August Burns Red @ The Palladium (Worcester, MA) on January 7, 2017 [Photos & Show Review]

August might burn red, but here in New England, January snows white. While our trek from Southern Maine to Worcester, Massachusetts’ Palladium would bring us across no less than 9 off-road drivers, we arrived to find a crowd undeterred by the weather outside. The 15 degree temperatures didn’t even prevent guitarist JB Brubaker from wearing his signature flip flops on stage. After all, this tour is a special occasion – the 10th anniversary of the August Burns Red’s Messengers, one of the defining albums of mid-2000’s metalcore, a style which doesn’t seem to be dying any time soon for better or worse.

The crowd, which featured as many young faces as it did older and nostalgic, went wild as the band took the stage and started to rip through the opener “The Truth Of A Liar”. August Burns Red seemed to be as excited to be playing these songs again as the crowd was to be hearing them. The enthusiasm was contagious, in both directions. Vocalist Jake Luhrs maintained an intimidating presence as he growled into the microphone and motioned viciously with his arms. Brubaker and Brent Rambler delivered their dueling guitar lines with precision, while bassist Dustin Davidson nailed both his bass lines and gruff backup vocals. Matt Greiner rocked the drums all night and then found the energy to kick out a boss drum solo before the band’s multi-song encore.

One cool thing about these 10-year anniversary tours that seem to be cropping up everywhere is that people get to hear the deeper cuts live, songs that the band never played live even while touring on that album cycle. What’s even cooler is that the audience always knows every word of these songs anyway – people were just as stoked to hear “The Balance” as they were “Composure.” Crowd participation was great on encore “Empire” off of 2011’s Leveler and, of course, they closed with fan favorite “White Washed”.

The tour runs until the end of February so, if you get the chance, make sure you get to check out August Burns Red on at least one of the remaining dates on the Messengers 10 Year Anniversary Tour.

Words by: Jacob Katsiaficas

Tour Dates:

01/11 – Detroit, MI – St. Andrews Hall
01/12 – Cleveland, OH – House of Blues
01/13 – Chicago, IL – House of Blues
01/14 – Milwaukee, WI – The Rave
01/15 – Minneapolis, MN – Cabooze
01/16 – Lincoln, NE – Bourbon Theatre
01/17 – Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre
01/18 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex
01/20 – Seattle, WA – El Corazon
01/21 – Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theatre
01/22 – Sacramento, CA – Ace of Spades
01/24 – Los Angeles, CA – Belasco Theater
01/25 – Santa Ana, CA – The Observatory
01/26 – Las Vegas, NV – Brooklyn Bowl
01/27 – San Diego, CA – SOMA
01/28 – Tucson, AZ – The Rock
01/30 – San Antonio, TX – Alamo City Music Hall
01/31 – Dallas, TX – House of Blues
02/01 – Houston, TX – Numbers
02/02 – New Orleans, LA – House of Blues
02/03 – Orlando, FL – House of Blues
02/04 – Ft Lauderdale, FL – Revolution
02/06 – Tampa, FL – State Theatre
02/07 – Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade
02/08 – Nashville, TN – Rocketown
02/09 – Richmond, VA – The National
02/10 – Norfolk, VA – The Norva
02/11 – Sayreville, NJ – Starland Ballroom
02/12 – Buffalo, NY – Town Ballroom
02/14 – Cincinnati, OH – Bogarts
02/15 – Pittsburgh, PA – Mr. Smalls
02/16 – Toronto, ON – Phoenix Concert Theatre
02/17 – Clifton Park, NY – Upstate Concert Hall