Breaking Benjamin, Chevelle, Starset, et Kami Kehoe

They may not personally tour here due to singer Benjamin Burley’s profound fear of flying, but the U.K might be the best place to see the kind of bands that Breaking Benjamin inspired and were inspired by. Their brand of Nu-Metal inflected post grunge has a very real and devoted following over hear, enough to make those kind of bands make the trip over the Atlantic pretty frequently and make them love doing so every single time. However, while they have an extensive following it’s nowhere near the size of their following in the states, meaning that the venues they play are significantly smaller than the arenas and amphitheatres they’re used to on their home turf. It would make for the perfect atmosphere for a Breaking Benjamin concert, as out of all of those bands; there might be no finer live act than the Pennsylvania natives. A show of theirs may look like any other polished, arena rock spectacular on the surface but as with anything, scratch the surface and you get something much more interesting. Recent shows have seen not just raucous airings of classics like Evil Angel, The Diary of Jane and Dance with the Devil but also a powerful cover of Aerosmith’s Dream On whilst a video of dearly departed Rock stars plays behind them. It’s surprisingly emotional stuff but surprising is the key word here, Breaking Benjamin have a lot more to offer than the average early 2000’s rock band, even as they surged past their 15th year as a band last year, and the best way of realizing just how much they’ve got to give? Grab a ticket to see them live as soon as possible.

It’s an unspoken rule among power trios to sound bigger than every other band in existence. From Rush, to Muse, from Motorhead through to Biffy Clyro it’s almost a pressure on them to make up for their lack of members by sounding monstrously huge in every other respect. A lot of the time this means that when playing live their sound has to be bolstered by a couple of other musicians. Understandably so of course, in Muse’s case it’s very impressive that they have just the one, but in the case of Grayslake Illinois natives Chevelle, three is all they need to rock with the intensity of a natural disaster with none of the devastation afterwards.
Fronted by the Loeffler brothers Pete and Sam on guitar and drums respectively, Chevelle do a fine job of bringing their undeniable heaviness to the forefront of their live shows. However, what puts them above and beyond their post-grunge peers is how well they incorporate their subtler, alternative rock and post-hardcore influences into their bludgeoning alt.metal. While they might bring the righteous mosh with them wherever they go, their music is by no means stupid, giving their audiences something for the head as well as the heart. Chevelle may not be as revered over on this side of the pond as the power trios listed above, but they do deserve to be, so next time they’re over take a chance on them. You will not regret it!

A for effort, anyway. They donned costumes and had a couple of LCD screens with spacey stuff going during the show.

However, the singing was really off, choreography seemed unpracticed, they didn't seem to look at the crowd when singing (maybe the fault of the lights), and overall it was a weak performance. Like a bad cover band of Starset.

The good news is that their music really is, imo, amazing and they're a new band, so their live shows will only get better and I feel like they have the potential for some truly incredible live performances once they get the experience and the budget to make it happen. Starset is a band to keep and eye on and I hope that I can look back in 5 years to say, "I saw them back when they were a struggling opener for Breaking Benjamin."