The House of Blues exploded with energy last Tuesday night when metalcore band We Came As Romans brought their ‘Bad Luck’ tour to Dallas. With a stacked lineup including Currents, After the Burial, and Johnny Booth, I was very excited to attend this show.
Johnny Booth kicked things off with an absolute bang, wasting no time making their mark on the stage. Their set was one of the most chaotic and exciting performances I’ve seen in a long time, with band members doing spin kicks, throwing guitars up in the air, and swinging the mic cord around. The crowd quickly matched the band’s rowdiness, headbanging so hard I thought some of their heads might end up flying off their necks. As someone who has been trying to see Johnny Booth for years, I am happy to say that it was worth the wait, and I will definitely be checking them out again when they come back through Dallas in the future.
Johnny Booth
After the Burial took the stage next with a massive uproar from fans when the opening riff of “In Flux” started blasting through the venue's speakers. The band continued to receive a lot of love from the audience throughout their set as they played through many of their fan favorites. About halfway through their set, vocalist Anthony Notarmaso called for crowd surfers to make their way to the stage, which resulted in probably 25 people surfing to the front of the crowd. This was also my first time seeing After the Burial, and similar to Johnny Booth, I left the show with a new band to listen to.
After the Burial
After much anticipation, Currents made their way onto the stage. The band opened with “Living In Tragedy,” one of my personal favorites, and it was such an invigorating moment to witness. Like the previous openers, there was not a single band member staying still. Everyone was moving around the stage with style, jumping high into the air before breakdowns, spinning in circles with their instruments, and just looking like they were having the best time. Currents packed both emotionally-heavy songs into the setlist while balancing them out with absolute bangers like “It Only Gets Darker.” I had a fantastic time watching them tear it up onstage and look forward to seeing them again when they come back through Dallas in December.
Currents
Next was the moment everyone had been waiting for. We Came As Romans exploded onto the stage as fans' screams erupted into the air. The band played through many of their new songs that are a part of their currently unreleased album, along with many classics such as “Plagued” and “Darkbloom.” I was standing next to the mosh pit when the latter was playing, and as the pit opened up wide right before the breakdown, some kid ran into the middle and did a backflip right on the beat, and it was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen! The band ended up closing with my favorite song, “Daggers,” and it felt like the whole venue came alive. We were all moving and jumping along with the band and having the time of our lives. I left the venue that night very happy and very, very sweaty (definitely worth it though).
I had the opportunity to see and shoot photos of We Came As Romans a year ago, and it was one of my favorite shows to date. Getting to experience them perform live again was an amazing experience. They are one of the most energetic bands I have ever seen perform, and the fans that they have are truly some of the liveliest and sweetest people. All around, We Came As Romans shows are just a lovely thing to be a part of.
We Came As Romans
We Came As Romans
At the time of writing this, We Came As Romans still have a handful of shows left on their Bad Luck North American tour. The band will also be releasing their most recent album, ALL IS BEAUTIFUL… BECAUSE WE’RE DOOMED, on August 22nd. Based on the songs I have heard off of the album so far, I think it’s going to be an amazing record, so if you’re just as excited for it as I am, make sure you pre-save the link on Spotify before the release this month.
