Underoath
w/ Caspian
The Warfield
SOLD OUT
San Francisco, CA
March 28, 2016

Many people, such as myself, never thought that this day would come. Fans all around the world never thought that we would be able to read the words "Underoath Reunion Tour" in a sentence that was factually correct. We were confident that they were done.

But time is a funny thing. It can heal wounds. It can allow us time to reflect on life, our position in the universe, and where we stand on the matters in our own individual worlds. The Underoath guys had released countless albums, propelling them to the forefront of the metalcore scene, and it burned them out in the process. It's clear that they needed time off to be with the families they had begun while in the middle of their prosperous careers.

Three years had passed since their breakup, and a message appeared across the band's social media pages late summer: Rebirth Is Coming. Fans proceeded to completely lose their shit, sensing that only one thing could be on the horizon: the completely unexpected, yet expected, possibility of a reunion. Fans got their wish when Underoath shockingly announced that they would be doing a full U.S. tour in the spring of 2016, performing BOTH They're Only Chasing Safety and Define The Great Line, the two albums that truly defined the path of their respective careers, in their entirety. Front to back. No questions asked. I'm sure that many people wondered whether or not the show would live up to the hype. Could a show like that really live up to that kind of expectation?

Spoiler alert: it did. From the moment the band stepped on stage to the opening notes of "Young And Aspiring", the first track from Safety, all bets were off that this was going to be a normal and non-chaotic show. Underoath's return to San Francisco was by far the most chaotic show I've ever seen performed at The Warfield, and I'm saying this having been an avid attendee of that venue since 2009, in addition to having witnessed both Slayer AND Megadeth perform sold out shows in the same room within the past month leading up to Underoath's show. There were at least five crowd-surfers airborne at any given time. The crowd was shouting the lyrics and made themselves audible from the back of balcony during every song. Every person was standing; I didn't see a single patron sitting down in any corner of the theater.

This set proved one thing to me above anything else: Underoath are a very different breed of band. They came into the scene prior to the digital era, rose to prominence during the MySpace boom that millenial fans pioneered and took control of in the pursuit of new music, and dissolved shortly after the rise of the over-saturated era of social media. I say this to emphasize the fact that this was a special period of time: music fans weren't having an incredulous amount of content being thrown in their faces at every second of the day. There were distractions, yes, but for the most part we were able to really focus and hone in on an artist and their prospective work when it was presented to us. They're Only Chasing Safety and Define The Great Line came out at this period of time, and it's very clear when you watch the fans interact with the music. You can understand that the albums really are immaculate and deserving of the recognition in lyricism, musicianship, and songwriting that they've received over the years. Fans scream every single word. Underoath's show is a near-religious experience for any musician and fan of music.

If you have any opportunity to see Underoath perform on this current tour, seize the opportunity. You won't regret it by any stretch of the imagination. Even if you aren't a fan of metalcore music, find a ticket, go, and just watch the way that a devout crowd feeds off of six musicians performing music that has such a powerful effect on your state of being that even a simple online review can't put its effect into words.