LIVE REVIEW: Pierce The Veil @ Utilita Arena, Cardiff
It’s a welcome return to PIERCE THE VEIL to our shores. Coming off the back of their newest album The Jaws Of Life they bring with them our very own HOLDING ABSENCE and fellow Americans DAYSEEKER. Many people are arriving early to get that perfect spot for the show but with two bands between now and PIERCE THE VEIL, the crowd will need to hold it together.
The lights dim and on arrive HOLDING ABSENCE. Their hometown show for this tour and they arrive to a very warm reception indeed. The band start things off with break out hit Like A Shadow, with a good number of the crowd screaming along and making sure the band know they are home. Continuing the set with hits Gravity and A Crooked Melody, the whole band are loving being able to prance around a massive stage with Lucas Woodland taking time to do many kicks and jumps.
It’s a shame they only have a short six song set because just as we have got into them, we find ourselves at the final song. Lucas takes some time to acknowledge how far they have come, commenting “only a few years ago we were playing to two hundred people in Clwd Ifor Bach but now we are in front of over two thousand people in our home town” before going in to final track Afterlife.
The set was a perfect one for the opening slot. Consisting mostly of their hits for members of the crowd familiar with them to sing along to. However, for members who don’t, it’s a nice taster of their best work to bring them up to speed. It will be exciting to see what HOLDING ABSENCE do next.
Rating: 9/10
A short break and it’s time for DAYSEEKER. Even though they are known for their more emotional songs, they come with a lot of energy to keep the crowd going. As with HOLDING ABSENCE, they keep the set to the hits such as Dreamstate and Burial Plot. Giving fans a chance to scream along and new listeners see them at their best.
Halfway through the set, singer Rory Rodriguez reveals a sparkly shirt, which means he literally glitters on stage. A short interlude to explain Homesick is their go at writing a happy song but for fans of DAYSEEKER, we all know it’s not going to be very happy. A nice surprise during the set comes in the form of Lucas Woodland of HOLDING ABSENCE, he arrives to sing an acoustic version of Starving To Be Empty, which is coming on DAYSEEKER‘s new acoustic album Replica.
With everyone very emotional at this point, we reach the final songs of Sleeptalk and Neon Grave, the latter Rory wrote about his late father. Both tracks hit us all differently but it’s the final nail in the coffin of our emotions and the tissues are out, with a tears streaming from the audience. DAYSEEKER have done their job perfectly. As they exit the stage the audience are quickly wiping away the tears so they are able to see the headline act.
Rating: 10/10
With tears successfully wiped away, the biggest cheer tonight rings through Cardiff’s Utilita Arena for when PIERCE THE VEIL come on. Starting things off in silhouette with Death Of An Executioner, it’s a slower start but the bang of confetti makes sure everyone is awake.
With Vic Fuentes taking on double duty of lead singer and rhythm guitar, he is very rooted to his spot at the mic, only coming to interact with the crowd when he isn’t doing both. The rest of band is running around on stage hyping everyone up, with constant pointing and waves to the audience. You can see the joy on their faces being able to play their songs to crowds of this size.
Taking a risk a few songs in with a RADIOHEAD cover, Karma Police, it’s surprising that a band with such an extensive back catalogue, choose a cover over maybe a deep cut or a song from their first album like Chemical Kids or Yeah Boy and Doll Face. It feels they only slotted in the cover because they are touring the UK, to appease UK fans. Maybe if they had done a FALL OUT BOY cover or something similar there might have been more excitement over it.
The set continues without a hitch, showing off tracks from new album The Jaws Of Life to some old fan favourites like Hold On Till May. Vic takes a moment to speak how the crowd have change the meaning of song. To keep in the spirit of this song is about their fans, during the track a fan (Layla), is pulled on to the stage. Vic thanks them for being their fan and in extension; the crowd. Layla is also gifted his guitar and has a once in a lift moment of Vic singing the rest of Hold On Till May directly to them.
An unforgettable moment for this fan and it’s always nice to see bands do these special moments for their fans and make their live shows a more special experience. The only concern was the crowd seemed unusually rabid in the front section, all pushing to try get to the front row. With security having to pull people out who were injured of fainting from the crush of the crowd. After the fan had been picked it seemed to settle a bit.
These moments are great, but if it causes health and safety issues with the crowd it might be worth for the band finding a safer way to pick an audience member.
Taking things down for a couple mellow acoustic songs brings a nice break to the set. It gives a new dynamic to the tracks and also brings out beauty, like vocals or a guitar part that might be missed in the full band mix.
Ending the main part of the set on title track The Jaws Of Life. A bang and a new banner of the album name is revealed behind PIERCE THE VEIL. It’s a nice upbeat track to end the set and with confetti accompanying it. The lights dim and there is a moments of silence when the song finishes. Is this the end?
With the sounds of “one more song” and “encore” making its way through the venue, it’s a tense moment but the lights come up and yes, an encore is happening. Starting with Besitos everyone is jumping and happy to have a bit more time with PIERCE THE VEIL. The ending track was an obvious one, with Vic doing a mellow rendition of the King For A Day chorus for the crowd to have a good sing along and show of that they know it word for word. It kicks in and the last chance to dance is here, everyone is pulling shapes left right and centre all while screaming “you told me think about it, well I did!”
Overall this has been a fun gig, it’s great to see PIERCE THE VEIL headlining such big venues and bringing in two solid supports. Even if the Cardiff show wasn’t sold out, the crowd more than made up for it. You can see why they have had the longevity, compared to other bands of their time. Catchy songs and a dedicated fanbase all come together to make consistently good live shows that people want to keep coming back to. With everyone knackered from jumping around for a few hours, its time to head home and pray for a quick return of PEIRCE THE VEIL to UK shores.
Rating: 9/10
Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in Cardiff from Serena Hill Photography here:
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