Images: Silverstein, Being As An Ocean, Emarosa and more March 13, 2016 at Vinyl Las Vegas

Canadian natives Silverstein are back on U.S. soil and making the rounds with their current tour, stopping at Vinyl in the Hard Rock Hotel on March 13, with three big names on the bill.

The crowd came alive the moment Silverstein took the stage and the first notes of “Stand Amid the Roar” came over the PA. With people standing shoulder to shoulder in the small, packed room, a strong number of them sang along with lead vocalist Shane Told. The great thing about this show and performance compared to their last show in Vegas at House of Blues, was you could tell it was so much more intimate for the both band and fans. Everyone was lost in the music as Silverstein ripped through material both new and old. A majority of the set was made up of hits and singles from their two most recent albums I Am Alive in Everything I Touch and This Is How the Wind Shifts. They made sure not to forget, though, about the old favorites such as “Smashed Into Pieces,” “Vices,” “Call it Karma” and of course “My Heroine” which were all right at the end of the set.

Behind the vocals of Joel Quartuccio, Being As An Ocean (BAAO) has made a name for themselves and become immensely popular in the melodic hardcore scene. This was my first time seeing the BAAO guys and beforehand, I had never taken the time to listen to them. Seeing them perform live though, and seeing Joel interact with the kids was truly inspiring. Joel spent the first three songs of his band’s explosive set out in the crowd with the fans surrounding him and singing along. I was a big fan of the third song played, “Dissolve,” which is their latest single. Joel did find his way back to the stage to join the rest of his bandmates and continue on, periodically jumping down to the barricade once again.

Emarosa’s Versus was my favorite record released in 2014 and they’ve been a bucketlist band of mine to see and photograph since. These guys were my biggest reason for wanting to cover this show but unfortunately with a vocalist under the weather, the performance fell short on my expectations. Even though vocally he couldn’t perform at 100%, vocalist Bradley Walden at least made the effort to keep the performance entertaining. He repeatedly jumped the barricade and down into the crowd to sing the songs, so you can’t say the guy didn’t give it his all. Performing all songs from Versus, the band opened with “People Like Me, We Just Don’t Play,” and ended with “1996 on Bevard.” Near the end of the set, Walden found himself taking a bandmate for a lap around the venue on his shoulders which was entertaining in itself.  With only 5 songs in the set, the performance was over before I knew it. Hopefully the next time they roll through town, they’ll be at 100%.

I’m going to guess that no one in the room had heard of Coldrain. Coming from Japan, these guys were the biggest surprise of the night. Both vocally and instrumentally, the performance was strong. They seemed to surprise many in the crowd and made more than a few new fans, despite mistaking Las Vegas for being in California.

Kicking the night off was another Canadian band, Rarity. Though signed to Rise Records, the band is still relatively in its infancy and is working on expanding their fan base. The night was still early and with people trickling in, the guys did their best to win over some new fans. My personal favorite song of theirs was the last song of the night and their single “Anne Hathaway.” I look forward to seeing where the guys go moving forward.

-Tylor Thuirer | https://www.instagram.com/thuirer/