August Burns Red at Ace Of Spades in Sacramento, California with Silverstein and Silent Planet

Written By | Kallie Herrmann

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When it comes to the scene of heavy music, there is one word that no matter who you ask, people can unite around it. Nostalgia. Harkening back to a time when you first discovered a band and had your mind blown by what you just heard. That’s exactly the mindset that the “10 Years of Constellations” world tour is all about.

The metalcore juggernaut, August Burns Red decided they wanted to play their entire third album from front to back with some hits songs such as “Mariana’s Trench”, “Whitewashed”, and “Meddler.” With the album coming out in 2009, it is a perfect album for the older audience to feel that sense of nostalgia and to introduce a newer audience to the album that some consider to be one of the bands best if not the best they have put out.

That brings us to Sacramento, California at the Ace of Spades, (yes, like the Motorhead song). A venue that is known to the local and surrounding areas as one of the better venues to play at in the Northern California area. The support for August Burns Red was going to be out in force, considering the last few years they have played Ace of Spades, the shows have all sold out.

Speaking of support this could not have been done without having a few supporting groups on the bill to help draw in more of an audience than August Burns Red already would.

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Their first support is none other than Silent Planet. Hopping on yet another tour after seeming to go non-stop since their inception, Silent Planet was a perfect fit for this kind of crowd. Bringing their trademark sound that can only be described as a mix between sermon like spoken word sections and hard hitting instrumentals, Silent Planet could not have fit better with a crowd getting ready for August Burns Red.

With song such as “Panic Room” and “Depths II”, their front man Garrett Russell delivers them not only in a way that feels like a preacher giving a powerful speech to the masses of people, but also with lyrics that speak to the people about mental illness and other various problems people face ranging from PTSD all the way to Bi-Polar Disorder.

Coupled with the drumming from Alex Camarena and the guitar work from Mitchell Stark and Thomas Freckleton. Silent Planet delivered an opening experience that not many bands today can deliver.

See More Photos of Silverstein Here

This led us to the only other support on the bill and that being Silverstein. Having been around for even longer than August Burns Red, the Canada outfit brought a completely different feel to the bill that must have been refreshing to the crowd.

Filled with choruses that got the inner emo kid screaming for everyone in the crowd was a site to behold. Giving the crowd a chance to build themselves up before the hard hits they were about to experience was a nice refresher for the crowd to have a chance to sing out and catch their breath before the real craziness began.

See More Photo of August Burns Red Here

This led us to the moment the crowd had been waiting for. Going back to that word nostalgic, the lights were dimmed and to get the crowd ready, Chop Suey! by System of a Down starts playing and gets the crowd in a frenzy before August Burns Red even takes the stage. After belting out lines about waking up, make up, fables, tables and crying when angels deserve to die, the moment has come for August Burns Red to take the stage and play “Constellations” in full for a sold out crowd for Northern California’s Ace of Spades.

With front man Jake Luhrs telling the crowd what album they were about to head, they launch into the first track “Thirty and Seven” getting the crowd headbanging, moshing, crowdsurfing, etc. The crowd never lost steam especially during the one two punch of “Whitewashed” and “Mariana’s Trench” back to back. Even after they finished, they still had more to play and the crowd never seemed to lose steam.

Thus this concluded the evening for the men from Pennsylvania and had them on their way to their next stop on their world tour that will continue through the majority of this year. Between the energy, lyricism, and vocal power of Jake Luhrs, the jaw dropping drum abilities from Matt Greiner, and the guitar mastery of JB Brubaker, Brent Rambler, and Dustin Davidson. August Burns Red, with the help of Silent Planet and Silverstein, delivered a night to Northern California that proved that all the bands were reaching for the stars that night.

 

Photo Credit | Kallie Herrmann