resonates with old and new fans alike, but never losing any heaviness, and making their unique melodic and technical sound a signature for them moving forward, putting them in a different league than other big metal bands in the “metal-core” genre. Those that have never seen them live either, can’t quite grasp the show they put on, which rivals some of the biggest and best arena metal shows I’ve seen. The way they use their stage show is not only smart, but entertaining as hell, and is never the same throughout the show.
Not to mention the technical ability of each member of the band, most notably the three guitarists (and I say three because throughout the show, you will see them all switch on and off from bass to guitar and vice versa,) allowing the band to be more inventive and for each member to bring something different to both album and stage show. Not to mention, when you have a singer like Jake Luhrs, who’s range seems to grow greater and greater every album, and a stage presence that again, rivals some of the biggest names in metal, it surely allows for an amazing show.
This night in Sacramento, was no exception to any of this, when they come on stage, they completely own it from start to finish and never hold back, with very little talking and very little antics, they just bludgeon the audience.
They’ve truly found a way to bring the big arena show to small, personal venues.
