Aug 10

Aug 10 Show Review: Sleeping With Sirens Bring Sold-Out "CTRL-ALT-DEL" Tour to Sacramento

Sleeping With Sirens
‘CTL+ALT+DEL” Tour
w/ Don Broco, Point North, Garzi
Ace of Spades
Sacramento, CA
August 7th, 2022

Photos and Review by Jared Stossel

I have now seen Sleeping With Sirens perform a live show on every album cycle since their debut With Ears To See and Eyes To Hear. For the last twelve years, I’ve watched this band go through a number of changes, whether it be lineup rotations or evolutions in sound with albums like Madness and Gossip. For a period of time, it felt like Sleeping With Sirens were trying to shed their “scene” image, trying to get away from being lumped in with the type of music where they first got their start. Since the release of 2019’s How It Feels To Be Lost and their upcoming Complete Collapse album, the five-piece act have found themselves embracing the past while continuing to push themselves forward in new musical directions. This cohesion of sounds was on full display this past Sunday at Sacramento’s Ace of Spades, where the band headlined a sold-out show on their “CTRL+ALT+DEL” tour. To date, it is the most vicious and intense show I’ve ever seen Sleeping With Sirens perform, and I was filled with an immense amount of joy as I watched this

The show was opened by three acts of varying genres, yet all shared the same form of intensity and passion in their work. I actually had a chance to see GARZI, the tour’s first act, back at Goldfield Downtown when he opened up for Zero 9:36. In my review, I noted that he only performed to a backing track, as his band was unable to join up with the tour, leaving him to perform by himself each night. I thought this took a lot of guts, but I could tell solely by his stage presence that his performance would be next level when he had a band backing him. I’m happy to report that I was right, as his energy was only further elevated by the musicians on stage. GARZI doesn’t have a plethora of material at the moment, but he performs every song like he’s a headliner, and that’s going to go a long way.

GARZI’s set was followed be an endearing performance from Point North, an up-and-coming rock act that combines alternative with pop, metal, and a touch of the theatrical. They raised the bar even higher for all the acts coming to the stage that evening, putting on an excellent performance. The scene stealer of the evening was Britain’s newest export Don Broco. It’s hard to pin down exactly what specific subgenre that Don Broco falls into, so I feel like it’s easiest to just call them a rock band. You feel like you’re getting a workout as you watch them traverse through song after song, and they’re a joy to watch. My personal favorite moment of their set? “Bruce Willis”, which features a chorus comprised solely of “Yippee-ki-yay mother-“…well, you know how it goes.

Sleeping With Sirens opened their headlining set by barreling headfirst into “Break Me Down”, one of their best songs in years and an electrifying set opener taken from their How It Feels To Be Lost album. The heaviness of the band is in full force here, and vocalist Kellin Quinn’s screaming has never been better. The energy was elevated even further with the mosh-inducing “Kick Me”, followed by “Leave It All Behind”. After about nine heavy-hitting songs, the band transitioned to an acoustic section which found them visiting tracks from the fan-favorite If You Were A Movie, This Would Be Your Soundtrack EP. Fans squealed as they performed “Scene Five – With Ears To See and Eyes To Hear” and (surprisingly) “Scene Two – Roger Rabbit”, a track that I haven’t heard them play in years. They even through in a pretty nice cover of the Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris” for good measure.

To my absolute shock and surprise, the band closed out their set (pre-encore) with “If I’m James Dean, You’re Audrey Hepburn”, and I can’t explain how thrilled I was. Obviously, their songwriting abilities have gotten far better over the years, but there’s something about that early era of bands on Rise Records and the “Risecore” era that was so much fun to experience: the breakdowns, the high-pitched vocals, the clothing! It made me happy to see the band embracing that era of their catalogue, not running away from it. They closed the show out with two of their biggest tracks, the epic “Do It Now, Remember It Later”, and the sing-along-inducing “If You Can’t Hang”. Shows like this one are proof that Sleeping With Sirens are continuing their meteoric rise to the top of the scene, and there are no signs of them stopping.

Sleeping With Sirens Set List

Break Me Down
Kick Me
Leave It All Behind
Never Enough
Talking To Myself
Go Go Go
Better Off Dead
Crosses
Agree To Disagree
Scene Five: With Ears To See And Eyes To Hear (Acoustic)
Scene Two: Roger Rabbit (Acoustic)
Iris (cover) (Acoustic)
Bloody Knuckles
If I’m James Dean, You’re Audrey Hepburn

Encore:
Do It Now, Remember It Later
If You Can’t Hang