As I Lay Dying

I saw 'As I Lay Dying' at two Vans Warped Tour dates in California. The crowd consisted mostly of hardcore kids and people in their twenties to mid-thirties. The pit was insanely violent, and more terrifying, I think, than any of the others but for the pit at the Gallows show where the lead singer beat himself bloody with the mic.

So the center of the crowd was mostly larger men and brave teens while the outer edges included people like me, who don't go to shows hoping to end up with a hospital bill. I stopped by the set, because I was fond of their 2005 album, Shadows Are Security, and the 2007 album, An Ocean Between Us. The songs that got the crowd most riled up were Nothing Left, Forsaken, The Sound of Truth, Confined, and, of course, The Darkest Nights.

There was a lot of pot, which was to be expected, and I saw one person do acid, which was shocking. Doing acid before rushing into the pit at an As I Lay Dying set is perhaps the stupidest thing I have ever seen anyone do. I imagine the acid made this person believe they were at a GWAR show. In any case, I pushed my way to the very front left edge of the stage and was impressed by the screaming and vocals. I felt a real adrenaline rush.

Great show not only of As I Lay Dying but of all bands. It was heavy as you can expect with that lineup, going from the new metalcore brought by Fit For A King even though with some sound problems they started to put the audience ablaze. Then the roots of metalcore from Unearth proved to be a foolproof band with a short but powerful setlist going from their classics to some of the newer songs.
Chelsea Grin was probably the most edgy band of the lineup leaving some people surprised of how heavy a band can be but still they were able to gain some fans in the crowd. It was notable the effort the drummer made while talking to the audience in Spanish.

Then As I Lay Dying brought an almost perfect setlist, with almost all powerful singles from their discography (only missing Forever from Frail Words Collapse) mixing with 5 songs of their new album blending perfectly with the old catalog. Moshing, singing, screaming from the audience to the stage leaving everyone like Joker (with a smile on their face) by watching probably the concert of the year.

Show was awesome. Venue was crap; Crowded to an extremely uncomfortable point. Temperature for the most part was so high one could barely breathe - despite it being around 0 degrees celsius outside (it did cool down a bit right before As I Lay Dying went on stage, but it was still bad). Sound was very disappointing. Knowing almost every song off the setlist and you could hardly tell which one it is they're playing.
Overall probably a disappointing experience and judging by the demand I believe both the band and the crowd deserved better. Berlin has much higher quality venues for such shows (say, Huxleys, Columbiadamm), the venue already got changed once because of the demand, personally I would happily have paid a couple of euros more to get a better quality show.
We had a great time in any case; AILD rock!

I’m a long time fan of all three bands that played. None of them disappointed, all tore it up. Denver crowds are usually pretty good, this night was no exception. Multiple pits going, crowd surfing, and the bands were eating up the energy and giving right back. The venue is a little small, but most of them down town are. They had pretty good drink prices, and the bartenders were all chill. Lost my voice, got a bloody nose, sore neck and back. All that equals a great show when it comes to metal, especially when there’s just as many women screaming the lyrics as guys!!!

Insane atmosphere in La Maroquinerie. Full of great fans from everywhere in France and Europe!
Sad that this room wasn't bigger, this bands deserved a better place to play!
The only regret : a young boy injured his leg during the Bleed From Within's part, he had to go to the hospital before seeing AILD's set.. Hope you à good recovery mate

I seen them in Baton Rouge La. Not one of the best concerts. It was the BEST concert I have EVERY been too. I would def tell any and everyone they need to go to an As I Lay Dying concert. You will not be disappointed. Ready for them to come back around.

Incredible. Amazing. The concert was simply amazing. I would love to see them again. The place, the quality sound, the atmosphere, the people, the organization... All top. Thanks a lot to the bands and organizers.

3/5, it’s a shame that the warming up bands have to alqays perform sounding poor.. They are not enjoying it and the paying crowd either. This is a general problem and pulls down the quality of the events..

As I Lay Dying put on the most agressive shows that i have seen at the forge. Good show I hope they go back to the forge in the future