It was Kansas City's turn for "The Below Tour", and with a sold out crowd at The Truman, the pressure was on to deliver a worthy performance. Since Dragged Under unfortunately had to cancel with a crew member getting sick and needed to be tested, it was up to Wage War and Beartooth to fulfill the crowd with their absolute need for live music, as the majority in attendance were having their first concert in almost 2 years.
To start the show off, drummer Stephen Kluesener came out to get the crowd excited for what's to come with a snare drum build up, then the rest of the members walked out to begin "Stitch", a fan favorite as everyone shouts "Pick it up!" in the intro. Immediately, the energy was already high and moshing began as the low guitar tones rumbled amongst everyone. The synchronization with everyone's movements on stage, such as slammed drum hits, dropped guitars and headbanging, really captivated the audience, and it was only the first song. Guitarist Cody Quistad’s vocals made an introduction into the set with "Who I Am" and "Prison", giving some hits off of their last album "Pressure", and it was incredible to hear that it's exactly like it is on studio recordings. "High Horse" was next, giving a taste of their new album “Manic” that will be released on October 1st, 2021. The energy was still high as hell as this track gave off older Wage War vibes and the crowd loved every second of it. Beartooth vocalist Caleb Shomo made a special appearance to join the fun and elevated everyone's excitement to a whole new chilling level. To continue the older style vibe, "Alive" and "The River" kept the momentum going with it's continued beloved breakdowns and screaming, both from vocalist Briton Bond and fans themselves. Bond asked for a circle pit before the latter, and the audience definitely delivered where those outside of it were recording the madness that was unfolding in front of them. "Circle The Drain" gave another taste of the upcoming release, giving a more "Pressure" vibe, and the crowd seemed pleased with it with their continued headbanging and jumping. An emotional atmosphere came up as Kluesener was belting the lyrics along with the Bond, and those emotions were followed along with "Gravity", as hands were swaying in the air for Quistad’s powerful vocal performance. To end the set, "Low" gave the audience one more high energy song and topped it off with chest pounding double bass as Kluesener was hitting harder than ever and all of the other members were jumping around the stage. Wage War definitely put on a show to remember and now the crowd was ready for some headlining action.
Imagine the scene: the venue filled with purple haze, high-pitched guitar feedback pierced through the speakers, lit-up screens illuminated the stage, and suddenly bass drum kicks started to echo the walls. This was what the audience witnessed as they headed into "The Journey Below" as the title track of their newest release "Below" began and everyone was instantly taken into riff city. With vocalist Caleb Shomo going crazy with his performance as always and the guitar tones shining through, it was apparent that Beartooth would be giving us an unforgettable night. Transitioning into "Devastation" had everyone continuing through "Below", giving the crowd a combination of a faster paced groove and a slower and heavier breakdown. Some of their older catalog including "Hated" and "Sick Of Me'' were next, giving fans some familiar excitement as 6, and yes that is six, crowd surfers were up in the air at one time during the former. They were also singing the loudest they have so far during the latter, and Shomo took out his in-ear and smiled when he heard everyone scream the lyrics back to him. The set continued back and forth between new and old material, as "Fed Up" and "Dominate" showed off more of what "Below" had to offer. Energetic riffs and insane breathing room during breakdowns such as "Dominate" where drummer Connor Denis was seen slowly reaching as high as he could for those intense snare bombs. A triple lineup of more older material kept the momentum going as "The Lines", "Beaten In Lips" and "Body Bag" gave the audience more "in your face" guitar riffs and breakdowns you can't help but headbang, throw your fist in the air and jump along to. "Hell Of It" and "Skin" gave the audience more sing-along moments during their choruses before taking a trip back to the previous album “Disease” with “You Never Know”, “Bad Listener” and the title track. Shomo took a minute before the latter to gather himself up near the drums and began explaining to the audience how much it meant that they were back to doing what they love and couldn’t thank them enough for it, which was an emotional moment for everyone. Fan favorite “In Between” kept the sing-along vibes going, so much so that the whole crowd continued the “ohs” after the band walked off stage. After they came back, “The Past Is Dead” gave the crowd one more song to have a unison jump along moment and sing their hearts out. It was a bold choice to end the set with the instrumental track “The Last Riff”, but it surprisingly worked out in their favor as the slow but hard groove musically left room for every member to physically let out any energy they had left out, as Denis could be seen standing up during his massive hits and everyone else jumping and spinning with a guitar in their hand.
Beartooth and Wage War melted the crowd’s faces off and gave everyone an experience to remember. “The Below Tour” is something worth witnessing and will leave you happily exhausted in the best way possible, as Shomo says it best: “I’ll be bangin’ my head ‘til my brain rots.”
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