LIVE REVIEW: Pierce The Veil, Dayseeker, Holding Absence, Alexandra Palace, London, 13/04/2024
Photo Credit: Jack Geddes (9th April – Barrowlands, Glasgow)
It’s a tough act being a band that both maintains their long lasting emo royalty and yet still remains relevant to the alternative TikTok generation of today. But no other band has done that better than Pierce The Veil. Whether it be through their early hype album A Flair For The Dramatic or their mainstream soaring to success record Selfish Machines to their latest LP The Jaws Of Life evolving their emotional connection to their audience with a sense of musical maturity. So it was a show for Pierce The Veil fans old and new as the San Diego trio displayed a discography at London’s iconic Alexandra Palace, spanning four albums worth of material, material that brings us both comfort and celebration.
Tonight boasted a line up of some of the scene’s most beloved bands, starting off with Wales’ finest Holding Absence. One of the hardest working bands on the touring circuit, these boys put on a performance that gets more poignant and poignant the more they progress and go from sheer strength to strength. Frontman Lucas Woodland is a vocal force to be reckoned with, whether it be his spine chilling falsettos in early setlist staple Gravity or his catchy cleans in Crooked Melody. In fact the whole band are just musical powerhouses pummelling their way through a stunning six song setlist. Exquisite and a masterclass in emotional expertise, Holding Absence are simply masters of their craft. 10/10
Just as their previous counterparts that come before them, Orange County California’s Dayseeker bring their expansive fifth LP Dark Sun to beautiful life. Where the gut punching breakdown of Neon Grave put a puncture wound in everyone’s hearts songs such as Without Me didn’t leave a dry eye in the room. Their post hardcore roots in their back catalogue weren’t forgotten either, as Crooked Soul and Burial Plot proved to be some of the standouts older Dayseeker songs. A true spectacle of the emotional spectrum, Dayseeker didn’t disappoint as a support and now with the band coming back for a full UK tour later this year they will continue to not disappoint even further. 10/10
“London I’ve got a question for you. What’s so good about picking up the pieces?” asks Vic Fuentes as Pierce The Veil launch into song two Caraphernelia on their mammoth fifteen song run at Ally Pally. And perhaps this interaction was the start of some of the most important people that made this Pierce The Veil show so special. The fans. Whether it was asking the crowd “Who came with their emergency contact tonight?” to spark off Emergency Contact; a song taken from their recent record The James Of Life to pulling up wedding dress wearing fan Izzy onstage for a heartwarming version of Hold On Til May, to echo the sentiment shared this evening by Fuentes, “These songs don’t belong to this band anymore. They belong to you. You elevated them and changed their meaning and as a band we could never do that”. Pierce The Veil’s headlining show at the infamous Alexandra Palace would be nothing without their fans and their fans untimely would not be here tonight without this band and that is something that can never be replaced. 10/10
Written By: Katie Conway-Flood
