FIT FOR A KING
The Hell We Create Tour
with Kingdom of Giants, Alpha Wolf, and Northlane
Belasco Theater, Los Angeles, CA
02.18.2023
LIVE REVIEW AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY JULIE ANN SHAW
Usually, even at large stadiums, the venues are not filled until shortly before the headlining band is set to take the stage, with fans trickling in throughout the night. That was not the case on this night. The Belasco was pretty much fully packed right from the start of the night. One thing that caught my eye was the fact the bands took the time before and after their sets to spend some time on the patio at their merch booths to talk to fans.
The first band of the night was Kingdom of Giants. They opened their set with “Burner” from their 2020 album Passenger. Despite being a short set, Kingdom of Giants delivered a performance fit for a king, as enthusiastic fans jumped on the heads of fellow concert goers and surfed their way up to the stage. Kingdom of Giants’ set included “Sync,” “Night Shift,” “Empty Space,” “Bleach,” and “Wayfinder.”
The second band to take the stage was Australian metalcore band, Alpha Wolf. They opened with their single, “60cm of Steel,” a collaboration with Welsh band Holding Absence from their split EP, The Lost & The Longing. They went right into their next songs, “Creep,” “Hotel Underground,” “Acid Romance,” “Sub-Zero,” “Bleed 4 You,” “Black Mamba” and “Akudama.”
The third band of the night was Australian metal band Northlane hot off their own headlining Obsidian tour. Their first song was “Clarity” off of their 2022 album Obsidian, which added a hint of EDM to their already unique metal sound. They followed with “Plenty,” “Echo Chamber,” “4D,” “Carbonized,” “Quantum Flux,” “Clockwork,” “Obsidian,” “Bloodline,” and “Talking Heads.”
The moment had finally come and the Texas band Fit for a King—Ryan Kirby (vocals), Bobby Lynge (guitar), Ryan “Tuck” O’Leary (bass), Daniel Gailey (guitar), and Trey Celaya (drums)—took the stage. By this time, so many people had crowd surfed their way up to the stage, which has become mandatory participation for Fit for a King fans.
Fit for a King opened with “The Hell We Create” from their album of the same name. Before the first song was over, with Kirby’s charisma and O’Leary’s ability to jump to heights that would easily clear my head while flawlessly playing the bass, it was obvious that each member of the band was born for the stage. Despite having already given all their enthusiasm for the last two and half hours to the first three bands, the audience was all in for everything Fit for a King was giving them.
Their set: “The Hell We Create,” “End (The Other Side),” “Falling Through the Sky,” “Times Like This,” Deathgrip,” “Vendetta,” “Reaper,” “Eyes Roll Back,” “Backbreaker,” “Reaching Out,” “Bitter End,” “The Price of Agony,” “What You Left Behind,” “When Everything Means Nothing,” and closed the night with “God of Fire.”
