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Spiritbox Smashes a Sold-Out House of Blues in Boston! [Photos]

We were super-lucky to catch Spiritbox during “The Eternal Blue Tour” when they hit a sold-out House of Blues in Boston with After The Burial and Intervals.

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Spiritbox @ House of Blues Boston, photo by Nathan Katsiaficas

If you’re at all into music of the heavy variety and haven’t heard of Spiritbox by now, chances are you live under a rock. The group has taken the metal scene by storm, crossing over at times into the mainstream on network television and online social media platforms like TikTok. It was, therefore, no surprise that their first-ever North American headlining run sold out almost instantly. The “Eternal Blue Tour”—which sees the band supported by djent/progressive metal favorites After The Burial and Intervals—is in its final week now, but we caught up with the tour as it hit Boston’s House of Blues on April 29th to play before a completely sold out crowd.

The queue to get in stretched for a city block when doors opened, but the venue was pretty full by the time Toronto’s Intervals hit the stage. Led by frontman and lead guitarist Aaron Marshall, the band shredded their way through a set of progressive instrumental music that was a joy to behold. Beyond the sheer awesome musicianship across the entire band, the Intervals guys are just fun to watch–they’re so expressive!

Up next was After the Burial—a band that Spiritbox was out opening for in March of 2020 in Europe when the world locked down. And now, fast forward, it’s After the Burial, who is in the supporting role. Just goes to show what a rapid rise it has been for Spiritbox, but I digress—After the Burial never disappoints, and tonight was no different. Frontman Anthony Notarmaso was a whirlwind on the stage, hulking over the center riser one moment only to leap elsewhere, never missing a guttural note.

Highlights of their set included two of the first new songs from them in a while, “Nothing Gold” and “Death Keeps Us From Living,” as well as the older hit, “A Wolf Amongst Ravens.” As it’s a support slot, it makes sense that they would play mostly newer stuff, but the old-school ATB fan in me really wished they would’ve played anything off of 2010’s In Dreams… alas, I’ll have to wait for a headliner run from them!

At last, it was time for Spiritbox to take to the stage. While it’s their first time doing a headline tour of this magnitude anywhere, the band did not skimp on production. Their setup featured a massive LED back panel with custom-designed visuals corresponding to the setlist, a raised catwalk area in the middle of the stage for drummer Zev Rose, and, most visually stunning, a special translucent curtain that hung in front of the band for the beginning of the set.

Emerging to the song “Sun Killer,” the curtain lit up with mesmerizing visuals to accompany the track. This was followed by “Hurt You,” and “Yellowjacket,” the latter of which saw vocalist Courtney LaPlante joined on vocals by the newest member of the band, ex-As I Lay Dying bassist/vocalist Josh Gilbert, who had just been announced as being officially a member earlier in the month! It’s exciting to think of the new dynamics he may bring to the band!

The curtain fell, and Spiritbox continued with “Rule of Nines” and their brand new single “The Void,” which saw quite the crowd sing along, despite being such a new song.

The remainder of the night was a total blast. Spiritbox played through all but three tracks on their record Eternal Blue, with LaPlante sounding flawless, despite her battling a bout of bronchitis on this and the past several nights. A highlight of the remainder of the set was a particularly cheeky cover of “Hella Good” by No Doubt—I’m not sure there’s anything this band can’t do well! One can only wonder how they’ll top this tour next time. As the set drew closer to its end, Spiritbox pulled out the track many were waiting for with “Holy Roller.”

I’ve never seen the House of Blues this full, and never have I seen it stay this full until the very end of the night. The band closed the set with the beautiful and catchy title track to their debut full length, leaving many a satisfied fan to exit into the rain. If you missed out so far, you have just a few more chances to catch the band live on this run; the remaining dates are below. Your next chance after this tour to see the band will be on their recently announced run with Shinedown and Papa Roach.

Remaining “Eternal Blue Tour” Dates:

05/05/23 | Detroit, MI – Saint Andrew’s Hall
05/06/23 | Cleveland, OH – House of Blues
05/08/23 | Chicago, IL – House of Blues
05/10/23 | Minneapolis, MN – The Fillmore

Autumn 2023 tour supporting Shinedown w/ Papa Roach:

Sep 03: St Louis Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, MO
Sep 04: Kansas City T-Mobile Center, MO
Sep 06: Cuyahoga Falls Blossom Music Center, OH
Sep 08: Burgettstown The Pavilion at Star Lake, PA
Sep 09: Blue Ridge Rock Festival at The Virginia International Raceway, VA
Sep 12: Detroit Pine Knob Music Theatre, MI
Sep 13: Syracuse St. Joseph’s Health Amphitheater at Lakeview, NY
Sep 15: Ocean City Ocean City Bike Fest, MD
Sep 16: Camden Freedom Mortgage Pavilion, NJ
Sep 19: Gilford Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion, NH
Sep 21: Bangor Maine Savings Amphitheater, ME
Sep 23: Mansfield Xfinity Center, MA
Sep 24: Newark Prudential Center, NJ
Sep 26: Simpsonville CCNB Amphitheatre at Heritage Park, SC
Sep 27: Atlanta Lakewood Amphitheatre, GA
Sep 29: Tampa MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheater, FL
Sep 30: Hollywood Hard Rock Live, FL
Oct 03: Franklin FirstBank Amphitheater, TN
Oct 05: Rogers Walmart AMP, AR
Oct 06: Allen Credit Union of Texas Event Center, TX
Oct 08: Houston The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, TX
Oct 09: San Antonio Freeman Coliseum, TX
Oct 12: Phoenix Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre, AZ
Oct 13: Las Vegas MGM Grand Garden Arena, NV
Oct 15: Irvine FivePoint Amphitheatre, CA
Oct 17: Salt Lake City USANA Amphitheater, UT
Oct 19: Albuquerque, NM @ Isleta Amphitheater, NM
Oct 20: Denver Ball Arena, CO

 

When he's not out in the woods, clomping around in streams, or looking at shiny rocks, you can find our U.S. Managing Editor and contributing photographer Nathan Katsiaficas in the photo pit, covering everything from heavy metal to punk, alternative, indie, and hip-hop.

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