Converge w/ Pile, and Give @ Brighton Music Hall

Once again Converge brought chaos to their home, supported by two bands just as unique as them, Pile and GIVE, in support of their new album: The Dusk in Us. This is a tour I was not expecting with two bands I would never expect to see with Converge. Nonetheless, this show was one for the books. Always great to see my favorite band.

GIVE
Genre: Hardcore Punk/Psychedlic Rock FFO: Youth of Today, Protester, Jimi Hendrix

I have seen GIVE many times at different venues. The Middle East, The Sinclair, and multiple times at Hardcore Stadium. Seeing them at Brighton Music Hall was a different experience. Granted Converge attract metal fans and hardcore fans, this crowd didn't react as energetically as the Hardcore Stadium crowd. However something I haven't seen done for GIVE until now, lighting. If you've heard the band before, you know they combine elements of psych rock with youth crew hardcore and are well known for their floral album art and imagery. The lighting added a very nice visual effect and went with the music well. Occasionally the vocalist would say who's excited for Converge and then separately for pile and then said "Uh oh did Pile get a bigger reaction than Converge?" and the crowd had no idea how to respond. GIVE Played a few new songs that stick to their roots as a band. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Definitely looking forward to seeing them again, always a good time, be on the lookout for that new record. GIVE are a very unique band in hardcore.

Pile
Genre: Noise Rock/Indie/Post-hardcore FFO: Refused, Pissed Jeans, Whores.

Now this is a tough one for me. Beforehand people have told me that Pile are an indie band and for whatever reason I expected them to be like a RFC type of project. I was far from right. These guys are something else. I don't know what to compare them to. They're the type of band that sound nice one moment and then just pick up aggression randomly. The guitars sounded like they were just doing their own thing and didn't care if anyone else in the band could keep up but everything followed in perfect harmony. I can see why Converge chose to bring them on tour. I don't want to call the music chaotic, but hey, it just might be. The crowd was wild with energy. I honestly didn't think anyone really listened to them. With the way these guys were playing, you would think they were sight reading every song, but you know in like a Mr. Bungle sort of way where they're talented enough to know what they're doing. I'll be honest this bands music is something I would take a while to get into and probably wouldn't listen to in my spare time, but seeing them play was a different experience.

Converge
Genre: Mathcore/Post-Metal FFO: The Dillinger Escape Plan, Botch, Isis (the band)

Of course the supporting acts were impressive, they don't come close to touching Converge. The moshing began the moment Jacob Bannon showed his face. I was expecting them to open with A Single Tear but to my surprise it was Reptilian.The crowd exploded into chaos just from the opening. Nobody wasted any time trying to get the mic. For the most part, the set consisted of songs from their newest release. To my surprise they actually played Arkhipov Calm. When the time came, they played A Single Tear and a tidal wave of fan piled up for the mic, the chorus hit and their was just as much moshing as there was mic rushing. I was lucky enough to get on stage and be the vocalist of my favorite band for a few lines of the song and backfilpped back into the crowd. Needless to say, A Single Teardrop fell and was swallowed by the sea. In between songs the crowd would be constantly yelling old songs they wanted to hear like: The Saddest Day, Sadness Comes home etc. I didn't get my hopes up. Jake would just let out a stern "NO!" Eventually someone yelled out "I can Tell You About Pain" to which Jake responded: "I can" Converge did play a few classic hits like Black Cloud, Worms Will Feed/Rats Will Feast, Aimless Arrow, Dark Horse and even The Broken Vow. Each song was more chaotic than the last. The time came for the last song: Eagles Become Vultures. Absolute anarchy was spawned. An even bigger wave of mic shares for the mic and that ending riff: a hurricane of moshing. Converge came back out and gave their respects to GIVE and Pile and praise both bands for being very unique. Jake stated: "We are gonna play one last short one for you" *riff begins* "THIS IS CONCUBINE" forget the hurricane this was a tornado of moshing and forget the wave it was a tsunami. It was almost too much for me. The ending breakdown was played even slower and heavier than normal. I guess if there's one thing Copnverge do best it is bring chaos wherever they go. I have experienced Converge 4 times all together: twice at the Royale, this show and Boston Calling. This was the smallest venue I've seen them play it was everything I wanted it to be. Always have been my favorite band, always will be.