On March 13th, 2025- The Amity Affliction performed at the House of Blues in Myrtle Beach, SC with special guests: Unwell, Many Eyes, and direct support from Hail The Sun! This venue was the perfect place for this tour because last year I photographed The Amity Affliction at the same spot and it was such an ethereal feeling and it caused a flush of nostalgic emotions as well! So being able to see them again that night allowed me to feel like my younger self that wasn’t allowed to be who I wanted and there I was living my best life once again!
Opening the night was Unwell and I’ve never listened to this band, but I was not expecting to automatically fall in love with this band's sound! The vocalist; I believe his name is Matty was very energetic the second he went on stage! It was so difficult to capture photos of him because of how much he moved around the stage. They remind me of a band that I would randomly find on youtube when I was younger and instantly had to go to limewire to add the songs to my ipod. That’s how nostalgic this band made me feel during their performance! This is the perfect pop-punk band that has the perfect band name that can match who we are as individuals at times. I swear people who don’t listen to this type of music may look at us as “unwell” or “disturbed” , but this band is the perfect anthem for those people who feel like they don’t belong. This band inspired me to just live freely. That’s the vibes I got from their performance!
Next up was Many Eyes and this is another band I’ve never listened to! I was completely blown away with their set! This band automatically made me think of Every Time I Die, Between the Buried and Me, He Is Legend, and more. And to find out when I got home later that night the vocalist Keith was the singer for Every Time I Die! We love seeing when one door closes another one opens which always happens in the music scene. Sometimes a band needs to end to be able to start another band in its place. You can sense so much passion with each musician in that band and so much vibrancy which made the set so enjoyable to watch! This is why I love seeing bands for the first time and not listening to them because being able to have the full effect of being surprised during their set is the best feeling.
It was time for Hail The Sun and I think I’ve seen this band at least 4 times in the past two years and their performance is always immaculate especially the vocalist having such explosive energy on stage which I'm surprised he never broke his leg yet because that man can JUMP. Donovan has to be the most charismatic musician I’ve photographed in the last two years between having various tones with his singing and how much he interacts with the crowd! He also plays the drums during their set which you rarely ever see happening at shows which gives me more of a reason to praise this band with how talented everyone is! Any tour that has this band on the lineup; you already know that other bands on the lineup will struggle to top them!
Finally it was The Amity Affliction! I was in the photo pit waiting for the band to start and I started talking to these two attendees and instantly connected with both of them! This is what shows are all about. Respect and to create friendships! Once the band appeared on stage; the crowd at the barricade went crazy and crowd surfers immediately started! The band opened up with Pittsburgh and we all know there is a new clean vocalist in the band right now, but he did such a phenomenal job with stepping up to make sure his parts of the song went well! I was dodging and weaving crowd surfers during the first 3 songs and even the security guards were very respectful during this. I’ve experienced security guards that are very rude and will shove you out of the way. These security guards at this show did an excellent job with being respectful, honest, and basically we all worked as a team to make sure attendees were safe and myself. The light production for this band was mind blowing which as a photographer made it so much easier, but at the same time I was able to see each member of the band clearly and to see how energetic they all were. Joel (vocals) was very interactive with the crowd and shaking heads or fist pumping with crowd surfers throughout their whole set! There were even several kids who crowd surfed during the set and Joel would squat on the walkway and wait for the kid to come near the barricade to touch their hand. I went to the second floor and saw a little kid on top of their mothers shoulders having the time of their lives. This was the best sight of the whole night watching the new generation enjoying the music we grew up listening to! When they performed Open Letter and Soak Me In Bleach; I sang my heart out along with the crowd because those songs are what got me through a lot of traumatic experiences in the past. So being able to listen to these songs live again; it just brought inner peace and joy.
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