Since the month of Avatar is over and it’s clear there will still be no live shows anytime soon, I decided to scour the internet to see if any of my other favorite bands were streaming shows. I was in luck to find out that Silverstein we’re doing something a little bit similar to Avatar in that they will be putting on three different shows for the rest of the Saturdays in February as part of their Out of This World Concert Series. Yay me! One that stood out the most to me from this trio was the very first option, Greatest Hits. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been listening to Silverstein for a very long time, but this just seemed like the best way to hear all of my favorites at once.
And it was! For the most part anyways. With only a 15-song set list, they were bound to miss some of my favorites, and I must say I was a little disappointed that “Still Dreaming” didn’t make the cut. Nor did any songs from Discovering the Waterfront, although I could always check out next week’s concert if I really wanted to hear those (I might). Anyways, with the band putting out a brand new record that they couldn’t tour on last year, A Beautiful Place to Drown, I was surprised the set wasn’t dominated more by it. They did play singles “Burn It Down,” “Bad Habits,” and “Infinite” (my personal favorite). Other noteworthy songs of the set included “Whiplash” and set closer “The Afterglow.”
It’s been a few years since I last saw Silverstein play at Warped Tour, so I wasn’t sure how they’d hold up in a live setting, especially without a crowd. But obviously I’m a fool because they wouldn’t have put out ten records and be celebrating 20 years together if they weren’t good live. They were actually incredible! Shane can hold his own with both clean vocals and the screams, but he also has Paul Marc and Billy Hamilton backing him up, respectively. Paul Marc also had the added challenge of singing the parts belonging to guest vocalists off their various records, so kudos to him! Again, Shane sounded fantastic, and it was so nice to hear some tracks again after so long.
Another thing they had going for them was a unique live set-up. That’s been one super intriguing thing to see in all the live stream shows I’ve watched. Silverstein seemed to be playing in a barn (probably not), in a semi-circle all facing each other which I thought was cool. It’s not really a traditional concert so I liked that they didn’t treat it that way. Also, a few times between songs and at the start and end they incorporated a bit of an alien invasion type story. Various members of the band and crew claim to be seeing strange stuff outside of the studio space, but some of the others don’t see any harm. I loved how when they we’re shooting those scenes outside they were drenched in an ominous blue lighting. Made it really fun! Honestly, by the end it seems like they’d all been abducted, so I may be intrigued enough to watch the other shows just to find out what happens! Overall a great livestream experience, and I miss these guys!