On April 27th, 2024- Erra performed at The Masquerade in Atlanta, GA on their North America tour with special guests; Novelists, Void Of Vision, and Make Them Suffer! This was one of the best shows by far of 2024 that I had the pleasure of photographing because I’ve been a fan of these bands for many years and being able to see all of them perform in one night was so nostalgic for me!
Opening was the female fronted band; Novelists! Novelists was formed in 2013 in France consisting of; Amael and Florestan Durand as well as Matteo Gelsomino, Nicolas Delestrade, and Charles-Henri Teule! The band did go through several changes with vocalists throughout the years; In 2020; Matteo Gelsomino stepped down and Tobias Rische took over and then he stepped down as well in 2023; Which now Camille Contreras took over as of September 2023! Right now the band consists of; Amael Durand (Drums) , Nicolas Delestrade (Bass) , Pierre Danel (Guitar) , and Florestan Durand (Guitar)
I personally haven’t listened to this band since Camille joined; so when I saw a woman step onto the stage; I was like “Wow, what is going on here?” I listened to this band until about 2022, so I didn’t keep up with vocalist changes. She didn’t disappoint at all, but the one musician that kept my attention was Pierre because he would constantly spin with his guitar and interact with the photographers! They performed their newest single “Mourning The Dawn” that currently has almost 1 million spotify plays! I can relate to this song because I know the true meaning of losing someone that will never come back and regretting things I should’ve said and done.So; when they performed this song and I actually listened to the lyrics; it made me realize I need to start telling everyone around me that I love and appreciate them because you never know what the next day will bring. Camille was very interactive with the crowd and always smiled or waved at someone! I loved the energy this whole band radiated!
Next up was one of my favorite bands; Void Of Vision! Last year, this band was one of my first bands I’ve photographed when I became a contributor when they were on tour with Aviana, Thrown, and Invent, Animate! So being able to photograph them almost 8 months later was an amazing opportunity and they literally had the venue SHAKING with the crowd jumping, moshing, and crowd surfing! The band currently consists of; Jack Bergin (Vocals) , James McKendrick (Lead Guitar) , Mitch Fairlie (Rhythm Guitar) , and George Pfaendner (Drums). They opened up their set with their newest single “Empty” that was recently released on April 19th. Empty was written because of a lot of personal things going on with frontman Bergin last year with his health. He stated about the new song; “Empty was written halfway through our Australian tour in October last year. We’d just completed our first run of shows back since I had surgery following a brain AVM rupture in April, which left me facing mixed emotions I didn’t expect. On one hand, we were playing our largest-ever headline shows to date and selling them all out, and on the other I was facing the fear of getting up onstage every night risking another potential rupture every set I played" He also stated; “It feels suiting to return now with a song all about perception, not only by the public but also one self… and it feels like true growth now feeling entirely realized and ready for whatever is to come” This statement meant that he was so engrossed in focusing on judgment of others due to his alopecia and body dysmorphia that he was attempting to try to fit back in the “norms” of the world, but realized that no matter what people will make remarks, but to continue striving to make music and love oneself.
Void Of Vision had to be one of the best performances I’ve seen by far. They closed their set with “Angel of Darkness” which was their single they released last year and that song has been played on my spotify over 400 times.
Make Them Suffer was up next! I've been a fan of this band since 2012 when “Neverbloom” was released and the first song I listened to from that album was “Widower”. That song was my top song while I was in High School and I was judged constantly because of the heavy music I was into at the time; but now I look back at those times and realized that 12 years later; I am photographing this band. When “Old Souls” was released in 2015; I automatically fell in love with “Let Me In” because of the clean’s from the keyboardist. The band formed in 2008 from Perth, Australia consisting of; Sean Harmanis (Unclean Vocals) , Nick McLernon (Guitar) , Jaya Jeffery (Bass) , Jordan Mather (Drums) , and Alex Reade (Keyboardist/Clean and Unclean Vocals) Their performance was so intense in my opinion because Harmanis has one of the best heavy vocals I’ve heard with the mixture of Reade’s cleans making the set insanely amazing. Their set was very dark which made it difficult to photograph, but the dark lighting matched their energy on stage! Make Them Suffer released their newest single “Epitaph” and it currently has over 1 million plays! This is what the band stated about the new release; “Epitaph’ is the perfect grafting of new and old in terms of combining elements from our earlier sound with newer ones. Primal yet futuristic, ‘Epitaph’ comes from a place of contemplation. Epitaph’ is the beginning of a very exciting year for us, and not just in terms of touring. We’re so incredibly thankful for all our supporters, and to be in the position we’re in. Particularly after such an incredible journey. We can’t wait to show everyone what we have in store” Being able to see one of my favorite bands perform Doomswitch and Ghost Of Me made my inner teenager scream in excitement. Even though they didn’t perform older music; I was glad I had the opportunity to see them live! The crowd was constantly crowd surfing throughout their set and it was so difficult to move around the venue because everyone wanted to be as close as possible to the barricade for their performance.
Ending the night was Erra! As I was standing waiting for Erra to go on stage; all I heard behind me were people screaming with excitement! I’ve never seen Erra live before, but I have been a fan for a couple of years! Before anything; Erra formed in Birmingham, Alabama in 2009 with original members; Alex Ballew, Jesse Cash, Alan Rigdon, Garrison Lee, and Adam Hicks! As of right now; J.T Cavey is the vocalist with Jesse Cash (Guitar/Clean Vocals) , Alex Ballew (Drums) , Conor Hesse (Bass) , and Clint Tustin (Guitar). Erra currently has over 600k Spotify listeners and the band recently released their newest album “Cure”. “Cure” is the most popular album Erra released at the moment on spotify with songs from that album being the top on their list! My favorite songs from them are; Dementia, Dreamwalkers, Drift, and Hourglass!
The light production for their set was dark as well, but when the lights did appear; it lit up the whole venue as well as the usage of the smoke machines! You knew when the smoke machines were going to be used during their set when the songs were building up this intense moment and when that moment released; the smoke machines would activate! I love when bands use these machines because it makes the best opportunity to be creative with photos! The band performed songs such as: Luminesce, Eye of God , Gungrave, and they opened with Cure! Seeing dozens of people crowd surf throughout their set and the security that night was on point during their set making sure everyone made it over the barricade safely! I could not get over the cleans that Jesse released from his vocal chords; I was honestly so hypnotized by his skill!
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