“This is a wasteland, my only retreat.”
Pierce The Veil are a band that have stuck with me to a surprising degree over the years. While I discovered and delved into them initially in my sceenie weenie years around a decade ago, it’s actually been in the past few years that I’ve grown such an appreciation for the group. They were always a band I missed on tour, though, and either due to conflicting schedules or simply being too young to go on my own, I never managed to catch them. That changed this past Friday, where I saw the California post-hardcore titans play their first London show in over five years at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town.
Time flies, right? But clearly, despite that, Pierce The Veil aren’t intent on resting on their laurels, as their stage show is truly something to behold. Playing in a venue that, while not small as such, I figured they could sell out something twice of its size, the gig was relatively intimate for what I believe they could pull (see: their crowd at When We Were Young just shy of a month ago). The show was all the better for it, though, as thousands of eager fans got the opportunity of a lifetime to see Pierce The Veil performing a litany of hits and deeper cuts from Collide With The Sky, alongside their two brand new singles and some other cuts from across their discography.
I think their setlist here is emblematic of just how big of a time it is to be a Pierce The Veil fan right now. Feeling like not only an honorary ten-year Collide With The Sky celebration, but also a clear hype-builder for their first brand new album in almost seven years(!!!), there was a palpable energy of excitement and endearment within the crowd. It was a surprising mix of relatively older and newer fans, too, with some (much like myself) clearly attending in a bout of nostalgia, while some younger fans may have only discovered them recently. One thing is for certain between both groups, however – they knew the songs, they knew them well, and they sang them loud.
Supporting acts Against The Current and carolesdaughter did a good job of warming the crowd up, too, with the former of the two performing a fantastic cover of Taking Back Sunday’s all-timer “MakeDamnSure”. I will admit that carolesdaughter’s eventual slip that she was lip-syncing did take me out of the experience a bit, and that her stage set-up with only a bassist, but no guitarist as the guitar was regimented to a track, was a bit strange, but her personality and presence on stage outside of that was fun.
Opening with the iconic one-two punch of “May These Noises Startle You In Your Sleep Tonight” and “Hell Above”, the show was off to a roaring start. The piercing chants of “this is a wasteland, my only retreat…” almost overtook the band in a tangible moment of raw energy. These were followed by the introduction of newer single “Pass The Nirvana” which, while an admittedly different sonic foray for the group, absolutely brought the energy needed to get people moving. A heavy, punky and bombastic cut, it’s clear why “Pass The Nirvana” was the first pick from the group to introduce people to The Jaws of Life.
The set, of course, ran through a laundry list of now-iconic songs, such as the punchy “Bulls In The Bronx” and the heart-wrenching “Hold On Till May”, but one of the most electrifying moments of the night came with 2010 rager “Caraphernalia”. While the (expected) absence of A Day To Remember vocalist Jeremy McKinnon was felt, bassist Jaime Preciado did a more than serviceable job with trading off with lead vocalist/guitarist Vic Fuentes, with some help yet again from the energetic crowd.
The show closed out with scene anthem “King For A Day”, which saw the group pull out all the stops to make sure their send off was as memorable as possible. The impact of the track’s heavy bridge was bolstered by their use of smoke launchers that, each and every time they were used throughout the show, were met with an audible hype from the crowd. The song’s extended live outro, first seen at the aforementioned When We Were Young, made another appearance, too, as the band seem to have ushered in an instrumental outro to send off live shows in style.
Not only was each and every song on this setlist masterfully picked, they were masterfully performed too. To say this was a satisfying show for myself and others is an understatement, and I will go to my grave saying this: Pierce The Veil have proven here that they put on one of the best live shows around, and while their relative absence in the music world for the past five years has been tough, it’s wonderful to see they’re still on the absolute top of their game.
Pierce The Veil‘s brand new album The Jaws of Life will be available February 10th, 2023 via Fearless Records, and you can pre-order the record here. Don’t forget, too, that on the 11th the band will be hosting a Pop Up Shoppe in London, which you can find the details for right here.