By Jacob Dillon, Rock At Night Grand Rapids
Live Review: From Ashes to New with Above Snakes, Kingdom Collapse, Blind Channel, Fire From the Gods – Elevation, Grand Rapids, Michigan – March 8, 2022
Elevation was electric as the bands of the Still Panicking Tour hit the stage. Above Snakes started the show off with an addictive form of energy interacting with the crowd and getting everyone pumped for the coming bands. This is the band’s big breakout tour and they couldn’t be happier for the opportunity. The band has such influences as Limp Bizkit, GodSmack, and Korn just to name a few and you can definitely hear the influences in the bands unique sound. Johnny Skulls and Dax Dabs the bands two founding members both grew up in the same area and have been in multiple projects together over the years.
Johnny was a maniac on stage flying all over with the energy of a man possessed demanding all eyes be on him as he belted out his lyrics and captivating the audience. He commanded the crowd and stage with his high energy performance and lyrics singing such hits as “Nothing to Lose”, “Never Alone”, and the band’s newest single “The Broken Ones”.
Texas band Kingdom Collapse brought a ton of energy and added it to the mix with the bands big hits such as “Unbreakable”, “Uprise”, and “Suffer”. They were all over the stage bringing a unique hard rock vibe to the table to mix in with this diverse group of artists on this tour.
Blind Channel did not disappoint as they hit the stage. Coming from Finland to join this stacked tour, they brought their signature violent pop sound. The band performed “Dark Side” and “Bad Idea”.
Fire From the Gods came out and decimated the stage, stealing the crowd’s attention, interacting with the fans, and even bringing them onstage to perform with them. Before the band took the stage I caught him interacting with a young fan who he later brought on stage. The guitarists were all over the stage and the drummer was going insane. Front man AJ Channer mesmerized the crowd with his powerful lyrics and interactive stage energy. This band is a “must catch” and words cannot describe the power of this band.
From Ashes to New came out with the energy of people possessed. They were all over the stage jumping up and down off the risers and each other. The band played with such spirit and vigor that you would not have been able to tell that they had already performed multiple shows on the tour already. Lance Dowdle the guitarist was all over the stage jumping waving and headbanging while shredding on his axe. Matt Brandyberry hypnotized the crowd with his flowing lyrics and hip hop inspired flow while giving inspiring messages to the crowd between songs. Danny Case laid down the screams while fist pumping the air and jumping as if the floor was lava. They performed hits such as “ Through it all”, “My Fight”, “Crazy” and many more. If you haven’t caught this band I recommend you do.
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I truly enjoy photography and it's a passion. To capture those magical moments and freeze them in time for everyone to experience is my goal.
I moved to Michigan to be involved in the ever-growing musical scene. I had to be a part of it--and needed to capture it. I hope to bring everyone on these journeys of musical discovery so we may all live in the moment through my photos and stories.
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