As far as tours go, the Creative Control one was pretty damn stacked!
The show kicked off with one of my sister’s favorite bands, girlfriends. They got the energy going right away and blazed through about eight songs, making sure they got the crowd engaged with their own music before hyping everyone up for who was still yet to come. Thanks to my sister, I did know about 80 percent of the songs they played. There were some new EP additions that I haven’t had to endure on repeat in the car yet, so those were the only unfamiliar tracks. Something I’ll always love about bands is when they talk about the gratitude they have for being able to play and for the loyalty and support of the fans. All the bands at the show effusively stated this throughout the evening.
Next up was the main reason I was there – Don Broco! Of course I went all the way to London to see them a couple month’s ago (WORTH IT), but I had no problems getting a good seat to this show! I knew the set would be infinitely shorter, but I think they made a ton of new fans in that short amount of time. Not that I’m surprised. From all the footage I’ve watched, and even seeing it in action in person a couple month’s ago, I know Rob rules at getting the crowd hyped. There were mosh pits almost immediately, and he even played ‘basketball’ with the crowd. I was sad that Simon couldn’t be there (family emergency back home), but the rest of the guys and Si’s replacement still rocked the building. They played all the big, hard rock songs I expected them to play, and they sounded incredible! I was so excited to see them again that after their set I dropped some serious coin on a signed and illustrated drum head. Bliss.
Since this tour is a co-headlining effort between The Used and Pierce the Veil, I’m not sure if they swap out who’s closing the show every night, but for this particular night, The Used were up next. I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I’ve seen this band over the years. I knew they were going to be good, and for the record, they were. Even though they have a brand new record out, they surprisingly played a lot from their first two full-length efforts. I think “Lunacy Fringe” had made it onto some of the tour’s set list, so I was kind of bummed it didn’t make the cut for our show, but either way, a fun mix of songs. They too were spewing love into the crowd over and over again, and you could just tell those guys were having a blast out there. In a fun surprise, Rob hopped onstage during “A Box Full of Sharp Objects” to lend his screams in the necessary parts. Fantastic!
Finally, a band I’ve never been all that familiar with, Pierce the Veil, took the stage to a guttural scream from most of the females in the crowd. One girl in front of me screamed so much and so long that it was actually kind of comical. I did listen to the tracks they’ve been playing on this tour before going to the show, but I was only kind of familiar with one very old song. All of them were pleasant, but during the show I couldn’t tell you what the names to any of the songs were. I can say though that “Pass the Nirvana” will be getting added to a playlist soon. Their bassist is one of the most fun guys I’ve ever seen onstage. He was just smiling and dancing the whole set. The neatest part of their show had to be when they called a very shy looking fan onstage who then got personally serenaded by lead singer, Vic Fuentes, and then gifted his guitar! I have to imagine that will go down as one of the best days of her life.
Overall, it was a very fun show. I was looking forward to seeing it again the very next night, but forgot I had a family wedding to attend. I hope whoever ended up with my good ticket had a blast. Still holding out for that headlining Don Broco tour, but until then, I will just be staring at my drum head.