Images: Escape The Fate, A Skylit Drive, Sworn In, Sirens and Sailors, Myca Relocate November 12, 2015 at Vinyl Las Vegas

November has brought a spoil of riches to fans of heavy music in Vegas, with the likes of Motionless in White, The Devil Wears Prada, letlive., and Blessthefall gracing our city with their presence. Vinyl inside of the Hard Rock Hotel wanted in on the fun, as the venue played host to the Hate Me Tour this past Thursday. Vinyl is a great little venue that offers a more personal connection between band and crowd than other larger venues in town so I was naturally excited just to be at the show shooting a few bands that I’ve yet to see live.

The show kicked off with three bands that have been growing in popularity over the last few years – Myka Relocate, Sirens and Sailors, and Sworn In. The crowd was surprisingly small during all three sets, though the fans that did make it out early on a Thursday night more than made up for the lack of attendance with their own passion, moshing at various points of the sets. The highlight was seeing a wall of death form during Sworn In, which was interesting to watch considering the size of the crowd.

Main support for the tour was post-hardcore band A Skylit Drive, a band who is celebrating ten years together and who I’ve been eager to see live since my early high school days. The group definitely lived up to my expectations as frontman Michael “Jag” Jagmin seemed effortlessly able to hit the highest of notes vocally.  While the set mostly consisted of songs from their last two records ASD and Rise, us longtime fans were still treated to older songs”Wires and the Concept of Breathing,” “The Cali Buds” and the final song of the set “All It Takes for Your Dreams to Come True.”

By the time the main headliners Escape the Fate were set to take the stage, the room… still felt a little emptier than I had expected. I’m going to assume the draw wasn’t as large because of it being a Thursday night and the fact that there are just so many good shows this month, that people had to make sacrifices on who to go see. But once Escape the Fate came on, it didn’t even matter.

The fans were full of energy, set to go, and immediately began moving as the opening guitar shredding in “Just A Memory” started. The mosh pit opened back up and bodies flailed everywhere. All night I had been shooting from the crowd due to the lack of a photo pit, and it wasn’t until this point when I started second guessing myself on that decision. I quickly got my shots that I needed and then left the danger zone with all my gear still intact.

For older Escape the Fate fans, we were treated to material early on in the set as the band went into “The Flood” and “10 Miles Wide” as their second and third songs. As the set continued on, we saw more from This War Is Ours, the band’s self-titled release, and songs from their newest record Hate Me. It was a great balanced setlist for everyone whether they’re a fan of older material or the newer songs. At the end of the main set, Kevin “Thrasher” Gruft had a birthday cake brought on stage and invited his girlfriend up as the crowd sang to her. Then as a big surprise to anyone who is a ETF fan, frontman Craig Mabbitt made an announcement that former ETF bassist Max Green was in attendance. Green joined the band on bass duties for the remainder of the set which included “The Guillotine” and “This War Is Ours (The Guillotine II)” leaving Escape the Fate fans ecstatic.

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