I suppose White Reaper are probably a triple threat, but I’m referring to the fact I’ve seen them three times in the past week. Have I reached groupie status yet? I kind of feel like a crazy fan, but instead I will refer to myself as a passionate one.
Last Saturday at their show in Cleveland I had a unique opportunity where I was granted a media pass! Now, I had never been to the Beachland Ballroom before, so I didn’t realize how little that actually meant. There was no pit area in front of a barricade. In fact, the crowd touched the stage, which is cool, but not for the first time I get to use a media pass. In an effort to work all of that out though I did get the brief chance to talk with drummer, Nick. I was also lucky enough to get a decent spot off to the right of the stage. I saw one other photographer there, but I’m not confident enough yet to elbow through people to get to the front for a few songs at the start of every set. I need more practice for that to happen.
Anyways, the show was sold out and the crowd was intense. At one point a few people crowd surfed and got dumped onto the stage where a few gave some pats on the back before jumping back into the arms of the people. We experienced a slightly shorter set compared to the one I experienced in Columbus, but the set itself was comparable to most other dates on tour. “Funny Farm” didn’t make the cut, nor did their cover song. I had a great time, but both before the show and immediately after, I could kick myself for missing the opportunity to talk to the rest of the guys in the band. Someday.
Now, I was on such a high from that show that the next morning I decided to snag a ticket to their Pittsburgh show. That’s the beauty of living exactly in the middle of those two locations. This time around I decided to take advantage of Mr. Small’s Theatre’s balcony upgrade. Your girl is short, so I appreciated the chance to get to see them with no obstructions. The cost of the upgrade is also converted into a food and drink credit, so it was a win-win in my book! I got to the show in the middle of the first opener on the second leg of this tour, Mamalarky. They are just okay to me. I appreciated opener Militarie Gun’s sound a lot more and they really engaged with the crowd well. Somehow, White Reaper’s set was even shorter than the prior two. They played just barely over one hour. That was my only real complaint though because they still sounded incredible.
The internet obviously knows now that I’m obsessed with these guys, so their livestream Irving Plaza show last night was advertised to me non-stop in the next few days. I finally relented and bought a ticket. Again, so great! I knew we’d be getting the long set like Columbus had because it was both a livestream show and a New York show. I was happy for that. I was kind of expecting a couple of new songs to pop up during this show, but even though they didn’t I still had a great time watching these guys perform again. I’m kind of sad this is the last time I’ll be seeing them on this tour, but I’ve got at least one more chance to see them at a festival later this spring. If you guys get the chance to see them, DO IT!