Hatebreed’s 25th Anniversary Tour
Hatebreed’s 25th Anniversary Tour returned to their home turf with a stop at College Street Music Hall in New Haven, Connecticut, home to the evenings raucous metal event. The metal party was a fitting congratulations for one of the largest bands the Constitution State has ever produced proving that Connecticut truly rocks!
New Jersey’s deathcore band, Fit For An Autopsy, opened the show.
Formed in 2008, Fit For An Autopsy released 4 albums in the past 11 years. Per their press release, FFaA is “for any fan of extreme metal, as it’s devoid of preachy politics or grandstanding soapboxing, but its sound and fury is absolutely unflinching in purpose.” Fury is certainly an appropriate adjective as they hit the stage hard with non-stop grinding guitars and growling vocals. This was certainly an appropriate opening for one of the biggest nights in Connecticut music history in a long time.
Long-time New York hardcore band Cro-Mags took the stage next.
For those unfamiliar, the Cro-Mags have gone through legal battles as of late. The version of the Cro-Mags that took the stage this evening was the version soon to be called Cro-Mags “JM”. This version is so denoted because of singer John Joseph and drummer Mackie Jayson.
Founder, bassist, and lead singer of the original Cro-Mags, Harley Flanagan will be hitting the road as Cro-Mags opening for the Misfits in Los Angeles in June. Shakespeare wrote, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” In this case, a Cro-Mags by any other name would sound as hardcore. They performed with a wild abandon one expects from a veteran hardcore band. Complete with Joseph’s frenzied thrashing about on stage that his time as an ironman triathlete no doubt prepared him for.
Los Angeles’ hardcore darlings, Terror took the theater by storm as they ignited Hatebreed’s 25th Anniversary Tour to the next level.
The band’s non-stop hardcore presentation kept the mosh pit in high gear. Scott Vogel, lead singer since the band formed in 2002, brought a level of enthusiasm that matched the audiences. Calling for the pit to kick it up and eventually getting out into the pit himself. One could tell that he was not just talking the talk, he IS hardcore! Terror has been prolific with 12-full length studio and live releases in 17 years and they show no signs of slowing down.
With a heavy grinding sound while shrouded by smoke and dark lights, set the tone for the next band on this dynamic bill, Obituary
Formed in 1988 in Tampa, Florida, Obituary is regarded as one of the founders of the death metal genre. Original members, brothers Donald Tardy (drums) and John Tardy (vocals) along with rhythm guitarist Trevor Peres and others have released 10-studio albums. While not as wildly energetic as their predecessors this evening, their music was well received by the crowd who certainly loved the death metal delivered by one of the masters.
Up next came the band who everyone came to celebrate, Hatebreed!
The crowd welcomed the hometown heroes tremendously and the band responded in kind. Lead singer Jamey Jasta was grinning ear to ear when not singing. Jasta took time to mention all those that helped the band throughout their twenty-five year history including local radio stations who played their music when no one else would and local venues who hosted Hatebreed shows when they were a group of unknown hardcore kids.
As with Terror, the mosh pit kicked into high gear as the crowd was moved by the performance Hatebreed was giving. The band welcomed former members to the stage and had them sit in to the delight of all making this evening a true celebration of a long and rich musical history. The second leg of their anniversary tour begins in May.
We at Music Madness highly recommend seeing Hatebreed’s 25th Anniversary Tour! You can find dates and locations…. HERE.
