On Thursday, September 25th, the progressive metal band, Between the Buried and Me performed at The Ritz in Raleigh, North Carolina. This tour is to showcase their recent album, "The Blue Nowhere," which was just released on September 12th. Joining them on stage were tour mates, Delta Sleep and Hail the Sun.
Delta Sleep was the first to take the stage to start off this wonderful night of music. Delta Sleep is a math-rock band based out of Brighton and Hove, United Kingdom. Words cannot express how excited I was to see that Delta Sleep was on this amazing tour package. I have been a fan of them for many years, but this is only the second time I was able to catch these guys live. They are truly a treat to see perform! Their music has the perfect balance of chill vibes and excitement that this bill needed to kick off the night. They started off their set with "Lake Sprinkle Sprankle," which is a personal favorite of mine. All of the musicians in Delta Sleep are incredibly talented, but the drummer, Dave Morgan caught my eye the most throughout the entire set. That boy was putting in some WORK on the kit! While I wish that they could have played longer, the set that they played was a good selection of what I think of when I think of Delta Sleep, especially with them ending the set with "The Detail." That song is my go-to when I am introducing people to this band because it is a perfect representation of their sound! I really hope to see them back in the states again soon.
If you want to explore what Delta Sleep has to offer on your own, feel free to indulge in their top Spotify tracks below!
The next band on the bill was Hail the Sun, a post-hardcore band based out of Chico, California. I was not super excited to see Hail the Sun perform, as they are not my typical jam; however, I have to admit, they did perform very well! The crowd was extremely responsive to their performance. They sang along and moshed for the entire set. Their set consisted of some of their hit songs such as, "Human Target Practice," "War Crimes," and "Maladapted." Halfway through the set, vocalist Donovan Melero explained that they do not usually perform in costumes like they were for this show. The costumes were a personal request from their guitarist, Aric Garcia, as it was his birthday the day prior. Unfortunately, they had an off-day the day prior, so they had to celebrate at this show. The crowd seemed to thoroughly enjoy the set! Hail the Sun had an explosive energy, which was a great warm-up for the crowd before Between the Buried and Me's performance.
Hail the Sun will be releasing their anticipated new album titled, "cut. turn. fade. back." on October, 24th, so keep your eyes peeled for it to drop on all streaming services! In the meantime, check out the music video for "War Crimes," one of the singles from their upcoming album!
The night felt like it had just started, but Between the Buried and Me was there to top it all off. As I mentioned earlier, BTBAM is currently touring their newly released album, "The Blue Nowhere." I have been a big fan of BTBAM for well over 10 years now, but in complete honesty, they had started to fall off a bit for me in the recent years. Some of the recent works they have put out were just not hitting quite the same for me as some of their other albums did in the past. They came off as slightly uninspired and boring to me. I wanted to surprise myself with their new material, so I did not listen to the new album prior to this show. They performed a good amount of songs from "The Blue Nowhere," and man, were they incredible! The new material has that eclectic sound that I search for from this band. This show 100% revitalized my love for this band and made me excited to go back home and listen to the new album! I was not the only one that was enjoying the new material, as the crowd was lively and having a blast through the entire set.
"The Blue Nowhere" is the band's first release as a four-piece band since the departure of Dustie Waring. It genuinely feels like they have found their sound again with this release! Touring with them on guitar is the very talented Tristan Auman. He did a phenomenal job, as always! The set did not only consist of their new material, they worked in pieces from across the board of their discography. I was personally very excited that they performed "Extremophile Elite" from my favorite album, "The Parallax II: Future Sequence." They even performed an encore, which consisted of "The Blue Nowhere" where vocalist, Tommy Rogers hopped on guitar, and "Informal Gluttony." I cannot stress enough how fun this show was to see. There are so many ongoing tours with so many amazing bands right now, but please do not overlook this tour if they are coming to a town near you! I promise it will be a blast and a night you won't forget!
BTBAM will be touring "The Blue Nothing" through October 30th. Check below to see if they are coming to a town near you!
Additionally, don't be like me and wait to hear the new album. Peep the new release on Spotify below!
