Aug 5

Aug 5 Show Review: AVOID Bring One of the Year's Most Powerful Performances to Sacramento

AVOID
w/ Dead Lakes, Beauty Is Betrayal, Safehaven, Titvn
Café Colonial
Sacramento, CA
August 2nd, 2022

Photos and Review by Jared Stossel

By far, this was the hottest show I’ve been to all year. And I mean that literally. Tucked in a corner of Sacramento, hidden away by the façade of the Colonial Theater lies Café Colonial, a hole-in-the-wall venue that plays host to various shows throughout the year. As sweat poured from everyone standing inside the venue’s walls, we watched as band after band powered their way through a show that was set to be topped off by an intense set from AVOID, one of metalcore’s newest assets and the performers of one of the best sets from any band I’ve seen all year.

The show was opened by three local acts: Titvn, Safehaven, and Beauty Is Betrayal. All three of these bands are currently cutting their teeth and have established moderate followings within the Sacramento scene, and their fans turned out to show their support. All three of these acts, while still within the metal genre, each brought something a little different throughout the evening.

These heat-filled sets paved the way for Dead Lakes, the main support slot for the evening, and the most unique set out of all five acts that played. Combining elements of metal, alternative rock, and arena-ready pop, Dead Lakes brought a large-scale production to a small room, turning the energy up ten-fold and leaving everything they had out on that stage. The band has a charisma about their members that made them even more entertaining to watch, and I’m looking forward to seeing where the future takes this band.

I figured there would be a longer turnover between Dead Lakes and AVOID, but I ended up being very wrong. Within a few minutes of Dead Lakes concluding their show, AVOID took the stage and launched a full-fledged metal assault on the crowd. It didn’t matter at that point how hot temperature in the room was, it didn’t matter how much sweat was pouring down my face; I was completely engaged with whatever the fuck that band was doing on that stage. They play with such a ferocity and enthusiasm that you can’t help but pay attention; it’s infectious.

AVOID powered their way through a nearly hour-long set that was comprised of tracks from their (so far) only studio album, Alone, along with songs from their EP The Burner, and a selection of singles. Their performance managed to seamlessly blend hard rock, metalcore, and radio-ready alternative rock into one slick package, but with the ability to garner more of a response from the crowd than most acts that headline arenas and amphitheaters in this genre. AVOID is an act that is going to, I hope, be massive. You can feel the potential in their music, and you can see it when you watch them live.

I desperately needed to step outside into the cool night air, but there was no way I was going to leave until they stepped off that stage. If they had played on the stage for even another hour after that, I would have stayed. AVOID are absolutely one of the best emerging bands in the genre today. See them as soon as you possibly can.

AVOID Set List
Song About James
Flashbang!
Split (Kill It)
28 Days/By Myself
Blast Off!
HEAT
Cowabunga
Finish Line
Finish Line 2: Electric Boogaloo
End of an Era
Thoughts of You