Fit For a King and The Dark Path Tour featuring Silent Planet, Hollow Front and AVOID stormed into the Richmond, VA Canal Club on Thursday, March 31st. Located downtown just steps from the James River the Canal Club boasts a reasonably priced food menu, easy honor parking and a vast events schedule including some of the best rock/metal acts in the game. The venue reaches capacity at just 720 so be sure to grab tickets early as these intimate performances often sell out.
The insanity began the moment five-piece Seattle head bangers AVOID erupted onto to the stage ready to take over the world and your soul. Their contagious, frenzied energy sparked an inferno that had fans raging to the seven-song set opening with the recently released 'Split (Kill It)', followed by 'Flashbang!' and fan fave 'HostAge At A BeAch House PArty'. Frontman Benny Scholl is a rocket-fueled powerhouse on both hard and clean vocals, diving into the crowd during 'Cowabunga', the second new track that dropped on March 18th. The set concluded with a wall of death to the wildly popular hit 'Song About James' off the EP 'The Burner' from Thriller Records. Be sure to stop by their merch table after set for a pic, say hello and pick up a very unique band illustrated drum head!
Feeding that infectious energy, Grand Rapids, Michigan metalcore unit Hollow Front kept the mosh pit seething with tracks 'Comatose' and 'Treading Water', both released early this year. Their most recent offering is single 'The Price of Dreaming' which featured a surprise appearance, Archers vocalist, Nathanael Pulley, that left fans wondering if a potential collab might be in the future. The melodic, clean vocals by guitarist Dakota Alvarez were beautiful against the hard-ripping vocals of Tyler Tate, looking forward to hearing their new album, 'The Price of Dreaming', when it drops on May 27th. Show your support, stop by their merch table and grab your pre-order right here. Better yet, catch them on tour this summer with August Burns Red.
Continuing the chaotic momentum, Silent Planet took the stage and reopened the pit with the heavy riffs of 'Panopticon' and 'The Sound of Sleep' from their fourth studio effort, 'Iridescent'. The ten-song set went on to include older tracks 'Orphan', 'Native Blood' and 'XX (City Grave)', concluding with the insanely heavy hitting 'Panic Room' and 'Trilogy' which had the floor trembling like an earthquake much to the "Lovers" satisfaction. Vocalist Garrett Russell stated early in the set he wasn't feeling well however his performance was unblemished and powerful, a perfect segue way to the final act of the night.
The Tyler, Texas outfit Fit For A King thundered onto the stage to the joyous rumble of their faithful followers and the opening notes of 'Engraved'. Drawing content from their two most recent albums, 'The Path' (2020) and 'Dark Skies' (2018) the dynamic set included the best of each, causing a rabid mosh for 'Vendetta', 'Backbreaker' and 'Shattered Glass'. The FFAK fandom sang along and crowd surfed to colossal hits 'When Everything Means Nothing', 'Breaking The Mirror' and 'Locked (In My Head)'.
Those of us who purchased the VIP package received early entry, early access to merch and heard all three of the aforementioned songs acoustically as well as a preview track from the next album (it slaps HARD). We also received a signed tour poster, group photo and chatted the guys up before doors, was a very nice experience and quite affordable!
The building pulsed in time to the pit and the fire laden encore of 'Debts of the Soul', 'Oblivion' and 'God of Fire'. This is a perfectly complimenting lineup, the acts are well matched and quite frankly, a metalcore dream come true. There's several more stops left, get a ticket while you can before it all comes to a close in Dallas on April 8th.
Lisa Wills
Comments