Images: Blessthefall, Chiodos, Capture the Crown, I Killed the Prom Queen July 31, 2014 at Hard Rock Live

The Crowd Surf America tour rolled through Vegas on July 31, met by an eager group of Vegas fans. With great lighting and a low stage, Hard Rock Live on the Strip is one of my favorite venues to shoot at, so I knew it was going to be a great night with Chiodos, Blessthefall, Capture the Crown and I Killed the Prom Queen.

I wasn’t very familiar with Australian metalcore outfits Capture the Crown and I Killed the Prom Queen, but both bands had some diehard fans in attendance. Capture the Crown’s set consisted mostly of songs from the group’s 2012 debut record which included their rise to fame single “You Call That A Knife? This Is A Knife!” Moshing continued during I Killed the Prom Queen, keeping security busy with a constant flood of crowd surfing fans coming over the barriers (insert witty joke about aforementioned crowd surfers and the name of this tour).

Prior to this night, I’d only briefly seen Chiodos perform live once – at Warped Tour 2013, so I was incredibly excited to witness an entire set from these guys. They opened with “Ole Fishlips Is Dead Now” from their latest release Devil, and managed to balance their set with old and new material (minus anything but “Thermacare” from 2010’s Illuminaudio, of course). Chiodos executed every song flawlessly, and with tons of emotion, proving that from both a theatrical and musical standpoint, they’re one of the best at what they do. There was no shortage of crowd surfers throughout their set either, and frontman Craig Owens found himself crowd walking at one point, which always makes for a picture perfect moment. My favorite part of the set came at the end as the group closed on the old crowd favorite “Baby, You Wouldn’t Last A Minute On The Creek,” as everyone sang along.

This was my first time seeing Blessthefall and they absolutely did not disappoint. The samples of “Exodus” came over the sound system and the guitars soon followed, as the crowd erupted in cheers at the shredding guitar riffs and bassist Jared Wrath’s heavy-hitting screams. Tons of strobes and lights filled the room and lit up the faces of the crowd as many thrust fists and devil horns into the air. Vocalist Beau Bokan used the stage to his full advantage, bouncing from side to side and using the large side monitors as his personal stage riser. Their latest release Hollow Bodies was well-represented, but Blessthefall balanced the set with alternating singles from previous records, keeping new and old fans happy. Bokan seemed to make it a personal goal to high five every single person that came over the security barrier and on multiple occasions, he jumped into the crowd to get closer to everyone. The group finished up with hit “You Wear a Crown but You’re No King” and the huge crowd favorite “Hey Baby, Here’s That Song You Wanted.” In my opinion, Blessthefall is one of the best duel vocalist groups in the scene right now, and I can’t wait until the next time I’m able to catch these guys live.

-Tylor Thuirer | https://www.flickr.com/photos/thuirermedia/