BTBAM, others make faces melt at Cool Tour

July 31st - Hollywood Palladium

Metal festivals rarely occur indoors and for good reason: metal is loud. They generally start early, end late, show off tons of talent from young and old bands, and always get better as the show goes along. The Cool Tour stopped at Hollywood on Saturday, July 31st, bringing with it a wide variety of music and ideas, although you had to get there early to find out. I previously complained about an un-metal start time about a prior Palladium show, but opening the doors at 4:00pm is just cruel. The north end of El Centro Avenue told the story, with liner buses filling up both sides of the street like an Ozzfest parking lot.

War of Ages started with a strange blend of cohesive standard and melodic standard-core. There was not an obvious flaw within their music, but the sound never pushed a limit or barrier. The bassist was set on slapping his guitar like he was challenging it to a duel. It evoked a marriage of P.O.D. and Killswitch Engage and, but never set the band apart from a myriad of similar acts. While it was executed well and represented the band truthfully, it was as good as an opener of an eight-band bill should be.

Cancer Bats from Toronto gave it their best go right after, and it was right after as the set breaks were a crisp five minutes. Guitarist Scott Middleton looks like Zakk Wylde’s child, but was sadly not as good. This band had a punk edge that took the crowd off guard but gave it their all for 25 minutes. The highlight was a cover of “Sabotage” by the Beastie Boys, which contains one of the most punishing bass riffs in recent memory. The normally rapped track sounded great with some metal behind it. Their own songs, from the excellently named “Bears, Mayors, Scraps and Bones, “ shows off their brutal and energetic contribution to the Cool Tour. When the singer said “If you like headbanging and spitting in your best friend’s face, this song is for you” the show exploded and cemented their position in the lineup.

UK rockers Architects told us to “jump around like you’re at a f***ing Limp Bizkit concert” but had a clever title in “Numbers Count For Nothing.” Their style was an odd mix of time changing drum patterns with constant, drawn out screaming. The guitars do backflips and then switch to machinegun riffs. It oddly works, even with the occasional keyboard arpeggio. They were definitely the stand out act of the undercard, and the crowd showed their interest when the singer requested (and received) a circle pit for their final song.

The tragic theme of the younger bands was a constant need to tell the audience to put their hands in the air. If your music doesn’t put my hands in the air, you have failed. Telling me to do it only reminds me that you haven’t inspired any sort of response from me and maybe we should focus on that instead. It’s tough to be on a big bill and play at unusual honor of the day (not even night yet) while trying to pump up the fans that got their early. While not the best position to be in, you find some hidden gems at these large shows that give tiny bands a spotlight to the fans of the large names. Without this, nobody would learn about any good music and life would suck.

The main event started with Acacia Strain, who had two large, very ominous, portraits of Vigo the Carpathian, the villain from Ghostbuster’s 2. This was an awesome first impression for those unfamiliar with the band, as they tend to blend a bit of ominous satire within their unholy lyrics. The music feels excavated out of the nearby La Brea tar pits and has gotten laser precise over their career. This newer Acacia Strain is has learned some of their more successful counterparts and have definitely raised their playing level, live and on album. Their set was a powerful thirty minute grenade that concussed a previously dull crowd.

It’s so metal when bands say “To hell with punctuation!” which apparently the ladies like, as Arizona’s blessthefall hit the stage to a chorus of female fan fervor. The singer for Acacia Strain did describe them as a “bunch of hot dudes” but forgot to mention how lukewarm their music was. Ripped from the Chiodos and screamo bands of this past decade, the act was contrived until some solid harmonics occurred from their main guitarist. Besides that 30 second interval of excellence, the playing was an uninspired and their slot on this bill felt strange. When the singer’s microphone cut out during their set, relief washed over me until it was fixed.

The stars of the show, at least for me and many around me that were chanting “BTBAM!” was Between the Buried and Me. The North Carolina quintet has developed a complex brand of brainy metal, something the unwashed masses can enjoy but those that care to dive deep will find genius filled in every hole. Four songs filled 45 minutes, including “Obfuscation” from their new album The Great Misdirect and the closer to their previous album, “White Walls.” The latter is a 14 minute triumph of songwriting that bends and turns every two minutes down new avenues until it reaches a precipice of excitement, accentuated by vocalist Tommy Rogers and guitarist Paul Waggoner. Blake Richardson, on drums, rivals his counterparts in Mastodon and Lamb of God for best drummer in metal by weaving fills and anti-fills in and out of nearly every stanza. Their live show is encroaching on Tool’s territory with a stellar combination of existential music and entrancing lights. Given a larger budget and more room to breathe, the BTBAM experience could become larger than any metal tour they’ve played.

The mature tempo set by Between the Buried and Me continued with Underoath, a grown up version of a band with a lot of talent. This tour kept its diversity consistent with the soft again, tough again styles of the Tampa rock band. The crowd had filled in considerably by their 9pm start time and gave the band plenty of love although their minds may have still been blown from the Between the Buried and Me set. The set list ran from the newer stuff to a few older songs, but everything seemed to go over well with the crowd. The group has eclipsed their own success album after album, and their draw to this show was evident in the

I did not stay for the entirety of the headlining set, because as good as As I Lay Dying might be, they are not as bad as dealing with a ton of drunk and angry people leaving Sunset Boulevard at the same time. They appeared to cement this tour as an excellent idea that should return in the future. The Cool Tour turned out to be a fantastic cross section of popular and soon-to-be popular bands in the metal world. Bands were selling their albums, new and old, for only five bucks and merch in general was not as pricey as most shows. Metal tends to treat its fans very well and this tour was no exception. Look for all of these bands to get better and bigger from here on out.