Sleeping With Sirens Presses CTRL+ALT+DEL in Atlanta
The summer heat in Atlanta is somewhat infamous, even granting the city the name of “Hotlanta” to many, though locals have grown to despise the moniker. But the temperature wasn’t the only thing making Atlanta a hot spot this past week. The CTRL+ALT+DEL tour pulled into The Masquerade and brought with it Sleeping With Sirens, Don Broco, Point North and Garzi. With the show being sold out, the venue was packed with fans eager to take in the show. Did the artists disappoint? Keep on reading to find out whether we think so.
First up was Garzi, an artist who doesn’t neatly fit into any one particular box. The native of Miami meshes together a number of genres including punk, pop punk, emo, rap and indie vibes to create a sound that has been finding great success across much of social media. Including the platform that seems to be dictating much of the modern music industry landscape, TikTok. With a simple band composition of a guitarist, a drummer and the vocalist (a mixture which will be repeated with Point North) the group, led by its titular frontman put on an awesome show. Dreads flying and feet leaving the stage on multiple occasions, the band wowed the crowd, most of whom were unfamiliar with the act. After the standard first three songs, while standing out in the crowd, many people were overheard talking about how good the act was and how impressed they were.
Next up was Point North, a band which we’ve been lucky enough to cover in the past prior to COVID on another Sleeping With Sirens tour lineup. As mentioned briefly when talking about Garzi, the band is a three-piece, consisting of a vocalist, guitarist and drummer. The trio puts out an eclectic range of music spanning a number of genres and have even featured Kellin Quinn of Sleeping With Sirens on their song “Into The Dark”. The band’s unique blend of upbeat fusion layered with haunting lyrics about life’s struggles was met with a joyous reception by the crowd. Speaking of the crowd, by this point two large beach balls had begun to circulate their way around the venue. This fun and energetic atmosphere would continue throughout the night and during Point North, the first crowd surfers began to pour over the barricade. The group put on a stellar performance as was the case the last time we were able to see them and the crowd responded in kind.
Next to take the stage, hailing all of the way from the UK was Don Broco. To set up my impression of the band, I would like to take a moment for some honest clarity. As I do with many shows, I found a Spotify playlist of the tour and was jamming the playlist in the days leading up to the show. I will be the first to admit that, listening to the Don Broco tracks, I wasn’t 100% sold on their music. All of that nonsense can be set aside now having seen them live though. The band put on easily one of the most energetic and entertaining shows I’ve ever been witness to. Frontman Rob Damiani was a constant blur on the stage, constantly shifting his presence from side-to-side on the stage and seemingly constantly in a stance of bouncing. The music itself, like much in the rock and metal scenes are littered with observations from the band’s personal lives. A great example of this, which Damiani pointed out during their performance is “T-Shirt Song”. Damiani says the song came out of a popular tradition in the UK where, any time you hear the Baywatch theme song, you take your shirt off and spin it around your head. After a particularly dark break up and a tough emotional period in his life, while frequenting nightclubs, Damiani said that something as seemingly trivial as this helped to lift his spirits. The positivity and uplifting continued throughout the entire performance and the crowd gave energy in kind back to the band. I am completely sold as a fan of this act now and should you get the opportunity to see them live, make a mad dash to secure your tickets, you will not be left disappointed.
Finally, it was Sleeping With Sirens turn on the Masquerade stage. We’ve been lucky enough to catch Sleeping With Sirens live multiple times before so we knew ahead of time we were in for an amazing show. The band who emerged during the era of the emo titans have stayed the course and remained more than relevant in an ever-changing musical landscape. Much of this is likely able to be attributed to the energy that shines through each time they take to the stage. Whether it’s vocalist Kellin Quinn’s haunting vocals, guitarist Nick Martin’s crowd interaction or bassist Justin Hills streaking across the stage from side to side in a blur of energy, the show never disappoints. Going briefly back to Nick Martin, there was a fan in the ADA section of the show in a wheelchair and, when Martin realized, he handed a guitar pick to security personnel to ensure the fan received the pick and gave the man a huge smile and thumbs up. As the band broke into an acoustic cover of the popular Goo Goo Dolls song “Iris”, a marriage proposal even took place in the crowd (she said yes.) It was an evening filled with a magical energy and this should carry on through the rest of the tour. We can not emphasize enough, do not miss this tour if you have a chance to catch it live.
There are still a number of shows available for this tour so if you live nearby, get out there and secure your ticket:
Aug. 02 - Tempe, Ariz. @ Marquee Theatre
Aug. 04 - Los Angeles, Calif. @ 1720
Aug. 05 - San Diego, Calif. @ The Observatory
Aug. 06 - Santa Ana, Calif. @ The Observatory
Aug. 07 - Sacramento, Calif. @ Ace of Spades
Aug. 09 - Portland, Ore. @ Crystal Ballroom
Aug. 10 - Seattle, Wash. @ Showbox
Aug. 12 - Salt Lake City, Utah @ Depot
Aug. 13 - Denver, Colo. @ Ogden Theatre
Aug. 14 - Kansas City, Mo. @ Truman
As always, please feel free to browse around ConcertHopper’s website further and to check out our articles covering a wide variety of topics. Please also check us out on social media on our Facebook and Instagram pages. Life is a beautiful thing and music only adds to that beauty, take some time to get out and celebrate beauty and life with a community of like-minded individuals at a concert soon, it’s always worth the price of admission.