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    PIERCE THE VEIL & THE USED – June 6th Virginia Credit Union Live Amphitheater Richmond, VA (USA)

    Review and Photography by Mike Spencer

    PIERCE THE VEIL AND THE USED IN A CO-HEADLINING TOUR- Virginia Credit Union Live Amphitheater Richmond, VA (USA)

     

    Emo. Some people love it, some hate it, and some don’t really know what to do with it. But the genre has been around for decades, so it is safe to say that it isn’t going away anytime  soon.

    This show was a prime example of why it is still a viable style. Too many people can relate to the emotions and the lyrical content of these heavy hitters. But more on that in a bit.
    This was my first time at this venue. It sits adjacent to a NASCAR racetrack and is a 6,000-seat amphitheater. There were four bands on the bill, and it started early. Doors were at 5:30 and it was treated as a co headlining show and it wasn’t initially clear who was closing out the show.

    Then the lights go down, well, not really as it doesn’t get dark until 9 o’clock this time of year.
    The show kicked off with a three-piece band hailing from Los Angeles, California known as DeathbyRomy.
    They started their set leading off with their song No Mercy. They made it about a minute into the song, when lead singer, Romy Flores stopped the song as they were having some technical issues. These were corrected in a few minutes, and Romy used the time to speak out on equal rights for all people, which is a big issue in several places besides just Richmond, VA. Once they continued with their set which could
    be described as dark pop rock. Their set consisted of seven songs spanning about 30 minutes.
    Their set list consisted of:
    1. No Mercy
    2. I Feel Like a God
    3. Hate Party
    4. Even if it Bleeds
    5. Crash
    6. Hollow (Party Favor cover)
    7. Day I Die

    Next up on the bill was Bedfordshire, UK’s Don Broco. A show that started with dark pop was now


    moving into “in your face” rock and roll. Lead singer, no, Frontman Rob Damiani knew exactly how to get
    the crowd involved and his energy was contagious. This four-piece band is well on their way to bigger
    venues and ultimately headlong their own tour. The band consists of lead singer Rob Damiani, guitarist
    Simon Delaney, bassist Tom Doyle and drummer Matt Donnoley
    Their setlist had:
    1. Pretty
    2. Everybody
    3. Come Out to LA
    4. Gumshield
    5. One True Prince
    6. Bruce Willis
    7. T-Shirt Song
    At the end of their set, a curtain was raised to obscure the view of the stage. But being in the front of the venue, there were places where you could see the stage being set up and there were roses. Lots and lots of roses.

    That could only mean one thing. Next up was The Used. Having only seen them one time before, I was really looking forward to this set. They are an emo/rock/pop punk/hardcore band that has been around for a little over 20 years. They hit the stage, opening with 2004s, Take it Away…. Okay, so we’re going old school Used. They followed this with The Bird and the Worm from 2007. Okay, but this
    time, they had me. I was totally reliving the last time I had seen them live and the crowd was going
    General Information completely wild with this set and the direction it was going. And then that hard left turn came up and next on setlist was F*#k You, released last year. This is where lead singer Bert McCracken asked the crowd to go along with him flipping the bird to the band. They obliged. They continued on with a 13 song set that had the crowd. Those that knew them were just as impressed as those that had seen them for the very first time. It was a great trip down memory lane with some of their new material mixed in.
    This tour lineup consisted of Bert McCracken on vocals, Jeph Howard on bass, Joey Bradford on guitar and Dan Whitesides on drums.
    Their setlist was:
    1. Take It Away
    2. The Bird and the Worm
    3. F*#k You
    4. I Caught Fire
    5. The Taste of Ink
    6. All That I’ve Got
    7. Buried Myself Alive
    8. Giving Up
    9. A Box Full of Sharp Objects
    10. I’m a Fake
    11. People Are Vomit
    12. Pretty Handsome Awkward
    13. Forever Young

    All in all, after the hiatus and the changing of some members, then bringing them back, The Used are back and will continue to be a force in the music world.
    There are bands that really are a guilty pleasure to go see live. Not all my friends have the same taste in music as I do. I really am that person who says they listen to just about anything, and really do. I first became aware of Pierce the Veil when my daughter asked me if I’d heard of them, about 12 years ago. I gave them a siren and liked the catchy style of their music. I first saw them live on the now defunct Warped tour, and that sealed the deal for me. I’ve seen them about 15 times now. Their live show is one long sing along,   interspersed with dancing and I challenge you to go to one of their shows and leave not feeling like you had one of the best times of your life. It’s just good fun. They approach each show like it’s just them and you in  the audience. I have seen them at festivals, at small concert venues of a thousand people and the striking thing is that it is never the same show. All the bands Belford them this night had set the bar high for the headliner, and PTV took that seriously. By this time, it was dark outside, and the lights went down, and they opened their set with 2023’s Death of an Executioner, of their 2023 album The Jaws of Life. This album is by far my favorite from them. It was interesting to see the crowd change direction at this point. While The Used are a little more old school in the scene, the younger generation was here for PTV. They followed this with Bulls in the Bronx from 2012, before performing Pass the Nirvana and Emergency Contact for their latest album. At this point, it’s time for a little interaction with the crowd and to let the band members make changes to  their instruments etc.
    Lead singer/guitarist Vic Fuentes talks about how great it is to be in Richmond, how we’re the loudest crowd they’ve had on this tour, blah, blah blah but this felt different. The crowd was quite loud, by the way, but Vic is walking back and forth on the stage looking at those in the crowd on the rail, and trying to determine who is singing in’s along to their sings the most. At this juncture, he picks one girl from, named Geneva, and invites her up to join the band on stage. After getting a chair for Geneva, the band performs Hold on Till May for her and then she is ushered off the stage and then the band performs
    Southern Constellations. When they finish that song, Vic takes to the mic and asks if Geneva is still around, she is, and is brought back on stage. Vic says, that while singing a song for her will provide some General Information great memories, he wants her to have something to really remember this night. He kneels down and says, I want you to have this guitar to remember this night and hands it to her. Whether this was staged
    out not, there were not many dry eyes in the house at that point. They then followed this with The Boy Who Could Fly, Circles, Caraphernelia, and closed out with King for a Day. ALL in all, another great performance by Vic, Lead guitarist Tony Perry bassist Jaime Robinson and drummer Loniel Robinson.

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