ATTILA - The Asylum, Birmingham 16.11.2019
Fifteen years down to the road into the high life that is ATTILA's career, seeing them create the biggest moshpits warped tour has ever seen, redefine what it means to party hard and drop the weirdest songs about alien and pizza this scene has ever seen, and yet they’ve still got enough juice for another round-house tour of absolute chaos much like their recent UK adventure with underdog bad boys Sylar and VEIL OF MAYA.
Catching up with them on the first show of their EU/UK leg in Birmingham, the Metalcore power trio lineup kicked off with New York’s finest, Sylar. The Queens five-piece stormed the stage with their vivacious personalities bringing you their beloved Metalcore bangers that always have a refreshing modern twist, whether that be a rap verse or a sassy chorus like in ‘Shook’, it kept new-coming audiences captivated for the taste of something different. Admittedly, the audience didn’t warm so quickly to the NY collective but after brewing havoc with some lively tracks and an even more eccentric stage personality, the crowd were practically gnawing on each guitar lick near the end.
VEIL OF MAYA kept that buzz of energy surging through the air as they kicked off with ‘20/200’. VEIL OF MAYA shows are like an emotional roller-coaster, one minute you’re in your feelings to ‘Overthrow’ and the next you’re pounding into the breakdowns of ‘Whistleblower’ while shoving everyone around you. I appreciate that VEIL OF MAYA aren’t limited by genre, in my interview with guitarist Marc Okubo he explained that “our band can be polarizing” and they don’t want to box themselves in. This works to their credit as the juxtaposing energy and tones of each track bounces from one another creating a booming source of energy from the crowd.
At this point in the night all the steaming mosh pits had begun to open up, the alcohol consumption in the room was ungodly and the wraths of hell were creeping their way through the nooks and cranny’s. It took the sheer might of chaos and insanity that ATTILA is consumed by to unleash that kind of hellish nature amongst the crowd, dominating the stage with their track ‘Proving Grounds’ as every beer cup in the room went flying.
Frontman and Stay Sick clothing owner Fronz (Chris Fronzak) has an effortless talent of commanding an audience. His sarcastic and jovial remarks mixed with his charismatic personality make for a perfect stage presence because it separates ego from the artist, you feel like he’s just one of your crazy pals trying to have a good time. Their set list featured the best of their music chronology but didn’t skip a beat with some of their underrated hits, like ‘Queen’ for example, that one might skip past on an initial album listen but fares well with the crowd for its take on powerful women.
Brandished a ‘no rules’ concert by the band themselves, all kinds of insane moments pocketed themselves throughout the night and made it unforgettable. From the crowd chanting at the band to chug their drinks to Fronz throwing pineapple’s and pizza into the crowd for their track ‘Pizza’, any newcomer to an ATTILA show would walk away feeling like a new person. Despite their complicated online reputation you can’t fault the Florida four-piece for having a unique stage presence and interesting show that really makes the bang worth the buck (especially if it’s free pizza.)
Overall, I really enjoyed the show. I know ATTILA isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but judging just their live show’s only I can imagine myself hitting up another show when they return to the UK just for how exciting and unexpected everything is.
ATTILA - https://www.facebook.com/AttilaGA/
VEIL OF MAYA - https://www.facebook.com/veilofmaya/
Photos - Sam Robinson Photography
Review - Yasmine Summan
