Live: Haste the Day/MyChildren MyBride/The Chariot/A Plea for Purging/Dickey Hands

WAREHOUSE LIVE — 2/15/2011: In complete freak-out mode, I headed to Warehouse Live. Not only was I excited, but I was also late for the interview with Stephen Keech, Haste the Day‘s vocalist. To my surprise, however, it all worked out perfectly. After the interview was over, it was pretty much time for the doors to open, so we proceeded to enter.

The first band we saw on this mighty night was a local band by the name of Dickey Hands. When their set first started, I was really feeling it. They were easy to photograph, the music wasn’t crap, and they were local. But as they went on with their set, I slowly started to dislike them. Not because it was terrible, but because every song sounded the exact same. Nevertheless, they did a good job, and it was nice seeing a local band, something I don’t get to do too often.

A Plea for Purging was very intense, not only because they were “big Dudes” but also because they were pretty hardcore. Frontman Andy Atkins started out by asking, “How many of you guys out there are asking yourself ‘Who are those fat guys on stage?’ Well, we are Plea for Purging.” After that was said, it started to get wild — it felt like I was at a Metallica concert, with long hair swinging around like crazy. They played “Silent Sick America,” “Shiver,” and “Malevolence,” which to my surprise many people knew; I guess I was the only one out of the loop.

Since the show was in Warehouse Live’s “Studio” area, the photo pit was very small, and there was very little space between the me and the stage, so when Andy got up on the railing, his stomach slapped my face. As you can imagine, it wasn’t very pleasant to get a big belly full of sweat across my face. Overall, though, they were pretty good and entertaining.

The Chariot entered with full force, and chaos started right off the bat. The band has a reputation, a really wild one — not only are they known fo their music but for their performances. They were crazy, with members throwing not only themselves but instruments into the crowd, guitarists walking into the crowd and making things interesting for someone, people climbing things, and just absolute insanity. We all loved it.

Their set list included “The Earth,” “Calvin Mckenzie,” “Daggers,” “Policeman,” and “The City.” It had been a few years since I had seen them live, and I didn’t remember them being this great, but after this show, The Chariot definitely ranks among the best live performances in my book.

MyChildren MyBride was another band I hadn’t seen in ages. They took the stage and opened their set with “Terra Firma,” from their new album Lost Boy, then “On Wings of Integrity,” which they followed up with “Crimson Grim.” Vocalist Matt Hasting kept demanding more chaos, and he got exactly what he asked for. “Faithless” and “Boris the Blade” were next, and they definitely got the crowd pumped. They also played “Hooligans,” another Lost Boy track. To finish up the set, they played “Versus” and the very loved “Headshot!” They ended on an incredible note and played a great mix of Unbreakable and Lost Boy.

Last but not least was the headlining band that everyone was there to see and say “goodbye” to, Haste the Day. After being a family for 10 years, the band members decided to call it quits. Whether you had been a fan since the start in 2001 or had just gotten into them recently, you had to be there to say goodbye.

When they came on, at around 10:30, and started the set with “68,” the crowd responded well, but wasn’t too pumped up yet. That all changed with the next song, “The Place That Most Deny,” which along with “Blue 42” kicked in and cause a change in the crowd’s energy; those songs got a very good response. While crowd-surfing his way to the front, this random guy jumped on stage, ran to hug Stephen, then tried to jump off, but Security was waiting for him, so he ran back hugged him again, along with the guitarist. He then tried to jump back into the crowd, but it was too late, and he was escorted out.

The next song, “The Minor Prophets,” excited the crowd — while watching that one, fans weren’t in the pit, they were singing along (more like screaming) or jumping or head-banging. The set included other songs like, “White As Snow” and “Stitches,” as well as a few songs where the crowd had to decide which one they wanted. In the midst of all of this, Stephen gave the crowd a few words about God and love, saying, “Next time you get in the pit and someone punches you on accident, don’t be a jerk and punch them back.”

The rarely-played song “American Love” was next, and then all of a sudden everything went quiet, and we heard “On the count of three, I want everyone to scream ‘It’s time to party!'” Of course, everyone screamed in unity. A couple of other songs were played, and the show seemed to end with “My Name Is Darkness,” but after the lights went out, we could hear Stephen say, “How about two more songs?”

Now for the most anticipated song of the night: “Chorus of Angels.” The intensity of this song, the crowd, the love, and the music cancelled out any intensity prior to this one. People who hadn’t moved from their cozy spot all night went insane and jumped around. The dreaded closing moment was approaching, and everyone was already pumped enough to make this song memorable. “When Everything Falls” closed the night; what an amazing ending.

R.I.P. Haste the Day. END

Photos by Ana Pacheco.