Apr 28

Apr 28 Show Review, Photos: Atreyu Kick Off 'Hope of a Spark' Tour in Sacramento

Atreyu
w/ Point North, Within Destruction, LYLVC
Ace of Spades
Sacramento, CA
April 28th, 2023

Review and Photos by Jared Stossel

It's obvious that Atreyu loves what they’re doing. “We started this band because we’re five fucking best friends that love playing music with each other,” vocalist Brandon Saller remarked to the crowd towards the end of the night. The band was positively radiant when they kicked off their “Hope of a Spark” headlining tour at Sacramento, CA’s Ace of Spades last night, touring in support of the EP of the same name. They’re one of the few bands in this genre that don’t look somber or angry when they’re on stage – not that there’s anything wrong with that. It’s just that the attitude Atreyu carries with them, despite playing a heavier brand of hard rock and metal, falls more in line with the feeling of “we’ve come to party and kick some ass tonight”. It’s refreshing to see in a genre that can take itself a bit too seriously at times.

The show was opened by up-and-comers LYLVC (pronounced Lilac), a genre-bending act that merges metal, hip-hop, and electronica among other influences into one package. They’ve debuted their first EP this year, so they’re just getting started, but their sound feels right at home in what would have been the nu-metal craze that took over the early aughts. A lot of people heavily criticize that wave of rock and metal music, yet there were some gems that came out of it, with bands blending different genres in an effort to create something new. It’s still too early to tell, but LYLVC could indeed be one of the acts at the forefront of this new wave of genre-bending acts.

Slovenian technical metal trio Within Destruction followed, and it seemed like a large number of people had come out to catch their set. While they manage to genre-bend, their music is heavily rooted mainly in deathcore and the later crop of metalcore acts that have been popping up over the last few years. With five full-length albums under their belt and a decade of experience, they inspired some moshing amidst a smattering of technical breakdowns and guttural vocals. The only critique I would have isn’t so much directed at the band but at the sound mixing. Ace of Spades is a great venue, but it has yet to properly amplify acts that have switched to all solid-state gear (i.e., no live amplifiers on stage). It gets too muddled with the P.A. system and everything seems out of balance. I feel like if this problem would have been rectified, their set would have felt much heavier.

The last time Point North took the stage at this venue, they opened up for Sleeping With Sirens. Almost a year has passed, and the three-piece has improved massively. Their performance was exponentially more energetic, pulling material from their rock-infused albums like 2020’s Brand New Vision. Time on the road has been good to Point North, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re headlining venues like this within the next year or so.

With great enthusiasm, Atreyu took the stage and launched headfirst into a plethora of hits old and new, starting with Hope of a Spark’s opening track “Drowning”, followed by the anthemic “The Time Is Now” from 2019’s In Our Wake, and “Right Side of the Bed”. Some of the biggest pops from the crowd came during the old tracks, like “Bleeding Mascara” (from their 2004 debut The Curse) and the metal-infused “Ex’s and Oh’s” from 2006’s A Death-Grip On Yesterday, as well as hit-after-hit from their career-defining Lead Sails Paper Anchor album like “When Two Are One” and “Becoming The Bull”.

Even a healthy collection of crowd favorites, the new material – the entire four-song Hope of a Spark EP and additions from their 2021 album Baptize – went off very well. The release of their album two years ago marked a significant milestone in the band’s career – their first without former vocalist Alex Varkatzas. For nearly two decades, Saller and Varktazas would trade clean and unclean vocals, with Saller taking on the duties of both drummer and singer. With Varkatzas out of the mix, the former drummer stepped up to the mic, with screaming now taken over by bassist Porter McKnight and Kyle Rosa behind the kit. While it’s not the exact original lineup, it works very well, and they still bring forth the massively entertaining show they’ve helmed for the past two decades.

Clearly, they’re having the time of their lives. If they weren’t, I don’t think they would have had guitarist Dan Jacobs walk on stage – sans guitar – to play “Tequila” on saxophone, nor would they have faked out the crowd with a rendition of Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody”. This was all sandwiched between a two-song encore that featured Lead Sails hits “Falling Down” and the explosive “Blow” to close out the night. Atreyu is still as fun as ever to watch live, and you’re guaranteed to have an excellent time watching them.

Atreyu’s tour continues tonight in Reno, NV at the Virginia Street Brewhouse. For tickets and more show information, click here.

Atreyu Set List
Drowning
The Time Is Now
Right Side of the Bed
God/Devil
The Theft
Bleeding Mascara
Battle Drums
Ex’s and Oh’s
Underrated
Strange Powers
Baptize
Becoming The Bull
Capital F
Watch Me Burn
Anger Left Behind
Warrior

Encore:
Falling Down
Blow