THE GHOST INSIDE and UNDEROATH
with We Came As Romans and Better Lovers
The Palladium
Worcester MA, 07.31.23
LIVE REVIEW AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY BRAYDEN MORENO
The Palladium in Worcester MA, a notorious venue for fans of heavy music, hosted the tour of the summer, featuring dual headliners The Ghost Inside and Underoath. They hit the road with a stacked lineup, featuring openers We Came as Romans and Better Lovers.
First up on the bill is the recently formed metalcore group Better Lovers. Their inception stems from the disbandment of wildly popular metalcore bands Every Time I Die and The Dillinger Escape Plan who both took the scene by storm in the early 2000’s. Better Lovers consists of Jordan Buckley, Stephen Micciche, and Clayton “Goose” Holyoak (Every Time I Die). As well as Greg Puciato (Dillinger Escape Plan) and Will Putney who simultaneously plays in the American deathcore band Fit for an Autopsy.
Better Lovers came onto stage with ferocious energy and ignited a swarm of crowd surfers screaming along with Puciato. They opened with “Become So Small,“ a track off their 2023 EP God Made Me an Animal. They continued on, playing more songs off the EP, including the title track “God Made Me an Animal,”“Sacrificial Participant,” and “30 Under 13,” the first track released as a single by the band. Better Lovers’ combined musical experiences and years of touring truly makes them a stand out band on stage.
With the crowd buzzing from the first set, next to the stage was longtime fan favorite We Came as Romans. They came storming out the gates, with “Darkbloom” and followed that up with “Daggers,” both equally heavy and rhythmic tracks off the 2022 album Darkbloom, which was followed by “Wasted Age” and “Cold Like War” from the 2017 album Cold Like War.
The set was littered with hits both new and old. We Came as Romans went back a decade to 2013, playing “Tracing Back Roots” and “Hope,” satisfying the earliest fans in the crowd. They finished off with “Black Hole” from Dark Bloom and even had vocalist/coach David Benites join the group for a duet. These veteran performers really know how to make the most of every show.
Now the moment many fans were waiting for, Underoath. The house lights dimmed and on stage visuals started. The members of Underoath emerged silhouetted by lights, and the crowd erupted as an explosion of perfectly timed instruments played “Take a Breath” from their 2022 album Voyeurist. Immediately following, they played hit song “Writing on the Walls” from Define the Great Line, and OG Underoath fans lost their minds belting out all the words along with the band. At this point in the night, the crowd was electric, with massive mosh pits and crowd surfers being flung over the barricades for the entirety of the performance.
Underoath played a very diverse set, with massive tracks “It’s Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door,” “Reinventing Your Exit,” and closing their performance with “A Boy Brushed Red Living in Black and White”—all off the 2004 album They’re Only Chasing Safety. They also played “Casting Such a Thin Shadow” and “You’re Ever So Inviting” from the 2006 album Define the Great Line, as well as “Breathing in a New Mentality” from Lost in the Sound of Separation, and two 2023 singles, “Let Go” and “Lifeline (Drowning).”
Underoath gave an unbelievable performance really geared towards their early fans. It felt like an ode to everyone that’s been a fan from the beginning.
The crowd was on the edge of their seats waiting for the final performance of the night from The Ghost Inside. The Palladium is a special place for The Ghost Inside. It’s the venue where they played their second show back in 2021, after their tragic bus accident while on the road in late 2015. For those who aren’t aware, the accident resulted in the death of both drivers of the vehicles and left band members hospitalized in critical condition. Drummer Andrew Tkaczyk ended up tragically losing one of his legs as a result of the accident, and the band as a whole was unable to perform for years, as they took much needed time to heal and be with loved ones. While this story is tragic and one filled with loss, it is unbelievably remarkable and inspiring to see the band, specifically Tkaczyk, ripping up the stage in 2023 without missing a beat. Many loyal fans in the crowd were present at the comeback show in 2021, making it an amazing full circle moment.
The Ghost Inside fans went insane when they stepped on stage and guitar strums from “Avalanche” kicked in. Fans were screaming and moshing along with the band, as The Ghost Inside left everything they had on stage. They followed up with “The Outcast” from The Ghost Inside and “Engine 45” from Get What You Give, which really upped the intensity in the room.
The set list included career spanning hits, including “Faith or Forgiveness” from Fury and the Fallen Ones, “Unspoken” from Returners, as well as “The Great Unknown,” “Dark Horse,” and “White Light,” all from the 2012 album Get What You Give. Not only did we get a blast from the past with older songs, we got to hear plenty of music from the 2020 self-titled album, which is the first body of music released by the group following their near five year hiatus, with “Pressure Point,” “One Choice,” and closing the night with the emotional “Aftermath,” which is the first single from the band following the accident.
It’s been three years since The Ghost Inside has released a full-length album, but we have been blessed this year with new single “Earn It,” a beautifully produced and melodic track, with the heavy drums, ripping guitar riffs, and immaculate vocals from Vigil. Is this single the beginning of a new album? We’ll have to wait and see. Until then, The Ghost Inside remains a must see live performance that will turn new listeners into fans and give diehard fans everything that they love from the band over the last decade and a half. All in all, this tour was incredible and comes highly recommended for fans to get out and see this live. You will not regret it.
