Amaranthe’s latest album, Massive Addictive was released last year and in support of the album, the group made round two through the states, only this time they were headlining, boy what a treat! The group brought two smaller acts to support them through the tour which included Finnish Hard Rock/Glam Metal band and labelmates, Santa Cruz as well as Detroit Post-Hardcore band, I, Prevail. The killer show took place at Mojoes in Joliet earlier this week on May 20th. Arriving early, I locked my place to get front and center. Unfortunately the temps were in the lower 50’s and it started to pour chilly rain and light hail, talk about paying your dues before the show haha. After doors opened late, we waited about an hour or so for the openers to take over the stage and rock our faces off.
Santa Cruz are a Glam/Hard Rock band from Finland. What kind of a metal show would this be without a band from Sweden or Finland? Santa Cruz had no problem kicking off the night with their high energy and nostalgic Glam era attitude full of cockiness and rock n’ roll up your arse. The opening track Bonafide Heroes brought forth high vibrant times and headbanging rhythms. This is your typical rock and roll groove right here. My Remedy and Let Them Burn continued the old school era machismo that certainly sparked me to check these guys out even though I didn’t know who they were. 
Their catchy track We Are The Ones To Fall really got the crowd pumped up as the group did a great job showcasing their stage presence and singing in unison with their gang vocals. If there was one thing that stood out from their performance was their amazing guitar skills, really during the solos above any other aspect. In the end, the group wanted to go out with a bang so their final song of the night was aptly titled Aiming High. 
Another track screaming in energy and is super catchy, the group really gave it their all in their final performance of the night. Lead vocalist Arttu Kuosmanen took the reigns on mic only, really adding that final touch of magic mic skills to fully bring the 80’s back in full swing that night.
The second act of the night was Detroit Post-Harcore act, I, Prevail. A group I was unfamiliar with, their performance was underestimated. The group has two lead vocalists with Brian Burkheiser on clean vocals and Eric Vanlerberghe on the intense screaming factor. As the night progressed, the group’s efforts and presence got larger and more intense. There was a point in which the two guitarists got down from the stage and started to play in between the stage and barricade, to get a close up glimpse of their technical guitar skills.
They certainly got in people’s faces which was pretty intense and cool at the same time as well as really interacting with the audience. You must give them credit, it’s pretty dam rare when you get a band like that, that really tries to get the crowd into their performance and really interacting with the fans. Their breakdowns got pretty intense too, and as I looked back their fans got pretty brutal as well, especially during the wall of death that went on, that was totally unexpected. 
Towards the end of their lengthy setlist, vocalist Eric Vanlerberghe and their bassist got into the pits and certainly got the crowd nuts. By that point in the setlist, it was fairly obvious who was there to see I, Prevail. Though their genre isn’t on my list of favorites, I certainly give them credits for giving a whopping live performance. I can’t remember the last time I saw a band actually get in the pits and offstage with the crowd, you guys have made an impact on me and the crowd that night.
The third and final act, the headliners of the night, Amaranthe were due to kick off the night. After an intriguing intro, the group kicked off their set with their latest, catchy and energetic single, Digital World. Lead screamer Henrik Englund was out of commission on this tour as he is going to become a father in the next month so the group recruited Olle Ekman, from Swedish death metal act, Deals Death. 
His style of vocals is similar to Henrik’s plus his unique flavor of metal brought a cool twist to the tour that night. After a nice performance from the song Trinity, the crowd went nuts for the groups very first single, Hunger. A personal favorite of mine, the energy flowed perfectly into the next track, Invincible. 
As the Joliet audience jumped up on their toes, it was hard not to notice the group enjoying the fact that we were enjoying the night, especially during 1.000.000 Lightyears. One of the more rare tracks that I don’t believe has made an appearance on their past setlists ever, Serendipity and the semi-ballad True tuned down the night for a moment.
An unexpected drum solo was performed by drummer Morten Løwe Sørensen, which showcased the skills of this underrated superstar. Boy were all eyes on the stage for those 3 minutes. A few more songs included the title track Massive Addictive, Afterlife, Leave Everything Behind, and the catchy, hard-hitting Electroheart. Eventually it was lead singer Elize Ryd’s turn to devote her love to us that night with their powerful and emotional ballad Amaranthine. After a performance that almost made Elize shed a tear literally the group played another favorite of mine titled, Call Out My Name. This was supposedly the final song of the night but of course an encore was in order. The encore was kicked off by a song from their self titled debut album, track titled, Automatic. 
The next few tracks that closed out the night included Dynamite, Drop Dead Cynical, and the title track from their second album, The Nexus. After a bow and selfie with Amaranthe and the Joliet crowd, the eventful night was complete.
This was one of the more uniquely put tours with each of the bands offering a completely different genre of music compared to one another. You had Hard Glam Rock, Post-Hardcore and Electro-Pop Metal. Though I would have liked to have seen band’s I am more familiar with, I guess I still haven’t heard everything that’s out there yet. I was there for Amaranthe so their proportionate setlist from each of their albums really was a perfect choice. I would have thrown in the track Infinity in there as it would have added a nice touch to the setlist and make it a perfect 20 tracks as opposed to 19 that they had performed that night. I’ll never forget the in your face, full of raw attitude performance from I, Prevail, sheesh those guys are nuts, check them out live if you get the opportunity. Santa Cruz again, brought in that nostalgic atmosphere to connect with the fans immediately. Fortunately I got the amazing chance to meet and greet with Amaranthe after the show and got to talk to most of the members and ask them questions and just thank them truly for such amazing music that they put out that is very much inspiring. Elize Ryd hands down counts as one of the most approachable and friendliest singers for any band. Above all else, I’ll always be on the lookout for when Amaranthe makes their return to the states. Cheers everyone. Stay Metal m/
The Metal Alchemy 