By Photojournalist Ryan Paul Marchese
Tuesday night Jannus Live hosted a killer mix of metalcore bands. The evening lineup included Windwaker, Invent Animate, Northlane, and The Plot In You. This lineup showcases metal music from the American Southwest, Midwest, and New South Wales and Victoria regions of Australia. Unforeseen events got me into the show late, but I was able to catch both Northlane and The Plot In You for the first time.
Making their way up from Blacktown, NSW Australia, Northlane incorporates a lot of experimental elements into their progressive metal. Influences from alternative metal, nu metal, and EDM can all be seen blended into their unique style. Their first track, “Carbonized,” exhibited all of these influences so well. Heavy bass, drum pops and synth accents accompanied by a powder keg of emotion provided by vocalist Marcus, alternating between hauntingly beautiful melodies and primal, aggressive screams. Songs from their setlist included more recent material like “Dante” and “Welcome to the Industry,” but also had the deep cut “Worldeater” thrown in as well. Northlane brought some striking visuals to the stage from Marcus’ high fashion style to the glowing drum pad and LED glasses of Jon Deiley. Throughout their performance, Josh could be seen stage left delivering jump kicks and thrashing around when he wasn’t shredding. Marcus took a moment towards the end of the set to ask the crowd who all had never crowd-surfed before. He encouraged their neighbors of anyone with a raised hand to make sure those fans were carried up to the barricade by the end of the song. It was a wholesome moment seeing fans of all different backgrounds come together, literally and metaphorically, lifting one another up, creating new memories.
Heavy smoke, multi-colored beams of light, and a backdrop depicting the singles series album covers (Vol. 1, 2, and 3) created the ambiance for The Plot In You to take the stage. Opening their set with “Spare Me,” they came out swingin’. The aggressive guitar riffs, pounding drums and heavy screams the Ohio-based metalcore band is known for were on full display. Fans sang along to emotionally charged and gripping lyrics like “Time has hit me different / I don’t feel the same / Know I feel this distance / But I don’t share the pain,” belted out by vocalist Landon Tewers that express the ups and downs of our relationships as well as the societal issues faced daily. Their set highlighted the singles that make up the Vol. series, but included a great sampling of their entire discography with tracks like “Paradigm,” “Closure,” and “Left Behind.” I’m a newer fan to The Plot In You, so this set was perfect for someone like me who hasn’t seen them live yet. Guitarists Ethan and Josh matched Landon’s intensity, headbanging and jumping around all over the stage. At one point in the set Landon asked the crowd to take their phones out, turn their flashlights on and wave them like we were back in the early 2000s, which lit up the courtyard. It was a fun show packed with lots of raw emotion. I’m glad I finally had the chance to check these bands out live in the intimate setting Jannus provides.
