The AP Tour featuring Four Year Strong – REVIEW

The AP tour feat. Four Year Strong came full speed to the the Metro in Chicago. With them came  Gallows, Title Fight, The Swellers and SHARKS. You can check out our review after the break.

I remember going to the Metro at least twice a month for a concert when I was in high school. Nowadays, I am lucky to go twice a year. So being able to review my first concert at the Metro for Digital Tour Bus is very special. I got to see the AP Tour featuring Four Year Strong, Gallows, Title Fight, The Swellers, and Sharks.

The first band on was SHARKS. I never heard anything from them and I didn’t have time to check out the bands I never listened to before so I had no judgment on SHARKS. From the first song when they started, I was hooked. They had catchy riffs, passionate vocals, great stage presence, and no ego. They are everything I look for in a band.

Up next was the band I was looking forward to the most, The Swellers. I was amped up to finally see a band that was different from all the generic pop punk. From the first song they played, I was impressed by how tight they were. The singer hit every note, which is super rare to see. The band is so raw and powerful in concert that you can feel what they write. From playing the song 2009 to finishing with Best I Ever Had, I couldn’t help but enjoy them playing their popular songs but playing songs I wasn’t too familiar with. It’s a shame that they are not that well known yet because after the performance they put on, they should be on every radio station and have 100s of people singing along to their songs.

Next up was Title Fight. I never heard them or listened to them, just like SHARKS. They walked on stage and the bassist looked like a video gamer wearing a Yale T-shirt. They had catchy riffs and were very punk. Kids dug them but I didn’t like how they had zero crowd participation. I couldn’t tell you one song they played and the only time they talked was at the beginning saying they were Title Fights and at the end saying they were Title Fight and had 3 songs left. You could tell they played and sang their hearts out, but it would have been nice to know what songs they were playing so I could check them out on the Internet. The vocals of the band were more like shouting, something I am not totally in to but respect what they do a great deal. The most important thing was the crowd dug them and they put on a good show.

Gallows took the stage next. The minute they walked on stage I was wondering if a metal band was playing. Again, I had no idea who Gallows was. It was a bunch of skinny, tatted up guys. The intro started and they played a heavy riff with no vocalist. I was like cool, an instrumental band. However, out comes this big, bald punk rocker with tattoos all over his body and in a plaid red shirt. The crowd went nuts but I got scared. He looked me in the eyes once and I may have peed a little when that happened. But his vocals were punk as fuck. He crowd surfed, he screamed, he said his fuck you’s, and he moshed with the fans. Vocalists like this have my respect. The riffs were hard and packed a punch, and the whole band rocked out. They have fun with the fans and the fans were in the pit nonstop. They respect bands that have fun on stage and put it all out night in and night out. By the time they were done, the crowd was nice and prepped for what was about to come to them: Four Year Strong.

Four Year Strong. That should be the description for a band when they rock out on stage. That was so Four Year Strong. This was the second time I have seen them and they put on a show like no other. They know how to have fun and play a kick ass show. They played Wasting Time and this song stuck in my mind for what to write about in the review. The whole crowd belted the song out, like it was the anthem to their teenage years. Jumping around, moshing, the works was happening in the crowd. Four Year Strong lives off the intensity of the crowd and the more the fans got into the show, the harder the band played. Seeing Four Year Strong first hand makes you see why they are blowing up and selling out venues all across America. You can see why bands try to mimic them, but there will always be just one Four Year Strong with the performance they gave. It was so Four Year Strong.

Information about the review…
Tour: The AP Tour featuring Four Year Strong
Bands: Four Year Strong, Gallows, Title Fight, The Swellers and SHARKS
Reviewer: George Medic
Date: October 26, 2011
Venue: The Metro in Chicago, IL