Another one of my frequent visits to Broadway Joes here in Buffalo, NY was on Tuesday night when The Boundaries Tour stopped in. The package comprised of Rochester natives Sirens & Sailors, In Dying Arms, Mureau, and Stand Your Ground delivered boundless amounts of energy and brutal music to keep the bar rocking. Well, sorta. You see, every band of the night played the best sets I have ever seen them play but the audience was pretty lethargic most of the night.
In Dying Arms, being one of the heavier bands of the night, delivered gut busting gutturals and tried to wake up the crowd to no avail. The pit wasn’t moving and show goers only bobbed their heads while tapping their feet. Obviously, this isn’t the status quo for Buffalonians who normally go overboard and break things. Vocalist Orion Stephens was practically begging for some crazy antics during “Bathed In Salt” in the vacant pit but the audience clung to the bar and merch table areas. It’s called a hardcore show Buffalo, not a jazz concert.
Stand Your Ground of Tennessee claimed one of the best sets of the night. Regardless of movement, vocalist Brandi Pillow helped put on a crazy performance. Her screams were spot on and the crowd fed off her energy. Well, as much as they could. The band played “Betrayer/Deceiver” and “The Fearless” as well as a brand new song that will be on their upcoming album, slated to release soon. Naturally, Pillow became the center of attention for the six or seven females that attended. She truly is an inspiration to any female in the hardcore scene.
The Californian boys in Mureau delivered a set that actually started a mosh pit and the world’s smallest circle pit. The band bounced on the slightly dangerous stage (yes, it resembles a trampoline) and elicited more crowd participation with “California.” Vocalist Taylor Voeltz commanded the crowd to “get the fuck up front” and a few tentative onlookers scooted up front. Honestly, I think that Mureau deserved much more crowd participation than they received and look forward to their return to Buffalo. Hopefully.
Thankfully, the crowd woke up when Sirens & Sailors took the stage. People started pushing to grab for vocalist Kyle Bihrle’s mic before he handed it to someone else. A good portion of the crowd was piling on top of each other to scream “there is no remorse for the scum of the earth!” during “You and Die” from the band’s latest EP “Wasteland.” Bihrle and the rest of the band grinned as they garnered the most attention on the night. Plus, it was one of their first headlining shows.
Sirens and Sailors are currently writing a new album at Atrium Audio in Lancaster, PA where August Burns Red penned their newest album. According to Bihrle, the full length will be roughly 10-12 songs and they’re releasing another new single next month. This follows last month’s release of “Hold Fast” which will also be on the upcoming album. The band also has pending tours for the majority of the year and look forward to meeting new faces.
For Sirens & Sailors, Buffalo is the closest to their hometown of Rochester. A few of their fans from Rochester made the hour and a half drive to Buffalo just to see their boys play tracks such as “Mirror For My Medusa” from “Wasteland” in addition to oldie “Birthday Parties For Puppies” off their EP “Still Breathing.” Bihrle still can’t believe the support they get.
“There’s no place like Rochester, it’s my pride and joy,” Bihrle said. “The support we get is amazing and there are no words for it, you have to see it to believe it.”
After a chant for an encore, Sirens & Sailors obliged with “Now That It’s Over” complete with two stepping on the small stage. The band was drenched with sweat and still killed the last song of the night. Bihrle’s screams with guitarist Todd Golder’s cleans meshed seamlessly together and contribute to why this small town band achieved some of it’s biggest dreams in the past year.
Local support came from deathcore band A Future Corrupt and With Life Comes Death. Both bands were given rounds of applause but it seemed like the entire crowd was too timid to throw down for longer than 30 seconds. A Future Corrupt got low on stage during fan favorite “Captain America” while Life Comes Death took a different approach and combined melodic clean vocals with brittle screams and keyboard accents. As a constant supporter of the local scene, these two bands will be in my sights.
While a wish for more movement was the general consensus for the evening, the bands must enjoy Buffalo. After all, it was their second time here in a year. The turnout wasn’t at maximum capacity either but that didn’t seem to bother Sirens & Sailors.
“Whether we play first or last, to a sold out crowd or a small one, we give our all in every performance,” Bihrle said. “We owe it to our fans that keep us going.”
-Fe
