On January 31, 2024- The Metalcore Dropouts performed at The National in Richmond, VA with Co-headliners Fit For A King and The Devil Wears Prada with special guests; Avoid and Counterparts. For a week day event, the show was completely packed even when you were walking outside to get into the venue, the line felt never ending. Everyone was ready to see their favorite dropouts!
The first band of the night to perform was one of my favorites; Avoid. A metalcore band fromSeattle, Washington and currently signed to Thriller Records consisting of; Benny Scholl (Vocals) , Nick Olson (Guitar) , Chris Echols (Guitar) , and Paul Jaton (Drums). Avoid became my top favorite band of 2023 when I photographed them in Atlanta, GA when they were touring with Silverstein. They toured with bands such as: Wage War, Within Destruction, Pop Evil, The Word Alive, Silent Planet, and The Plot In You.
The second Benny went on stage; I already knew I had to be ready because the vocalist can MOVE. When I mean MOVE, he's like an energetic bunny on stage and it’s so difficult to keep up with him. The one song that Avoid performed that night was “Flashbang” from the EP “The Burner” released in 2020 with almost 3 million spotify plays! The guitars in the beginning of the song is the REASON why this song is my favorite. The beginning of the song; the way Benny projects his vocals is very enjoyable and within 50 seconds of the song, you will be head banging and causing mayhem in the crowd! The crowd at the barricade was already banging their heads the second they started the song!
Within the first 6 minutes of their set; Benny dropped down from the stage and stepped up onto the barricade to crowd surf in the crowd. If a vocalist can perform vocals while crowd surfing, that should just automatically tell you that Benny is top dog. Performing clean and unclean vocals while crowd surfing indicates good vocal control which I'm not shocked. Because it's Benny.
Another song that was performed during their set was “Cowabunga” off their Cult Mentality album released in 2022! This album was meant to be for comfort for those who are either struggling mentally or want to have fun. The song “Cowabunga” was created due to band realizing the love they have for chaos on tour and this song is catchy, moshing worthy, and just fun in general.
Avoid
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/avoidkicksass/
Website https://avoid.digital
Next up on this Metalcore Dropout Tour was Counterparts. Counterparts is a melodic hardcore band that formed in 2007 in Hamilton, Ontario. The band consists of; Brendan Murphy (Vocals), Jesse Doren (Lead Guitar), Tyler Williams (Rhythm Guitar) and Kyle Brownlee (Drums). The reason why this band is so popular is because the lyrics are raw and transparent, which not a lot of musicians do to fear of backlash from fans. This is Counterparts second run on this tour supporting Fit For A King and The Devil Wears Prada. If the band is BACK on this tour supporting the headliners, it shows that fans love them and will come support!
The one song that they performed was “Whispers Of Your Death” which is about Murphy's cat “Kuma” that passed away and he stated on stage that this cat meant the world to him and If he could, he would be with them right now. He also stated that everyday is a struggle and that if no one causes complete chaos in the room that everyone is disappointing Kuma. As a feline lover myself and having my cat of 19 years pass away a couple years ago, it is a mental struggle. Having a normal routine with them around and once they are gone, it's like your whole life is turned upside down. This song caused one of the largest pits during their set due to the vocalist wanting everyone to release all their anger into the pit, so they understand how hurt and angry he is. “Whispers of Your Death” is from the album “A Eulogy for Those Still Here” released in 2022 with another song they performed during their set; “Bound To The Burn”
My favorite song from their set was the one they opened their set with; “Love Me” from their “Nothing Left to Love” album released in 2019 with the song being at the highest with over 9 million spotify listens! You can hear the desperation and hopelessness in this song; “Will you love me whens there nothing left to love?”
Counterparts
Website http://counterparts905.com
The next band to perform is a band that I haven’t seen since 2011 at Vans Warped Tour; The Devil Wears Prada. The Devil Wears Prada formed in 2005 in Dayton, Ohio consisting of; Mike Hranica (Unclean Vocals, Guitar), Jeremy Depoyster (Rhythm Guitar, Clean Vocals), Kyle Sipress (Lead Guitar, backing vocals), Mason Nagy (Bass), Jonathan Gering (Keyboards, backing vocals), and Giuseppe Capolupo (Drums). The first two songs performed during their set was “Exhibition” and “Watch Tower” from their album “Color Decay” that was released in 2022. Depoyster sang the clean vocals during the chorus for Exhibition and that's the main reason why this song caught my attention when It was released. Hearing the crowd sing along to the chorus and seeing Depoyster smiling while singing definitely strung at my heart. During an interview about this albums released, Mike stated; It’s about contrast, We’ve really tried to create individualism within the songs and make them distinct. The title references the disintegration and discoloration we experience from daily struggles. Those feelings come with mental health, getting older, and dealing with it. We confront these fights over a lengthy period of time. This record goes up and down, which I’ve always liked for an LP. You will want to listen to it from front-to-back”
