No Sun / No Moon Tour
November 2nd, 2017
The Slowdown
Omaha, Nebraska
The Devil Wears Prada, Veil of Maya, Silent Planet, Thousand Below
Omaha loves its metal shows, even on a Thursday night. The Omaha music scene doesn’t get a steady injection of heavy metal very often, so it’s always a must to check out the shows, even if you’re not sure exactly who the bands playing are. Even I passed up the chance to see Breaking Benjamin’s acoustic set at Sokol Auditorium for tonight’s heavy hitting show at The Slowdown.
Thousand Below would be opening tonight’s stop on the No Sun / No Moon tour. I could find very little information on the opening act, but they certainly know how to open the a show. I only managed to catch the band’s last 3 songs, but I was impressed with what I heard. Touring in support of their recently released debut, The Love You Let Get To Close, the San Diego post-hardcore quintet thrashed a packed crowd at the normally chill Slowdown.
As the main room of The Slowdown continued to fill, Silent Planet hit the stage. Hailing from Azusa, California (yeah, I had to look up that location too), Silent Planet have passed through Omaha before, but tonight’s performance would be their largest Omaha crowd. While the outside world may see metal as dead in the water, slowly being pushed out the pop princesses and autotuned boy bands, they couldn’t be more wrong. The crowd’s reaction to Silent Planet’s thunderous performance was near apocalyptic. The pit bosses ruled the floor, and the headbangers maintained their positions at the railings. Word got out how brilliant these guys are, and after seeing their set, I now see why. Even with only a 7 song set, their energy level didn’t waiver once, and neither did the crowd’s. Nearing the end of this tour, the band would then head halfway across the world on their European tour. I have a feeling Europe will embrace them with raised voices, pumping fists, and mosh pits.
The only time the floor wasn’t a giant circle pit was in between the band performances.
Tonight would be my first time seeing Veil of Maya. I’ve heard their music and seen their name listed before, but I’ve never had the chance to attend one of their shows. Which really sucks considering they’re now on their 3rd vocalist. For my first time seeing them though, Lukas Magyar is amazing on stage. He worked the crowd into a frenzy, and continues to put his own personal touches on the band’s older material. This definitely won’t be my last time seeing them tear up a stage.
I’ve been intrigued by The Devil Wears Prada, tonight’s headlining band, since first seeing them in 2012 on the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival. Having the opportunity to see them again for the 2015 Mayhem tour, I knew I’d be an idiot to miss the chance to see one of their headlining sets.
The previous times I’ve seen TDWP live, I was fascinated by their bombastic energy on stage. Those of us who’ve never seen one of their headlining show before weren’t prepared for just how brutal the experience would truly be. Being towards the end of the tour, I was expecting tour exhaustion to kick in, but there was absolutely no fatigue to be seen.
For over an hour, TDWP thrashed a packed floor at The Slowdown. Circles pits crew massive as the band hammered through an intense 17 song set that touched on each of the band’s releases. The band’s heaviest tracks were highlighted on the No Sun / No Moon tour, with the focus being on cuts from their Dead Throne, and With Roots Above and Branches Below releases. The harmonious brutality of their music was brought with full attention to tonight’s show.
Each of tonight’s band, though categorized within the same musical genres, brought something artistically unique to the stage. Thankfully the metal community knows how to put together a memorable tour.
