Images: A Lot Like Birds, HRVRD, Night Verses, My Iron Lung, Stolas November 20, 2013 at Layla’s Palace Banquet Hall

Despite fighting off the nasty head cold that seems to be going around, I managed to crawl out of bed, get presentable and make my way down to Layla’s Palace Banquet Hall on Nov. 20 to catch the No Place tour featuring A Lot Like Birds, HRVRD, Night Verses, My Iron Lung, and local support Stolas.

Stolas took the floor first. Even though the place seemed somewhat empty to begin with, the small crowd gathered up front to support the locals. Performing songs from Living Creatures, the guys set the mood for the rest of the night, playing a great set that included my personal favorite “Medusa.”

Pure Noise Records’ My Iron Lung followed with their own amazing set. The 4-piece plays a mixture of emo and post-hardcore that combines for a unique sound, driven by frontman Matthew Fitzpatrick’s guitar and vocal work. It only took me half a song to get into what they were playing and the rest of the young crowd looked just as into it. I’d officially consider myself a huge fan of this band now – and I immediately jumped on Twitter to tell the world how awesome they are.

Layla’s was finally holding a good crowd by the time Night Verses began. By this time though, I must admit it was getting really difficult to photograph the bands due to the lack of lighting. Nonetheless, I did my best to capture the amazing energy of frontman Douglas Robinson. They stuck to tracks mostly from this year’s Lift Your Existence and got a great crowd response.

The most unique and interesting band of the night goes to Charlotte, North Carolina’s HRVRD. I would describe them as experimental indie rock, which sounds pretty awesome live. Just watching singer Jesse Clasen was entertaining in its own right. Equipped with an assortment of effect pedals, a laptop, keyboard, trumpet, and a trombone, Clasen was able to create loops of his own voice for harmonies. Again, it was very entertaining to witness, and after closing with their song “Old Nature,” many concertgoers were begging for them to continue.

Closing out the night was A Lot Like Birds who’ve got a pretty strong following here in Vegas. It’s been nearly a year since the Sacramento post-hardcore outfit played here, and straight from the beginning of the set, dual vocalists Kurt Travis and Cory Lockwood got the crowd moving. The band played a mix of songs from their records Conversation Piece and No Place. Once I thought the crowd couldn’t get any crazier, they started the opening horns sample of “Vanity’s Fair” and the energy in the room exploded. The crowd completely swarmed around Lockwood and Travis to sing at the top of their lungs to the hit. The charisma and energy continued throughout the rest of the set, and I can’t wait to see A Lot Like Birds again when they return to Vegas Jan. 12.

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