Article and Photos by: Adrienne Row – Smith
Ottawa, Ontario — Arizona natives The Word Alive stopped in Canada’s nation capital on the Overdose Tour with Invent, Animate, Islander, and Volumes at The Brass Monkey. The night was a special one for many fans, as it either had been the first time in playing in Ottawa, or the first time in a few years that the bands had played a show here. Most notably it also marked one of the last shows featuring drummer Luke Holland, and so the evening was defintely a night to be remembered. Even before the show, I was able to have a quick chat with Gus from Volumes who must moonlight as a fourtune teller on the side, as he ended our chat by saying that tonight was going to be an amazing time.
To start the evening off, Texans Invent, Animate opened playing songs off this years release Stillworld, and 2014’s Everchanger. For their third time in Ottawa, Invent, Animate was able to hold their own and the fans were well versed in the songs chosen for the set list. Vocalist Ben English spent most of his time of the set making sure he interacted with fans on either side of the stage, even getting close to the barricade to interact and do group vocals with well prepared fans. Bassist Caleb Sherraden, and guitarist Keaton Goldwire dominated the stage switching back and forth and jumping and head banging. While far removed from the crowd, and hard to see through the haze – drummer Trey Celaya held his own and was quite a captivating spectatcle through all the smoke. The band were a great opener and provided an really got the crowd up and running for the rest of the bands, and when they come back to Ottawa hopefully they’ll be coming back as the headliner – defintely want to see more of the band!
Next up was South Carolina natives, Islander who brought the heat with their fiery stage presence combined with their nu – metal groove to warm up their Canadian fans. Featuring a setlist pulling out all the stops, with songs like “Coconut Dracula”. vocalist Mikey Carvajal spent half of his band’s time in the crowd just as much as he was on stage. Guitarist J.R. Baries was also a sight to see with a continuous head banging and showcasing some serious guitar work. Bassist Ezekiel Vasquez provided backing vocals, as well as some high kicks and jumps to add to Islander‘s overall performance. Last but not least, drummer Arin Illejay provided amazing drumming to give the band that extra bang to from behind his kit. After their set and live performance, they are not only a band I encourage fans to see live, but also be sure to check out their new album Power Under Control if you’re looking a band that blows the nu – metal genre out of the water.
Not to be outdone by the impressive sets provided by both Invent, Animate and Islander, California natives Volumes double the crowd’s energy – causing the crowd to start mosh pits and ended up causing me to be bod checked into the barricade. When that happened, I knew I was in for a good ol metal time, and Volumes defintely did not disappoint. All memebers besides drummer Nick Ursich used the stage to their advantage, not only interacting with one another and the crowd. Such events included both Gus Farias and Myke Terry getting down and dirty with the crowd and even jumping up on the barricade and going into to sing with fans. Myke also jumped up on bassist Raad Soudani’s back, who continued playing without fail – and very easily highlights why Volumes is a force to be reckoned with musically and also performance wise. To top off their crazy performance, Gus even jumped up and hung off the ceiling – making the crowd go wild. Their performance was amazing, and the crowd reaction to songs from No Sleep and Via showed just how much their long – awaited return was needed.
The final act of the night, was headliners The Word Alive. Taking the stage antics down a notch, The Word Alive were still able to proivde fans who hadn’t been able to catch them in Montreal or Toronoto (as many bands pass over Ottawa during touring cycles) with just as memorable set as their tour mates. Playing songs from all their releases to close the gap on missing Ottawa in previous years, the band was able to give the crowd an amazing set that included such songs like Insane, Grudge, Overdose, Life Cycles to name a few. Each member dominated their part of the stage, from vocalist Telle Smith interacting and singing with fans in the crowd, to bassist Daniel Shapiro and guitarist Tony Pizzuti having synchronized spins and jumps. Guitarist Zack Hansen shined as well, by taking front stage every now and then to showcase his solos and technical ability. Drummer Luke Holland held his own behind the kit, relying upon drummer parlor tricks and great prowess of his kit to keep attention, but did not let that overide the attention being paid to his band mates.
Overall, the show was perhaps the best intimate show that I have seen in awhile, and I strongly encourage folks to check out each band. That being said, if the Overdose tour is coming to a city near you, I highly reccomend catching it, as it is defintely one for the books.