Justin Nuoffer
Bury Tomorrow and While She Sleeps
w/ Vended
4/11/25 – The Rave – Milwaukee, WI
© Justin Nuoffer/NuofferMedia.com
On a Friday in Cream City, The Rave was a place to be for metalheads. The line started up early behind the venue next to the parking lot. Fans cloaked in black garb littered the area. The historic Rave/Eagles Ballroom was ready to get pulverized by the British metalcore invasion of While She Sleeps and Bury Tomorrow.
Fans were escorted in through the side door and into the security checkpoint when the doors opened. Once through, you are led into the basement hallway, and at a small table next to The Rave 2 entrance, tickets are checked and scanned. After being cleared to enter, you walk into what used to be a bowling alley. The room is spacious. On both sides are bars with people waiting for drinks. In the far left corner is the merch stand with people grabbing various goodies and memories. The stage was straight ahead and stood about three feet off the ground. A security barricade ran nearly the entire length of the room, which was getting full and was buzzing with anticipation.
Vended, the extreme metal band out of Iowa, were slated as the opener. With only thirty minutes, they cruised through a bone-crushing six-song set. Starting it off with “Nihilism”, Vended grabbed you by the throat and forced you to pay attention. They are unrelenting and waste no time moving through their set.
Griffin Taylor hunched over the front monitor, delivering scream after scream. His vocals are fresh and full. Around him is lead guitarist Cole Espeland, who is not afraid to jump around and slam his feet when he wants. The left side of the stage is the masked bassist Jeremiah Pugh and the stoic rhythm guitarist Connor Grodzicki. Back on the skins, Simon Crahan was a wild man. His arms slung over the top and slammed down with ease.
Vended are out supporting their 2024 self-titled album and filling their time with tracks from it such as, “Am I The Only One”, “The Far Side”, and “Pitiful”. They had the fans in a frenzy. A few even wore face paint like them. Vended’s closing song, “Asylum,” was off their 2021 EP What Is It/Kill It. Despite their history being extremely short, they did an excellent job of displaying their maturity.
Check out our concert photo gallery of Vended below:
The co-headliner on the evening, Bury Tomorrow, wasted no time taking the stage and flying into “Abandon Us” from their The Seventh Sun album. The English natives with thick accents shook the historic floorboards.
The low end by Davyd Winter-Bates punished bodies and knocked loose the dust from The Rave’s rafters. Adam Jackson on drums added an array of bass kicks and 808 triggers to accentuate the pure violence of the material, and that was just the first few songs of their set. With their new album Will You Haunt Me, With That Same Patience on the horizon, Bury Tomorrow threw caution to the wind and had a run of the new material. Daniel Winter-Bates easily unloaded his vicious vocals as he stomped and slammed his feet around the stage. Screaming, “Open that pit up,” over and over, the floor shook and bodies rocked the security barricade.
The other tracks from the new album were “Death(Even Colder)”, “Villain Arc”, and “What If I Burn”. Without a doubt, they were some of the heaviest and intense songs of the evening. Tom Prendergast assisted with clean vocals and keys from on top of a riser. Kristan Dawson and Ed Hartwell armed themselves with their guitars and dished out unrelenting riffs.
Bury Tomorrow reached back into their previous two albums, Cannibal and The Seventh Sun, to continue their onslaught with “Cannibal”, “Majesty”, and “Choke”. Long-time fans couldn’t have been happier with the song selection. The band itself knows what makes a Bury Tomorrow show so much fun. That chaos and pure savagery are unmatched by many. They know the formula to make them connect with the fans.
Check out our concert photo gallery of Bury Tomorrow below:
Strobe flashes started popping in the darkened Rave basement. While She Sleeps briskly walked out and took their positions. Vocalist Lawrence Taylor unleashes a ferocious scream, and they are into it. Starting with “Rainbows” and “Leave Me Alone” from Self Hell, the 2024 release’s larger-than-life sound and deep lows rattled the senses.
Early on with “You Are All You Need” beginning, Taylor yells, “I am coming out to join you”. with that, he threw himself at the front of the barricade and screamed his way through the song. Bassist Aaran McKenzie stomped his way around the stage, strumming and swinging his instrument around. Often, he stood on the lip of the stage screaming out lyrics.
While She Sleeps is nothing but uncontrollable energy. The Rave basement room isn’t tall, and every time someone jumped, they nearly hit the ceiling. Matt Welsh manned the right side of the stage. He ripped guitar riff after guitar riff with one foot planted on a monitor. His main guitar body glowed in the fluorescent lighting. Across the stage is where his fellow guitarist, Sean Long, would normally stand. But this tour, he is at home with a newborn. Filling in for him was Architects guitarist Adam Christianson. Christianson mastered the material and played with incredible strength. The two axe masters complemented each other beautifully.
The band tore through the material. Mid set featured “Self Hell” and “Systematic”. The thundering sound bounced around the historic Rave walls. Taylor stood at the edge of the stage and continuously engaged the crowd. He told them they needed to start crowd surfing and not to stop. The Milwaukee fans came to destroy and have some fun. The bodies sailed across the outstretched hands only to land in the waiting security staff’s arms. The Rave security is second to none when it comes to keeping people safe. Dust filled the air above the large circle pit. With sweat pouring down their faces, that circle pit raged with fans. Taylor jumped into the eye of the out-of-control cyclone and screamed, “Get this fucker spinning”.
While She Sleeps fought, punched, and blasted their way through songs like “Four Walls”, “Enlightenment”, and “Silence Speaks” to deliver their final two back breakers on the night. Engaging with the out-of-control general admission floor in front of them, the intro to their lead single from Self Hell, “To The Flowers,” had the slow-building intro softly kick through The Rave’s PA system. The song about loss, love, and life wasn’t the heaviest physically, but mentally and emotionally, you felt it. The track is one of their most unique and is even more impressive to hear in person. With no major breakdown, its vibe and sound lead directly into the face-smashing “Sleeps Society”. For one last time, the eruption of energy rocked the basement stage.
Check out our concert photo gallery of While She Sleeps below:
As the lights slowly lifted, the steam and condensation rolled out of the side doors and into the hallway. It may have taken While She Sleeps since 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic to get back to the States, but it was well worth the wait. Every band deserves to be on bigger stages, and the fact that we were lucky enough to see them all in a club-style room is a precious memory. As fans exited The Rave, they were still full of adrenaline and spitfire. The cold night air blowing in off of Lake Michigan was refreshing and was a sobering shock to the system. The touring package was aces and pure enjoyment. You’d have to be stupid to miss out on it.
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