The Rebirth of Underoath, Part 2
So back in March, I did a guest post here that showed the beginning stages of The Rebirth of Underoath, a band that had called it quits a few years ago and decided to reunite to tour for the 10th and 12th anniversaries of their two biggest albums. Since then, the band has done their six week tour, and I was able to document parts of it in St. Petersburg, Nashville, and Orlando.
The guys kicked their tour off at Jannus Live in St. Petersburg, Florida, the same place they played their final show in 2013. Since it was the first show of the tour, they were also taking pictures of everything for themselves and getting back into the swing of doing sound check and meeting with VIP fans. And of course, the VVIPs, their families!
The guys played as if they’d never taken a break, and the crowd loved it.
A few weeks later, I joined them in Nashville for their show at Rocketown.
This was an interesting show because the venue has a no crowdsurfing policy, something that is pretty much a staple at any rock show. Now, my understanding is that many venues have such a policy, but it’s more or less for liability purposes so they can’t get sued if someone gets hurt. It’s not really strictly enforced… Except it was at this venue. By venue staff kicking people out of the show.
The show started normally enough. The band took the stage, and eventually a few people started crowd surfing. As they made their way to the front and into the photo pit, security took them to the side to put them back out into the crowd. Except here is where they were intercepted by venue staff and shown the side door exit. The band saw this, stopped the show, and told them to stop kicking people out.
The rest of the night, the fans still crowd surfed, but they stopped short of the photo pit and made their way back into the crowd so they wouldn’t be kicked out.
Toward the end of the band’s set, one of their good friends who had been stage side for the entire show decided to stage dive and crowd surf. Once he made his way back to the front and into the photo pit, someone from the venue grabbed him to kick him out. The band’s guitarist saw this happening, jumped off stage, grabbed him away and pulled him back in. He then got back on stage, stopped the show again, and basically said, “You guys are here to have fun. Everybody, on stage, NOW.”
From there it was basically chaos for the next 10 minutes or so. So, what started out as a decent show ended up being a very memorable show for everyone who was there!
Fast forward a few weeks to the final show of the tour in Orlando…
The band played a sold-out show at Hard Rock Live, their first time playing this venue.
For me, it’s always fun having all access at venues, because most of the time when I just have a regular photo pass, I’m relegated to the same areas as everyone else. But with all access, I can explore backstage and see the full venue and dressing rooms and all.
I also just love capturing the moments before the band takes stage, as they’re getting themselves pumped up and ready to go.
And once they are ready to go, they give it their all, and the fans can’t get enough!
While it may not be 100% sharp, I still love this succession of shots of my buddy Charlie stage diving for the first time, especially the last shot where his feet are just straight up in the air (he was mostly okay)!
Speaking of firsts, sometimes it’s not the big moments happening on stage or in the crowd that are the important ones, but the seemingly small moments happening on the side of the stage. This guy got to see his dad play live for the first time this night!
And, of course, at the end of the show, I made sure the band came out to let me get a shot of them with the crowd in the background. I’ll never get tired of shooting stuff like this!
You can see more of Brad’s work at BMOOREVISUALS.com, and follow him on Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat.
Some great shots in there Brad !
Lyle