Parks And Devastation Tour Rips Through The Oakdale Theater in Wallingford, CT
On September 10th 2014, The highly anticipated Parks & Devastation Tour made its way into The Oakdale Theatre in Wallingford, CT which is the 5th tour date on this 20 date tour with an epic lineup of bands which included headliner A Day To Remember, co-headliner Bring Me The Horizon, & two fantastic bands to get the fans energy levels boosted; Chiodos, & Motionless In White. The Crowds began to lineup outside the venue around 3:30pm everyone from VIP - general admission attendees. The crowds growing rapidly as the time got closer to the time doors were opening which was at 5:30. The Crowds then flowing into the venue at about 5:30 sprinting to their seats & to grab the best spots in the pit.
The night started off on a Dark Goth/Metalcore band; Motionless In White from Scranton, Pennsylvania & currently signed to Fearless Records started the night off with their heavy 7-song setlist which started off with “Immaculate Misconception” as they hit the stage to begin their performance. MIW with a unique stage appearance with their painted black skin, powdered hair, & dark haunted music playing to introduce them onto the stage. As not many were yet there to watch MIW, they performed as though they were in front of thousands, they put on a killer set and began to get the crowds moving & amped up for the headliners on this tour. Continuing their set with “Devil’s Night” & “Reincarnate”, which is the title track off their upcoming album to be released on September 16th 2014 (Listen Now! - http://motionlessinwhite.net/stream), which got the crowd pumped! Ending their very dark metal set with “Dark Passenger” “If It’s Dead, We’ll Kill It” “Abigail” & “America” to finish off their set.
Next up to the stage is Chiodos an American Post-Hardcore band from Davison, MI currently signed to Razor & Tie taking control of the stage with a very powerful & energetic 6-song set with a great mix of songs for every Chiodos fans old to new. Frontman Craig Owens literally had taken the crowd by control & pulled all attention to the stage even if they weren't a Chiodos fan they were watching! Starting off their set with an older song but a great song “The Undertaker’s Thirst For Revenge Is Unquenchable. (The Final Battle)”, & “Thermacare” along with continuing into the next few songs “Ole Fishlips is Dead Now” & “3 AM” which were off their newest album “Devil” which was released back in February 2014. Chiodos kept the crowds engaged with their very high energetic performance & Craig Owens staying close the crowd grasp onto the barricade as he sang a fan favorite song “Baby, You Wouldn’t Last A Minute on The Creek” to complete their set for the night.
After a few moments of preparations to set up the stage for the hyped Rock/Metal band from Sheffield, UK currently signed to Epitaph Records; Bring Me The Horizon. Bring Me The Horizon hit the stage after the amazing spiraling of circles spun throughout their backdrop as it formed their Sempiternal logo, the band then flashed out onto the stage into a very popular song “Shadow Moses” off their latest release Sempiternal which was released back in 2013 which made up most of the songs on their setlist. Frontman Oli Sykes has a voice like no other, a very unique vocal range which is a part of Bring Me The Horizon’s unique sound, Along with the bands unique style of music which the band creates very unique melodic beats for each song which doesn't sound similar to any other band. Oli also brings his all to the stage, with his emotional feels throughout their set kneeling on his knees during some songs. Bring Me The Horizon’s fan base was definitely present as literally just as they hit the stage and the first beats to Shadow Moses dropped the crowd surfing began, BMTH seems to have the power to just pull all of the fans up to crowd surf, along with causing an insane amounts of circle pits throughout the very high energetic crowd. BMTH is definitely an incredible addition to this tour. Although BMTH has the abilities to headline shows which I've attended multiple of, they are so much better to pump up the crowds for a headliner as it seems like its just instinct to start going crazy and becoming real energetic to the amazing beats & sounds of Bring Me The Horizon, which is an amazing band that you should check out on tour if you haven't yet, if you get the opportunity to see them go see them, trust me their worth every penny & you will appreciate the show so much! Ending their set with “Can You Feel The Heart” & “Antivist” which got the crowd absolutely insane with their Middle Fingers Up!
Finally, after a 30 minute set change the most anticipated band of the night, the headliner is ready to take the stage. As the lights faded to black the stage then lit up with a red tent, & a campsite backdrop with nature sounds and birds chirping. The campsite then fading to black as the face sculptures of Jeremy Mckinnon, Joshua Woodard, Alex Shelnutt, Neil Westfall, & Kevin Skaff appeared carved in the background on Mount ADTR. The red tent dropped to reveal drummer Alex Shelnutt, as the rest of the band then entered the stage with a burst of colorful confetti to “Downfall Of Us All”. A Day To Remember, a hardcore band from Ocala, Florida who are known to bring the noise & put on an incredible & very elaborate stage production for each and every tour, with a unique name & stage setup for each tour. As all of us know House Party Tour was a tour to remember, that we thought would be hard to compare to but once again A Day To Remember blew our minds with an amazing production on stage which looked as though you were on a campsite with a lit campfire burning in front of the SJC drum kit, mount ADTR, trees, grass & rocks for their risers. The eyes on each member on the sculptures of them on the mounted changing throughout their set along with their faces changing facial expressions made for a unique backdrop. Starting the set off with “2nd sucks”, “Right Back At It Again” “City Of Ocala” “I’m Made of Wax, Larry, What Are You Made of?”, & “Monument” before entering into “Violence (Enough is Enough)” which got the crowd going harder then any point of the night. Their 19 song setlist was a very wide range of their music ranging from older music to newer music off their latest album Common Courtesy which they self released after a dispute with their record label Victory Records back in October of 2013 which was an amazing album & if you haven't listened to it yet, you should go grab it and give it a listen. Along with the mind blowing set ADTR puts on with their music/productions, an added entertainment thats quite funny at times if the onstage antics between the band members, from slapping each other around, Jeremy laying on the stage as Kevin & Josh jumped over him, Kevin & Jeremy covering some songs from other bands, random hilarious statements they say when talking to each other on stage, & Neil leading the crowd in dance to the “Macarena” by Los Del Rio which lead into the next song “Homesick” which Jeremy Mckinnon then entered his infamous hamster ball to run/crowd surf on top of the crowd with which seems to be a crowd favorite. Ending their set with “All I Want” or what the crowd thought was ending their set anyway. Exiting the stage after All I Want and the stage fading to black to appear their set was over. As the crowd began chanting ADTR and ONE MORE SONG, A Day To Remember reentered the stage for not one but three more songs with they began with a slower acoustic song “If It Means A lot To You” before picking it back up with “All Signs Point to Lauderdale” & ending their nearly 2 hour long incredibly mind blowing set with “The Plot To Bomb The Panhandle” which they have confetti burst out at the first breakdown and expressing to the crowd that this is their last time to go crazy which they did.
Overall, Parks & Devastation Tour is definitely one of the most anticipated and more then likely will be labeled as the “Best Tour of the Fall”. All the bands far exceeded our expectations by 1000% & If this tour rolls through your area or the bands do on a headliner/solo tour get out and see them, Trust me you wont be disappointed, you will just leave with your mind blown! Below are a list of remaining dates on this tour, along with links to view the full set lists from our show date.….
Setlists
CHIODOS - http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/chiodos/2014/toyota-oakdale-theatre-wallingford-ct-4bcf875a.html
