March 25th, 2016
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn, New York
Review and photos by Peyton Beard
Over the past year, Silverstein has been touring non-stop. Between their ten-year anniversary tour to celebrate “Discovering The Waterfront”, Vans Warped Tour, and a co-headlining tour with Senses Fail, the Canadian outfit has been reaping the success of their hard work. Back in December, Silverstein announced what would be their only tour dates of 2016 in support of their record “I Am Alive in Everything I Touch”, which was released on May 19th, 2015. This tour, featuring support from Rarity, Coldrain, Emarosa, and Being As An Ocean, brought the band back to Brooklyn, New York for the first time since playing House of Vans four years ago on March 8, 2012. What could possibly be a warmer welcome than a sold out show?
The show seemed much more intimate compared to the other times I’ve seen Silverstein, considering the Music Hall of Williamsburg has a capacity of 550 whereas The Grand Ballroom at Webster Hall, which they sold out twice last year, can fit a thousand more people. What added to the intimacy were the high-energy who opened the show. Rise Records newcomers, and fellow Canadians, Rarity opened the night with a packed crowd (characteristic of what I’ve encountered at Silverstein shows, uncharacteristic at others), and were followed by Coldrain, who came all the way from Japan. Both bands had a great response from the crowd as more than a handful of fans screamed and moshed for them. Emarosa dominated the stage, and the pit, as frontman Bradley Walden flipped guitarist Marcellus Wallace, commandeered a fan for a piggy back ride through the crowd for a song, and returned the favor by giving guitarist ER White one as they played throughout the crowd. Bradley was probably in the crowd more than on stage during the performance. Emarosa was a tough act to follow, but California’s Being As An Ocean managed to keep up. Frontman Joel Quartuccio also jumped from the stage and danced in the pit. He was often seen running along the sides of the room, jumping on the railing and screaming from overhead. This tour package was one of the most exciting I’ve seen, and the balance of two newer acts and two better known bands was enjoyable, and the crowd never seemed to never get bored.
Silverstein came onstage not long after Being As An Ocean and went straight into “Stand Amid The Roar”, the first track off their 2013 release “This Is How The Wind Shifts”. Despite guitarist Paul-Marc Rousseau’s guitar strap falling off in the midst of the song along with a few other technical issues, the rest of the band played on, their energy unaffected and issues were resolved by “Massachusetts”, the second song of their set. I’ve seen the band play several times, and each time they play, the guys have smiles on their faces and are having the time of their lives, even considering they’ve been doing this for nearly twenty years.
As usual, the band played an even mix of new and old hits: a good way to go considering their expansive discography and the immense age range amongst their fan base. I have been listening to Silverstein since I was nine years old, two years after their debut album “When Broken Is Easily Fixed” came out. So to see fans of all ages queuing online before doors opened is unsurprising. There were thirty-year old men behind me in line talking about how they first saw Silverstein back in July 2003 at The Knitting Factory in Manhattan, and young girls and their boyfriends in front of me attempting to hold back their excitement as Paul-Marc Rousseau and Bill Hamilton walked past to get coffee, waiting to see the band perform for the first time. The diversity of their fan base is a testament to Silverstein’s success as a band, and their music transcends generations as older fans grew up with albums like “When Broken Is Easily Fixed”, “Discovering The Waterfront”, “Arrivals and Departures” and new fans absorbing the newer records like “A Shipwreck in The Sand”, “Rescue”, “This Is How The Wind Shifts”, and “I Am Alive In Everything I Touch”. The way their sound has matured over the years while also maintaining their original sound, and not selling out by signing to a major label has enabled them to play big venues like The Grand Ballroom at Webster Hall, smaller venues like Music Hall of Williamsburg, and be humble about it.
Other songs that they played were “Face of the Earth”, “Your Sword Versus My Dagger”, “Heaven, Hell and Purgatory”, “I Am The Arsonist”, “In Silent Seas We Drown”, “One Last Dance”, “The Continual Condition”, “Smile In Your Sleep”, “Late on 6th”, “Red Light Pledge”, “Sacrifice”, “In the Dark”, “Smashed Into Pieces”, and “Vices”. For the encore, Shane Told came out with his acoustic guitar by himself and started playing “Toronto (unabridged)”, with the rest of the band coming out halfway through to finish that and then ended their encore with two staples of “Discovering the Waterfront”: “Call It Karma” and “My Heroine”. Silverstein’s set lasted a little more than an hour, but they managed to pack so much energy into their performance.
I’m looking forward to seeing what Silverstein does next. The tour ended on March 31st in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and the band will be taking the rest of the year off to take a break from the constant touring. I have no doubt in my mind that they’ll be back soon with new music, so they’re certainly a band to always keep an eye out for.
Check back soon for full galleries from the show!
