In all my years I never thought I would see the day that Eighteen Visions reunited let alone play in Massachusetts. I along with the man behind The Z List, Zach knew we had to attend the show and sit through how ever many mediocre bands we had to just see the kings of Orange County. Both of us have been fans of the band for years (18v being one of Zach's favorite bands).
I personally remember in 2006, I heard the song Victim for the first time. I thought, this is some fun rock n roll music. I was so into that one song I decided to check out earlier albums by the band and I couldn't believe how heavy they are, I actually was convinced there were two bands that went by Eighteen Visions. I also recall watching the video for Victim and seeing the words "straight edge" tattooed across James Hart's chest and thinking " I wonder what that is". A few years later I discovered current 18v guitarist (and back then the guitarist of Evergreen Terrace a.k.a. one of my favorite bands) Josh James' straight edge band Casey Jones. Casey Jones is easily the band that made me think straight edge is cool and drugs are stupid. I've worshiped Josh ever since, and finding out he was now a permanent member of 18v I was more than excited to see them .
Anyway nostalgia and sappy stuff aside, smoke engulfed the venue as the band began. All I thought was how many people are even gonna know them. Opening with the classic "She Looks Good in Velvet" and me, Zach, and a few old guys knew. When the time came for the song "Vanity", which is a favorite of mine, the chorus was a pile up at the front of the crowd. James would constantly be coming up front, throwing the mic in the faces of fans....Mostly Zach's. I was lucky Enough for him to grab my face during Vanity. As for the pit, well When that breakdown hit, a bunch of, what the kids are calling "Dads" were getting down throwing their fists, it was a battleground. I don't remember which song it was but, Old Wounds vocalist Kevin Iavaroni, joined in on the fun and stage dived into the crowd screaming along to the lyrics. If you've heard Old Wounds before, you've heard how much they are influenced by Eighteen Visions. I'm sure it was a dream come true for Kevin to play with his heroes.
18v played a few knew songs, which had a great reaction from both the new and old fans. James triumphantly said: "This next song is 'Oath' and it goes out to all the straight edge kids out there". I was waiting for this one. Oath erupted with fans screaming every word, edge or not. It was wild. Everyone was screaming at the top of their lungs: "WE KEEP THIS OATH". I proudly crowd surfed crossing my arms in an X formation to represent the straight edge, unfortunately it seemed like Zach and I were the only edge kids. Regardless I felt more than honoured to be able to flash an X at a band Josh James is in.
The set was incredible all the way but of course everyone was waiting for the anthem: "Tower of Snakes". The moment you heard " You told meeeeeeee....." The crowd was slingshot forward. Any fan girls/boys that were there for inferior bands and just chose to be upfront were buried. If there's one song everyone knew the words for, it was this one. We all know the Tower of Snakes breakdown™ and we all know its the heaviest thing metalcore has ever brought about. This breakdown caused a straight up warzone. A ton of people were hurt. all the "dads" were "dad moshing" kids into oblivion. the song came to an end until James yelled "Worcester, one more time!" and they played the Tower of Snakes breakdown™ one more time and complete chaos was ensured once more.
Seeing Eighteen Visions play a venue as big as the downstairs palladium in 2017 may have been wild, but I'm sure it's nothing compared to what they played in the 90s-early 2000s. Zach and I were so hyped after seeing these guys that we took a few laps around the building in hopes that we could meet them. Unfortunately this mission was unsuccessful. At the very least, we left with the satisfaction of seeing the kings play. I could have written a review about the other bands but unfortunately they don't appeal my interests, however On Broken Wings and Old Wounds are still cool.
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