On May 16, 2024, From Ashes to New performed at Hangar 1819 in Greensboro, North Carolina, on their "The Blackout" tour Pt. 2 with special guests Elijah, Phix, Ekoh, and Point North! This night was insane and very memorable! This lineup was so different compared to other tours I went to so far this year! Who doesn't love this type of mixture!?
Elijah opened up the show and I wish they had a longer set because they have become one of my favorite bands since I first saw them live when they were on tour recently with For The Fallen Dreams and Versus Me! Between the vocalist coming out with no shirt on looking like he just walked out of a 24 hour session at a gym, the drummer with drumstick tricks, one of the guitarist always blowing bubbles with his gum and dancing, and the other guitarist interacting with me and the crowd as well!
Elijah released their newest single "Hostage" on April 26 of this year and it currently has almost 200,000 Spotify plays! When they performed "Enemies," I sang along with everyone in the crowd because that's the song that instantly made me become a fan! As I was standing besides the stage, all I can see is everyone singing the lyrics back and, compared to the last time I seen them, I realized how much they grew in the past two months! TikTok in the last two years really has helped musicians become noticed and that's what platforms are for! I'm glad to see Elijah blow up on social media and being on this amazing tour with other established musicians!
Next up with Phix and I personally never listened to them before, but once the 11-year-old drummer came onto the stage, I already knew their set was going to be insane. I knew of Phix because I am always on Tiktok and he pops up on my feed constantly! I instantly became a fan when he released his newest single with Ryan Oakes, "Underneath," because Oakes has been one of my favorite artists for years. Phix is from Texas and has been creating music since 2016 professionally, but his popularity took off due to Tiktok! He is also partnered up with Gelato Cannabis as their spokesman!
Phix also released his newest single "Doomed" ft Ekoh with almost 400,000 plays on Spotify since May 3! He also released "UNDERNEATH" and "War" this year as well! During his set, Ekoh came onto the stage to perform "Doomed" and we love seeing collaborations happen live at shows! Phix also let his drummer have a solo moment on stage and everyone had their phones out because you NEVER see a 11-year-old on tour like this. It was a very wholesome moment because the drummer deserved the spotlight for being so young and performing in front of such large audiences!
Ekoh was up! And I photographed Ekoh three times last year in Ohio and Pennsylvania! Yes; I drove 10 hours to Ohio to photograph Ekoh while they were on tour with Catch Your Breath, The Word Alive, and From Ashes to New!
This show was special because it was the rappers birthday! I feel like having a birthday on tour is always fun, but also rough at the same time because you are not home to celebrate it with your family. For celebration, Ekoh stated on IG that he officially released "Heart Hop" jerseys that you can see in the photos below!
Ekoh is by far one of my favorite rappers of 2023-2024 because he speaks of raw emotion, trauma, substance abuse, and much more which a lot of us can relate to. It's nice to enjoy rap without hearing degrading words towards women or just speaking nonsense. My favorite song by Ekoh is "Save Yourself" which is currently my second top song on repeat! As well as "Freeverse 3" which is about supporting Vans instead of Yeezys which the rapper is now partnered with Vans! During this song; he has the audience throw their vans on the stage so he can sign them! So yes, shoes are FLYING around but don't worry, no one was hurt during this song! He also performed "Wayside" and this song had everyone waving their arms side to side because it's slower song and you can just tell by the tune of this song; it has a deep meaning to it. "Numb" was also performed and this song has became my newfound favorite. I relate to this song immensely because I lost my best friend recently and all I feel is numb and it's honestly the worse and best feeling.
Point North was up next! I've been listening to this band for a while and this was the first time seeing them live! Point North formed in Los Angeles, California, consisting of Jon Lundin (Vocals), Andy Hershey (Guitar), and Sage Weeber (Drums).
Their set was very hard to get good photos of because of the amount of smoke coming from the machines and I was trying so hard to not cough constantly. I am not complaining though because I love the challenge and the smoke surrounding the stage fit them very well. I loved seeing this band in a more intimate venue compared to the larger venues they've been performing at on this tour. Point North performed songs such as "Into The Dark," my favorite "Stitch Me Up," and "Dark Days."
They recently released their newest single "Bring Me Down" on May 3 and I'm absolutely obsessed with Lundin's vocals in the beginning of the song. Point North stated this about the song; "This song is just about toxic relationships and feeling isolated. It touches on feeling like no one is really out for your best interest and only after their own. It also reflects on growing older and becoming more aware of who you surround yourself with and what relationships are worth keeping. All with a touch of ‘fuck you’ to the rest of them" and they also stated that the label thought the song wasn't "heavy" enough, so Point North decided to make this the heaviest song yet and they didn't let us down!
Finally It was time for From Ashes to New! First off, the visuals in the beginning was so loud that I felt like I was at a movie theater which made the whole atmosphere feel so cinematic. I love when bands have visuals on stage as well as having high platforms where other musicians can perform on while the other musicians are on the lower floor. When they came on stage, three of the musicians were on the top platform and the two vocalists were on the bottom portion. This is my 4th time photographing this band and every single time, they don't disappoint.
Lance and Jimmy are known to interact with the crowd and the photographers throughout the set which makes for the best photos! And Lance does wear different masks during his set! The band consists of Danny Case (Vocals), Lance Dowdle (Guitar), Mat Madiro (Drums), Matt Brandyberry (Vocals), and Jimmy Bennett (Guitar). From Ashes to New formed in 2013 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with Matt being the last remaining founding member!
From Ashes to New have released two singles so far this year, "One Foot In The Grave" ft. Aaron Pauley and "Barley Breathing" ft. Against The Current! During their set, I walked towards the back of the venue to attempt to get a crowd shot and I saw a little girl no older then 6-years-old jamming out with her mother. I couldn't get a photo because it was so dark in the back, but seeing the younger generation enjoy this music gives me hope that our music scene will never die down. Seeing different generations head banging during their set is one of the best things to see.
During the set, they had Ekoh come onto the stage for a special moment. They had everyone sing happy birthday to him! I was doing some research on this band and I came across what Matt stated to his fans; "We are only regular if we make ourselves regular. We are what we tell ourselves we are. Some of our fans tell us they feel things are hopeless and I tell them, 'You have to believe in yourself before anyone else can.'" This message is very strong because I believe what he says. You need to believe in yourself because if you don't; how is anyone else going to believe in you? Believing starts with YOU. You can be whatever you want to be as long as YOU BELIEVE in yourself.
What a show! I saw the first run of this tour last year and to be able to see the second run of this tour this year made me realize how much I love music and seeing bands such as From Ashes to New giving other types of musicians a chance to tour like this! If I was available, I would go to several dates to support these amazing musicians!
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