Last year, on September 16, 2023, me and my mom went to Rapids Theater, Niagara Falls, New York. We went to see a rock/heavy metal band called Black Veil Brides, who I have been a fan of since as early as 2016. We drove from Erie all the way to Niagara Falls, taking a good 2-3 hours away from the day. Not only that, but the line to get into the theater itself was absolutely ridiculous. It was almost longer than the sidewalk itself, and everybody there definitely dressed for the occasion: lots of black clothes, silver studs, piercings, makeup, all your typical angst 2008 teenager chic.
It’s interesting because Black Veil Brides was established in 2006, so it’s definitely “one of those” bands. As for the theater itself, it was actually really pretty on the inside, from the outside it looked like the typical building you’d never go inside a day in your life, but on the inside, they weren’t kidding about the theater part. The inside was slightly rearranged of course, to support more of a mosh pit concert than anything, the nosebleeds weren’t an option because then people would just look at you funny.
We stood on the furthermost right side of the theater, soon getting surrounded by a large crowd of emo goth nerds (joking), and stayed hunkered down in that very spot for the rest of the concert. The first band showed up after a good 30 minutes just standing there, and already my legs were starting to hurt. The first band’s name was Dark Divine, a new band founded sometime in 2021. Their music was really good for a beginner group. My mom ended up becoming a fan of them that same day, streaming the rest of their music other than what they played. I was jamming out for sure. Their songs took on the heavier side of rock music, with your typical demonic screaming, but if it’s rock music, I’m going like it and I’m going love it.
After the first band left, the second band (or should I say solo music producer), VV, showed up. VV’s lead singer Ville Vallo (See it now?) is definitely on the more experienced side when it comes to music, dishing out vocal masterpieces since the 1990s. It was only 2019 when he started rolling with this new group. As for his performance? I’d say it was pretty good. His style of music is definitely on the more symbolic and thematic side, but I like a good song with deep meaning once in a while. (Like Bury The Light. It’s a good song, okay?) My mom didn’t really dig it, and I kind of half expected that. Clearly she had her own direction of rock music.
They played so many songs, however, that was my only issue. My legs were killing me. It felt like they were gonna break and keel over if I stood there any longer. When they did finish, that’s where the main dish comes in, the ones and only, Black Veil Brides, my favorite of the bunch. Everybody gathered around for them, it was clear that they were everybody’s favorite, and I mean everybody. The whole crowd went wild even when they briefly saw them for a split second. They made their arrival on stage using background music from Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), and made a beautiful transition from one of the songs on the soundtrack to their songs.
The whole crowd, including myself and my mom, went absolutely nuts, after Andy Biersack (The lead singer. Yes his last name is weird) said, “LET ME HEAR YOU SCREAM!” They played one of their new songs, “Crimson Cloud,” from their newest album “The Phantom Tomorrow,” to get the crowd excited for when they release all the new stuff. After they finished the song, Andy went on how every lead singer talks to the crowd in between songs. A few of the ladies next to me absolutely freaked out, throwing little bracelets and beads at him saying, “WE MADE THESE FOR YOU!”
After all that, they played a bunch of their old stuff, and my legs were absolutely destroyed. Once the whole concert was over, my mom and I bought a couple articles of clothing with the Black Veil Brides merchandise on it, and then walked our painful ways back to the car. I didn’t sleep at all during the car ride back home. I was just so full of energy and talked the whole way. One of us is a liar, and it clearly ain’t you.
