Beautiful weather and a new host site for Sweetwater Brewing’s annual rite of Spring brought Atlanta crowds to Pullman Yards. For a $10 donation to Waterkeeper.org, fans got general admission access to a stellar lineup including headliner Gov’t Mule, recent Grammy award-winning duo Larkin Poe, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Andy Franco and the U.N. and relative newcomer Connor Clark & Blue Rhythm Revival.
“Seeing Red,” a recent Architects single, is an interesting way to start a set. It’s a great song and rocks hard, at the same time poking at fans that can’t stomach a favored band that is gradually changing their sound. And, the setlist shows it, heavily favoring For Those That Wish to Exist and other recent releases that move from the heavy screaming and guttural vocalizations common to the genre (“blegh”) to catchier songs that hint toward arena rock but clearly are not.
Some notes: “Black Lungs” has a great chorus and screams, “Discourse is Dead” begs a worldview that isn’t as clear as it seems, “Dead Butterflies” = awesome guitar riff, and “Little Wonder,” to the aggravation of hardcore fans, is pretty catchy with a pulsing bassline.
The staging was awesome, a two level set with LED boards facing the audience of constantly changing images. This also freed the stage of clutter and gave Sam all the room he needed to move and create energy with the crowd.
Like each of the other bands, Sam made it a clear point to appreciate the fans who come out to hear live music, given the cost or the wide variety of things to do. Gratitude keeps music heroes real. And, of course, he earned unneeded extra points showing off his Braves “Carter” jersey. Oh, and the last four songs. Who could ask for more?
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Of Mice & Men covered a healthy range of their material, from their debut in 2010 to Tether, released in 2023. While their style is changing as well, singer Aaron Pauley, like Architects’ Sam Carter, has to contend with fans who preferred his predecessor’s. Sometimes, fandom sucks when change happens. The band sounded tight, Alan Ashby’s solos shone, the riffs are always great, and Pauley did a great job with all the songs and engaging the audience. The crowd surfing began in earnest for the night, with hints of the mosh pit that would come later for the headliner. Like each band, their closer, “Second and Sebring,” was a highlight.
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By singer Lawrence Taylor’s admission, their job was to get the audience pumped for what was to come. It wasn’t a tough job, but a 7PM weekday start in Atlanta means a late-arriving crowd.
For what on paper would be a killer lineup of metalcore bands, WSS shared a similar trait to the bands that would follow being less “heavy” than they were years ago with cleaner vocals, criticized for not remaining the band that fans want in some ways, while praised by others for trying something different, namely a lean towards the dreaded “mainstream.” Whatever. They rock and put on a great show. Taylor roams the stage, engaging the crowd as he should, encouraging crowd surfing and walking on top of the crowd itself.
“You are We” has a great lyric, joining the audience and band together (almost the opposite of Architect’s “Seeing Red”), “To the Flowers” had some interesting guitarwork, and closer “Systematic” just crushes.
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