Fight To Unite Tour, Seattle-WA

Fight To Unite Tour Seattle, WA.

The Fight to Unite Tour paraded its way through Seattle this past Wednesday. The parade metaphor is in no way an understatement, with 8 bands ranging from spazmatic death core, the often mentioned and always made fun of "Crunk Core", dance beat Vampires, and scene kids complete with light sabers and a foam machine, along with a band who's two principle members wear a Bunny, and Bear mask during their live show, Studio 7 looked more the macabre funhouse covered in cotton candy and bass beats than an actual venue. 

Upon Arriving a bit late to the show, William Control was about to hit the stage to the mostly packed house where you would be hard pressed to find a fan over the legs drinking age. William Control, The brainchild of Wil Franci (lead singer of Seattle's own"Aiden") hit the stage with an intensity, and passion that you rarely see for an opener. During his short, roughly 25 minute set, he was able to get the crowd to go unhinge Studio Seven. Laying down smooth goth vocals over hard house synth and a pounding bass beat, the crowd was pulsing like that of a London goth club. The set featured a well-rounded assortment of songs from his three full length albums including, his new single "Kiss Me Judas" of off his newest release " Silentium Amoris". The later album fully fulfills his three album deal with Victory Records so it will be sure what the future holds for his project. 

Following the full throttle set of William Control Baltimore's " Polka dot Cadaver" took the stage, an apparent amalgamation of System of A Down, and sporadic tech metal, the band lacked the necessary focus and edge to really capture the audience’s attention, being a virtually unknown band on a tour with some of the hottest acts in the current scene sort of put them in a position to have to win over fans, an act not easily accomplished in the ever trendy universe of the scene kid. 

The artist that was to come next was in and of himself a bit of a cliché, following his formation of Myspace powerhouse rap rock hybrid group "Hollywood Undead" rapper Producer "Deuce" took his solo act and made it his full time venture. When you take into account the band that he started was predicated on the success of a now defunct social network it was a bit hard to see him as more than a studio musician who has done nothing but release tracks and has never played live. To my absolute shock, Duce tore through a half hour set of aggressive rap rock hybrid material that seemed to be enough of a shock and awe for the kids that by the end of the set they were crowd surfing to get on stage a sight rarely seen for a rap artist. 

One of the most hated acts was up next, Brokencyde ran through an uninspired set of "Crunk Core" if they weren't rapping over sloppy rap lyrics they were screaming inaudible growls that sounded more akin to a poorly executed metal band. The worst part about it all was that last fall they sold out El Corazon and seemed extremely on point, somehow this set felt tired and labored as if they just really didn't care what was going on.

As the anticipation built for the Headliners, more staging was brought out; it’s not often for a small venue you see a confetti canon, foam machine, and enough LED lighting for a Vegas casino to be brought onto stage. Blood On The Dance Floor or BOTDF, are the collective brainchild of Dahvie Vanity and Jay Von Monroe. The pair were accompanied by a bass guitarist, violinist, female singer,and a live drummer, a nice touch being that they could have simply gotten away with tracking the instruments. During their hour long set, they ran through tracks such as "Looking Hot and Dangerous", "Bewitched", "Believe" and even gave fans a taste of the upcoming album "EVOLUTION" playing the track "Frankenstein". The set that at one point saw singer Dahvie riding an inflatable turtle across the fans was nothing short of a carnival. The band spoke a lot of unity, freedom, and empowering its fans who are known as the "Slash Gash Terror Crew" to be themselves and to cut out any negativity within their lives. No matter what you say about how "terrible" their music is, the plain hard fact is that this is a band who knows how to bring a live show that is visually and sonically interesting and really does go the extra mile when it comes to supporting their fans and giving them one hell of a live show.