Images: This or The Apocalypse, Sworn In, Shai Hulud February 10, 2014 at the Southern Nevada Sports Centre

February 10 marked my second of two back-to-back nights spent at Vegas’ newest all ages venue, the Southern Nevada Sports Centre. While the first night was a rather sparsely attended pop punk show, on this night, I was prepared for a near sold-out show of hardcore and metal. If you haven’t been to the Sports Centre yet, it’s pretty cool. Bands rock out on an elevated stage, while their merch leans up against the roller hockey rink’s glass. Between sets, you can play billiards, or a mean game of air hockey. Unfortunately for me, work kept me from seeing the local openers, but from the size of the crowd as I arrived, I feel it’s safe to say they had a welcoming turnout. The indoor practice sidelines were filled wall to wall with fans bustling with excitement, and as metal-influenced harcore pioneers Shai Hulud set up, I was very interested to see how their purportedly legendary live show stacked up to their recorded output.

Shai Hulud has gone through a legion of lead vocalists since forming in 1995, most notably Chad Gilbert (of New Found Glory fame). Gilbert recently came back to the group to produce and record vocals on 2013’s Reach Beyond the Sun. So current vocalist Justin Kraus had some big shoes to fill, and his performance exceeded my expectations. Kraus was the highlight of the band’s set, bursting with energy, jumping and running around the stage. There were some clear die-hard Shai Hulud fans in the crowd shouting their lungs out to every word, which was nice to see and resulted in a face-splitting grin on Kraus’ face, knowing that his own excitement over their music did not go to waste. Shai Hulud founder Matt Fox also looked like he was having a blast, shredding through new songs and old favorites like you’d expect from a veteran of the hardcore scene. It was interesting seeing such an “old band” that has toured internationally opening for much newer acts, but regardless, they came for their fans, which was great to see.

Next up was Sworn In, a metalcore band hailing from Grayslake, Illinois. Following the release of their debut album The Death Card on Razor and Tie last year, Sworn In has garnered a huge following among fans of heavy music, but I didn’t realize how big until the venue filled to near capacity as the band took to the stage.  I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect, as the crowd became even more rowdy than before, and as soon as they broke out with the opening track off of XIII, the crowd went nuts, with throngs of uninhibited fans swarming the stage, everyone vying for a spot to cathartically scream along with frontman Tyler Dennen. Security immediately leapt into action, pushing kids away from the stage in an attempt to protect the band. But Dennen wanted that fan interaction and tried shooing the guards away to allow for the insanity. Looking at the guards’ vexed expressions I knew they were wondering what they got themselves into. Throughout the set they continued in vain to push the fans away, but the crowd just wasn’t having it. The band led into “Hypocrisy,” another choice cut from The Death Card, and the energy just kept on building from there. Sworn In is already gearing up for their next tour, this time with Extreme Thing players Emmure, Volumes and Thy Art Is Murder, so if it’s coming near you I highly suggest going and getting there early.

Shortly after the last reverb faded from Sworn In’s fantastic set, tour headliners This or the Apocalypse took the stage. The Pennsylvanian metal/melodic hardcore band has made quite a name for themselves since forming in 2005, touring with hardcore and metal heavyweights like Norma Jean, Texas in July and letlive., but like openers Shai Hulud,  they’ve also been forced to deal with multiple lineup changes, which has resulted in slight shifts in sound between albums. The crowd had dispersed a considerable amount after Sworn In, but This or the Apocalypse did not seem to care, playing as hard as I’d expect them to play to a crowd ten times as big. Though the band played great, there wasn’t as much fan interaction as expected, and whether the fans (and band) were worn down from a night of high energy and security battles or some other issue was at play, it was kind of a disappointing way to end an otherwise stellar night.

-Hunter Wallace | https://www.flickr.com/photos/hunter_wallace/