Concert Review: Chevelle with Asking Alexandria and Dead Poet Society at Amphitheater at White River State Park in Indianapolis!

With the release of their newest album, Bright as Blasphemy, Chevelle came to Everwise Amphitheater at White River State Park in Indianapolis last month on August 14, 2025.  Dead Poet Society and Asking Alexandria were also there in support of Chevelle. To see Chevelle live in concert was an experience that means more than I could find words for or describe with human communication, but here I am, with a story to tell.

One relaxing afternoon, while doom scrolling Instagram and attempting to build my photography brand online, I came across Chevelle’s Instagram story.  It was a photo of Sam and Pete crouched down backstage with text bubbles that they had added over their heads.  It had a caption/prompt at the bottom of the image that read, “Best responses get something cool.”  With absolutely nothing in the entire world to lose in this situation, and being the goofy dork that I am, I quickly screen-shotted the image in preparation for my idea.

I took that image, over Sam’s head, I typed into his chat bubble, “You know @twistedkeyimages?!” Over Pete’s head, I typed into his chat bubble, “Dude! Yea! We should totally get her a media pass for Indy!” I shared that image to my story, tagging Chevelle, thinking it would just be comedy between my followers, or random people on instagram.  Little did I know, they would actually see this story.  I was looking through my viewers on my story that evening, and saw their name on the viewer list.  I was simply thrilled that they even took a look at my story.  I was talking with my husband later that evening, winding down for the night, when all of the sudden I got a DM.  When I open my inbox, I see it is from Chevelle.  I think I had a run of v-tach, palms sweaty, shaky, unable to form any other thought other than, “Am I awake?” Possibly I should have led this story with more details about how I have been a huge Chevelle fan since sophomore year of high school in 2003.  Maybe I should have led with how I know almost every song by heart.  Maybe I should have led with how music is my therapy and this message coming through to me, in my inbox was surreal.  Who am I? Just a nurse who loves photography, art, and music with a fiery passion.  But there I was, with Chevelle in my inbox.  Ok, you’re dying to know what they said.  It was simple, but grand beyond this universe to me.  It said, “Sure,” with a rock hand emoji and “Name for list?”  So, just like that, I had landed myself a spot on the media list.

This method is by far not the norm, or the standard for requesting media credentials to photograph a show.  Results may vary.  August 14, 2025 took forever to arrive, but when it did, I was not let down.  The opportunity to photograph them, the whole entire show was fantastic.  I was not disappointed at any point whatsoever. 

Dead Poet Society performed first.  I have only recently been introduced to this band, but immediately they had me as a fan.  In fact, I jammed out to their music the whole way down to Indianapolis from Northern Indiana. They have that catchy pop feel, but with a heavy, gritty twist.  This type of sound has quickly become one of my favorites. The members of the band attended Berklee College of Music.  I knew there had to be a valid reason why they were so phenomenal on stage.  They know their stuff! Vocals were clean, yet grungy, and a punch right in the chest.  The drums got bodies movin’, and the bass, heavy and beefy, made heads bang.  The guitar riffs were a crispy smooth shred and fit right in with the overall emotion of every song.  Overall, polished. They got the crowd ready for Asking Alexandria.

Asking Alexandria stormed out next, creating immediate excitement.  It’s all love from me over here for Asking Alexandria.  Personally, I think Danny’s vocals are perfect the way they are.  Does he have the same ability that he did long, long ago? Perhaps he is human, and changing with time. To me, I love everything Asking Alexandria, through all of the changes in sound, vocals, etc. There was no lip singing, to my knowledge at least, and I was right under his every move for the first three songs of their set.  The energy is always chaotic and pure rock at an Asking Alexandria show.  The crowd did not disappoint me that night.  When they played “The Final Episode”, fans lost their minds.  The venue exploded with roars, screams, and crowd surfing.  I immediately noticed James was not sitting at the drums, but after some quick research, I realized it was Pablo Viveros.  He did a great job, and I love to see James getting opportunities with another one of my favorite bands, Breaking Benjamin. The backup vocals from Paul were on point.  I think fans need to realize that although an artist hopes people love their art, the artist owns the ability to make a new sound, go different ways or change altogether.  Danny owes no one an explanation for anything.  If you’re calling yourself a fan, then possibly accept that he is an artist, and he owes nothing to anyone on how he chooses to express himself or the band.  You will catch me at the next Asking Alexandria show near me.

Finally, the moment I had been longing for..  Chevelle, with all of their magical healing perfection stood upon that stage before me and the thousands of fans in attendance.  The second Pete’s raw yells and smooth melodic vocals filled the air with pure ear heaven, everyone was going crazy out of their minds.  We were at the Chevelle experience!  They played lots of their older songs, and my personal favorite from the new album, “Pale Horse”.  On the far left side of the stage, I noticed a “band member” that I was not aware existed.  An alien in a hooded cloak stood there.  I made sure to capture an image of that guy.  The whole show had awesome visuals behind the guys on stage.  I was taken back to my earlier days and lived in pure nostalgia the whole night.  Even the new songs keep true to their formative sound, so they fit right in with the rest of the discography and made my heart happy.  The crowd went so hard.  It was hot that evening, regarding the weather, but it got even hotter with Chevelle getting everyone’s blood pumping.  At one point, someone went so hard, they collapsed.  The band made sure they were safely taken out of the pit before continuing on.  Pete seemed to be dissatisfied with one of his guitars at one point, but I think everything sounded perfect the entire time.  I may be a little biased about the band, though.  I am beyond grateful for this whole experience.  I would highly recommend catching a show when they come by your town!