It was a metalcore Halloween this year at The Echo Lounge; Australian legends Polaris brought along Currents and Varials for a night to remember. They had a few surprises of their own through the night, but not before the crowd also came prepared in various costumes, ranging from spooky attire with vampires and ghosts to pop culture icons such as superheroes and musicians.
Varials brought a classic movie to life on stage dressing up as Willy Wonka and the Oompa Loompas, and vocalist Mitch Rogers seemed to use that to his advantage to bring a unique performance. I didn’t know a lot of this band coming into this show, but the crowd reaction felt like they were welcomed and excited to see them up first. The energy they brought and helped the audience bring out themselves really set the tone for the rest of the night. The front row already banging their heads in unison, mosh pits already filling up a chunk of the floor behind them, and the band using that energy to feed it back into their craft. Something that I love about concerts is that even though the audience needs this group healing experience, most of the time, the artists need it just as much as they do.
Currents were up next, and even though they weren’t in unison with their costume choice, it was still entertaining with everything from a witch to one of those gigantic inflatable chickens being worn. Immediately diving into their newest record, Living in Tragedy began their performance on an aggressive tone with one of my personal favorite breakdowns of the year to come out. Followed by two more from the same release, Remember Me and title track The Death We Seek continued to give both newcomers and returners to the band some fresh music that they probably hadn’t seen live yet if they didn’t get a chance to catch their summer tour (including me). The band seemed to step it up a notch against the performance of Varials musically, but that may be because I had already known their music beforehand. Either way, both bands set up a perfect atmospheric level that any headliner could now use to their advantage.
For Polaris, it was a bittersweet moment getting to witness them again. I was fortunate enough to catch their tour last year, and unfortunately Ryan Siew wasn’t with them. Now with his passing, it was almost like a mourning feeling in the air amongst the crowd, which then turned into a celebration moment for the entirety of the show to embrace the legacy he left behind. Starting off with the first song Harbinger on their new album Fatalism, it was exactly how I thought their set would open: vocalist Jamie Hails coming on stage alone to gradually bring the energy up before everyone else joined him on stage for the big drop. For their set, it was with fitting Texas attire with everybody, crew included, decked out in Buc-ees onesies. Following along with the new album was Nightmare and then fan favorite Hypermania, both of which brought the energy to an all-time high. With guitar riffs and classic breakdowns to get everybody jumping and filling the room with circle pits, the legacy Siew left behind was felt through every person in the room, including the band. Sing-along moments such as With Regards, Lucid and Overflow had the atmosphere filled with screams from the crowd, some as they crowdsurfed to the front for that intimate connection. After the latter, Hails gave an emotional speech before Martyr (Waves) to talk about the appreciation for the love and support after Siew’s passing, which led to the crowd chanting “Ryan” to further reassure their support. Afterwards, a detail I loved is the continuous transition into Parasites which was a simple repeating sample gradually increasing the calmer tempo to the upbeat chaos that was about to unfold. Simple things like that scratch my brain with the extra effort a band goes on to provide a memorable show for everyone attending. For their encore, it almost felt like a callback to their last US tour that started with Pray for Rain in a similar feeling that Harbinger does. Ending with that and The Remedy closed out the night as Hails came on the barricade and crowdsurfed himself. Fans erupted in cheers and screams as they threw hand hearts in the air to signify this was a Halloween they will never forget.