Alive Like Me, Slaves, The Color Morale; April 9th, 2015

Alive Like Me, Slaves, The Color Morale

The Waiting Room; Omaha, NE

April 9th, 2015

Stephenie Thue

 

Out of the 275+ concert that I have been to, I have heard so many amazing things about the venue  Waiting Room in Omaha, Nebraska, but have never gotten to experience it – until now. The Color Morale was coming April 9th, and I was not missing my opportunity. The best part of all was there was going to be VIP for The Color Morale. They were headlining the show with the openers being Alive Like Me and Slaves. The VIP doors were at 5, general admission at 7, with the show starting at 8.

My best friend Britnee and I arrived at The Waiting Room at about 2:30. I didn’t know what to expect, so I was a little surprised to see how small it was, but I was happy because I knew it would be an in-your-face kind of show. We could see into the venue through the glass door and noticed there was no barricade, which made it even better.

When you hear that a band is doing a VIP + meet and greet, you would expect a huge turn-out. That wasn’t the case this time. There were only seven VIP people, which made the whole experience very interment and personal. The VIP package included a poster, lanyard, photos, and a meet with the whole band.

We walked into the venue and took our seats around The Color Morale. Garret opens the conversation with “Alright, how we always start out our meet and greets is with an arm wrestle. So, who’s going to?” I raised my hand and said, “I will!” I stood up and took his hand and he asks, “Wait, are you serious?” I said, “Yes, I’m serious. Are you scared of being beat by a girl?” So, we got the photographer, and the match was on. He had to use two hands, and I still beat him. He was a good sport about it, though. Now that the ice was broken, it was time to settle in for the experience of being human beings. The Color Moral wanted to do things differently this tour since they were headlining. Garret always comes to the merchandise table after shows, but the rest of the members tear down the stage, so they wanted the fans to be able to talk and ask questions to everyone as a whole. The questions came slowly at first, a few people were a little star struck and were very quiet. We asked about their favorite places to tour; Garret’s being right there in Omaha, and Steven’s being in Australia. One place they all agreed on that they want to tour to is Germany. I have to agree, those Germans are dedicated to music, and I would love to someday go to a festival over there. After a few more jokes and laughs, things turned to a deeper level. We started talking about their last two albums “Know Hope”, and their recent release “Hold On, Pain Ends”. Garret is the writer of the group, and he told us that he was going through a lot of persona issues, even going as far as quitting the band for a while. He explained how he wrote “Know Hope” based on raw emotion, and about all of the personal issues. His lyrics have helped thousands of people, me included, dealing with suicide. If you’re dealing with problems, it’s ok to talk about them. “You can live a positive life with a negative mind.” After the questions, we got our picture taken and posters signed, said our goodbyes, and went to the stage to wait for the show to start.

Alive Like Me was the first band to play. I had only heart a few songs before, so I was excited to hear more. The clock was ticking down and the venue was filling up as the lights turned off and Alive Like Me took the stage. The singer, Jairus Kersey, ran on stage and jumped on the podium in front of me, and I knew then just how close we would be – knee to the face kind of close. (Luckily I was able to avoid it, but it did happen more than once!) Alive Like Me had a lot of energy, and were a perfect fit to support The Color Morale. They are from Oregon and dropped an album last year called “Only Forever”.

Members:

Jairus Kersey – Vocals

David Knox – Bass/Vocals

Joel Riley – Drums

Dakota Dufloth – Guitar/Vocals

After Alive Like Me’s energetic show, it was Slaves’ turn to amp up the crowd. The California natives came on stage and everyone began moving forward a little more. They opened with “The Upgrade PT II”, and realized instantly that they had a similar writing style to The Color Morale – words from the heart. Jonny’s voice is absolutely spine chilling, so when they started the introduction to “The Fire Down Below” I could feel the emotion coming out of his body and into his voice. They ended their set with “My Soul is Empty and Full of White Girls.” They are going on tour now for the Vans Warped Tour along with Alive Like Me.

Members:

Jonny Craig – Vocals

Alex Lyman – Guitar

Tai Wright – Drums

Colin Viera – Bass

Jason Mays – Guitar

Set List:

The Upgrade, Pt. 2

This Is You Throwing in the Towel

The King and the Army That Stands Behind Him

The Fire Down Below

Those Who Stand for Nothing Fall for Everything

There Is Only One God and His Name Is Death

My Soul Is Empty and Full of White Girls

When Slaves finished, the crowd was excited and ready for The Color Morale to play. The seven of us VIP members found each other and took over the front row. The first time I saw The Color Morale was in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and it was an awesome show, but nothing could have prepared me for tonight’s performance.

When the lights turned off, the crowd exploded and pushed forward and Steven sat behind his drum kit. the rest of the members took their places, and the music came to life. Garret came out and opened with “Burn Victim.” It is one of my favorite song and they didn’t play it in Sioux Falls, so I became a little school girl and sang along. Garret had mentioned during the meet and greet that he was suffering from a cold, so he had the crowd singing a lot on our own, handing the microphone out to people. After a few more songs, they played “Smoke and Mirrors,” and I started to cry, along with a few others. The emotion flowing through the room was something I have not experienced since Evanescence in Sioux City in 2012. That feeling is very hard to describe in words, too. Those moments when you’re at a show and the singer jumps off the stage to stand on the railing is nothing compared to being pressed against the stage and him being able to hold your hand for an entire song. After he sang his last note of “Smoke and Mirrors,” he placed the microphone against my wrist to hear my pulse. That is something I have never experienced before. The Color Morale slowed it down to do an acoustic of “Hold On, Pain Ends,” and Garret sat down in front of Britnee and me for the whole song. I started to cry again, so I grabbed onto Britnee’s hand. Garret saw us do that and he put his hand on top of ours for the remainder of the song. Again, another one of those one-of-a-kind moments.

Members:

Garret Rapp – Vocals

Steven Carey – Drums

Devin King – Guitar

Mike Honson – Bass

Aaron Saunders – Guitar

Set List:

Burn Victims

 

Outer Demons

Suicide Sigma

Smoke and Mirrors

Learned Behavior

Humannequin

Saviorself

Demon Teeth

Prey For Me

Hope

Strange Comfort

The entire night was full of love, joy, tears, and happiness, a rarity at a metal show. That is why it has become one of my top three most memorable concerts I have ever been to. It will take a lot to top Evanescence and Linkin Park. Oh, Garret,  I have a tour tattoo idea! The sign on the tour shirt “Hold On Pain Ends Tour 2015”!