The Salt Shed is a newer venue in Chicago with an indoor and outdoor venue. Known for more indie music shows and not as a venue with a heavy booking into metal, The Ghost Inside and Underoath kicked off their summer co-headline tour there and broke the venue in as the first metal show there.
Kicking off the evening for their 4th show ever was Better Lovers, the scene’s newest supergroup. The band featuring vocalist Greg Puciato, guitarists Jordan Buckley and Will Putney, bassist Stephen Micciche, and drummer Clayton Holyoak is a set of big names from the scene. Puciato’s time as frontman of The Dillinger Escape Plan, Buckley, Micciche, and Holyoak all from Every Time I Die, and Putney from Fit For An Autopsy. The band came out and performed like they’ve been at it for years. Playing a quick 25 minute set featuring 2 unreleased songs, a Soundgarden cover, and their new EP “God Made Me an Animal ” in full, the crowd was all for it. Hopefully Chicago sees them back sooner than later.
We Came As Romans came out next and blasted through a solid 8 song set. Fans were moshing and crowd surfing heavy during this time as the band focused on their 2 latest records for almost the entire set. It didn’t seem to matter though to fans in attendance as they sang the words to every song and gave the band back all the energy they put out.
Next up was one of the evenings co-headliners and metalcore long timers Underoath. Blowing through an hour set with 12 songs spanning their career the band had the hits and deeper cuts here. Early on in the set lead vocalist and front man Spencer Chamberlain got into the crowd causing a frenzy with security that wasn’t entirely prepared or used to this type of action. It’s clear too how the band has had a career roughly 25 years long as they fired on all cylinders the entire time playing exactly to what the crowd wanted.
Closing out the evening was a band that Chicago hasn’t had much of. Since their return The Ghost Inside has only played Riot Fest, this was the first chance fans old and new have had to see the band inside a non festival setting. Kicking off with Avalanche off the band’s Dear Youth record, fans instantly were screaming word for word and didn’t let go for the entire set. The band, all smiles, were happy to be back on a stage in Chicago given everything they’ve been through in the past. Let’s just hope they come back for a proper headliner soon.
Photo Gallery : We Came As Romans – The Salt Shed (07.16.2023)
Photo Gallery : The Ghost Inside – The Salt Shed (07.16.2023)
