The Neck Deep US Tour. I was feeling very excited for this tour because it felt like it had been a while since I’ve seen Neck Deep live and with a lineup as good as theirs. The wait for the show to start was a little longer than expected. Normally we’re all used to the first band coming on an hour after doors open, but we learned at the last minute Zero would unfortunately not be performing. The extra hour and half long wait was definitely worth it once the night started with Oxymorrons. They came out on stage with a burst of energy that I have never seen before. They jumped around on the stage and soaked up every second of it. Besides the fact that they were on this amazing tour with a bunch of amazing bands, they were especially excited for this night because they were finally playing the bigger room at The Complex here in Salt Lake City. It wasn’t hard to tell how incredibly grateful they were to be there from the smiles on their faces that never disappeared, and they blew out kisses to the crowd. The audience weren’t the only people amazed by their killer performance. All of Boston Manor stood off to the side the entire set cheering them on in between sets. When they wrapped up their set the two vocalists hopped off stage and walked up to those at the barricades and high-fived everyone and thanked them for being around to listen to their set. They were a group of some truly humble people, and I could tell how well they fit in the tour lineup.
Next up was Heart Attack Man, they had a crazy amount of energy that lasted all set long. It was one of the vocalists, Eric’s, favorite set of the tour. A couple of their songs were dedicated to a few people within the crowd. To anyone who had a birthday that day they dedicated Old Enough to Die, and to anyone who has seen them in the past they dedicated one of their old ones, Cut My Losses. This wasn’t my first time seeing the band but they’ve never disappointed in the past and they certainly didn’t this time around. With a couple of difficulties with sound they checked in to make sure that everyone in the crowd was able to hear them alright because they wanted to make a good impression on those who were first timer listeners.
I was excited to see Boston Manor for multiple reasons that night; for one my first time ever photographing them ended up being one of the few times I was unhappy with the results, mainly being my fault. The second reason being that I never grow tired of seeing Boston Manor live- every time I’ve seen them it feels like one of the first few times. However, this time around became the best performance I’ve seen them put on with the craziness that has gone on in the music industry lately. They called for a couple of mosh pits and circle pits throughout the set, but before starting songs they made sure to remind everyone to look out for each other.. If someone is hurt, they can’t shout to stop the show because they admit it’s hard for them to be able to hear with all the music and the crew talking in their ears so they wanted the crowd to throw up a sign for a time out so they can stop and make sure everyone is taken care of. They were excited to be back in Utah after being away for two years, they felt like they always had an interesting time during their stops here from that day being their first time they’ve ever rode around on scoots and a couple years back they saw their first dead body. Henry Cox, the vocalist, makes a show all the more entertaining with the banter in between from asking how everyone was doing and then laughing and stating, “I can’t understand any of you it all just sounds like gibberish,” he came up with a spontaneous experiment by having everyone shut up and asking for one person to talk, he knew it was a silly thing to try out because when he asked for one person to say something the entire crowd erupted. Just when I thought that Boston Manor standing stage side enjoying the set of Oxymorrons was enough, they took it up another level and brought them out on stage with them and the crowd absolutely loved every second of it.
The crowd was buzzing with excitement for Neck Deep. All of the openers had done their job well by getting the entire crowd upbeat and well energized for Neck Deep. Their stage setup was probably the best I had ever seen before. It felt intimate in a way with the bedroom display and little things that really brought it together. It’s nothing new for Utah audiences to hear from an artist that the elevation sucks and affects the singers the night of the show. Utah didn’t fail in assisting Ben Barlow the entire night the crowd was singing along and shouting the lyrics during December and A Part of Me so it was almost hard to hear Barlow himself. To really fit in with the whole bedroom vibe, Ben took a seat and the lights dimmed and it was just him and us having a little pep talk. He spoke about how the last two years were hard for everyone for multiple reasons, and that fighting has never done anyone any good. They wanted nothing but peace at their shows and for everyone to have a good time. What really sealed the deal with making this show extra special was that they played a song that they haven’t played at any other show and it was a special request from the crowd- they played All Hype, No Heart. It was one of the best shows that I have been to this year, witnessing the growth in venue for the band and them playing one of the biggest venues in Utah that night, it felt like they were playing a smaller and intimate room. Neck Deep truly never fails.
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