The freezing rain didn’t stop die-hard fans from gathering at Trees on Tuesday night to see four hardcore heavy-hitters. Up first, post-hardcore four-piece, Dayseeker took the stage. The stage went dark and frontman Rory Rodriguez appeared in a backlit spotlight. He started things off with a short solo before the rest of the band joined him. Their set felt super short, only consisting of six songs, but it was still quality and the crowd loved every minute of it. Rodriguez repeatedly expressed his gratitude that he felt to see the venue packed. They played through a few favorites such as “Sleep in the Sea pt. II,” “Sleeptalk,” and they closed with “Crooked Soul.” They definitely got the chilly crowd all warmed up for the rest of the show.
Next to the stage was the metalcore band from down under, Polaris. The energy in the crowd amplified as Polaris took over. Again, their set felt very short, also only six songs long. It didn’t feel rushed, but I bet the crowd would have loved to hear two or three more songs to make the set feel a bit more complete and satisfying. Lead vocalist, Jamie Hails was a lot of fun to watch perform. He looked like he was having the time of his life on stage as he encouraged fan participation and got the crowd moving around.
The next band, Like Moths to Flames, was warmly welcomed to the stage. The energy grew exponentially as fans cheered for this classic metalcore band. They got a slightly larger setlist slot, playing nine tracks. Their set felt appropriately sized, giving them time to play newer and older songs alike, and still giving Chris Roetter time to heckle the crowd and talk a bit. The crowd was super into this set as the amount of crowd surfers nearly quadrupled. The fans gave it all they had, yet still leaving some gas in the tank for the headliners.
After a slightly larger break between bands, the headliners, Wage War, took the stage at approximately 10:00 pm. They came out swinging with the first song off their newest album, “Who I Am,” and they kept this energy up through a huge 16 track setlist. They played through favorite tracks, such as “Prison,” “Don’t Let Me Fade Away,” “Low,” and they closed with “Stitch.” The energy from the crowd intensified as crowd surfer after crowd surfer poured over the barricade. Both vocalists, Briton Bond and Cody Quistad, were on point and sounded very polished. I don’t think a single person in the building wasn’t sweaty from moving along to the music and having the time of their lives – dancing, moshing or crowd surfing. These killers brought the heat back to a very cold and rainy Texas night.
– Lauren Frederick
