By Chelsey Kangas
The Generator
Henry Ford II HS
1st Place
Division 1, News Writing
Review
Four thousand fans. Seven hours. Seven bands. One show. MegaFest.
On February 21, the American Dream Tour, headlined by UK band Bring Me the Horizon, made its long awaited and highly anticipated stop at The Compuware Sports Arena in Plymouth, Mich. with special support bands Attila, We Came as Romans, and Wilson, who only attended this specific show, named “High Velocity Super Action Fun Time MegaFest 2014,” nicknamed “MegaFest.”
US bands Of Mice & Men and Issues were the support bands who attended the full tour, and Australian band Northlane joined the tour February 21. WCAR and Wilson both attended MegaFest due to it being in their home state, and Attila attended because they enjoy Michigan’s fans and our energy at their shows.
Fans started waiting in line in the 30 degree weather at around 9 a.m. in hopes of getting good spots for the show, even though doors didn’t open until 4 p.m.
To pay homage, WCAR played a free acoustic set at 2 p.m. that was only available to the first 200 people who went to their specific line.
When the Compuware’s doors opened, the line cheered because they were finally out of the cold. Everyone rushed through security to get to either the floor of the arena or their seats, depending on which ticket they bought. Some people went to the band’s merch tables first for shirts, bracelets, and posters.
Wilson kicked off the show with a bang – literally. They brought out a large snare drum and glass bottles that they beat on for nearly a minute, then drank out of, before finishing their set. They sang five songs total, ending with “My Life, My Grave.”
Next to take the stage was Northlane. They started with their song, “Genesis,” and played five more from their most recent album, “Singularity.” After thanking Bring Me the Horizon and the crowd for making their first night on the tour spectacular, they ended their set with their song, “Dream Awake.”
Issues was the next band to play. They started their set with “Stingray Affliction,” a song from their new self titled album. During their set, Issues had some real issues when their turntables and synthesizer failed to work. Even with that problem, they still pulled off an amazing set, especially when they brought out Chris “Fronz” Fronzak, Attila’s vocalist, to join them for a song. Issues ended their set with one of their best known songs, “Hooligans.”
The next band to play was Attila, who started their set with their song, “Middle Fingers Up.” They sang seven songs total, including “Party with the Devil.” During that song, Fronz told the crowd to split down the middle, and on the count of three, form the biggest wall of death that he’s ever seen. When Fronz gave the signal, the two sides charged towards each other at top speed. Attila finished out the song while the crowd continued to mosh, then ended their set with their song, “Payback.”
Of Mice & Men was next to play. They started their set with “Bones Exposed,” a song from their new album, “Restoring Force.” TADT is the first US tour OM&M has done with vocalist Aaron Pauley, other than Vans Warped Tour in 2012, so this tour was very special to them. They played a total of nine songs, and ended with “The Depths.”
We Came as Romans was the sixth band to take the stage. They started with “Fade Away,” a song from their 2013 album, “Tracing Back Roots.” WCAR played six more songs and ended their set with a cover of “Glad You Came,” originally by The Wanted.
When the room went black, everyone knew what was about to happen. All you heard was the ghostly opening music of the song “Shadow Moses” by Bring Me the Horizon. Roughly 30 seconds later, the music changed, and BMTH’s song “Can You Feel My Heart” started to play. Then the lights came back on, and BMTH walked out on stage.
“Can you hear the silence? Can you see the dark? Can you fix the broken?” That was all you heard from BMTH’s vocalist, Oliver Sykes, before the music stopped. It was completely silent. After a few seconds, which felt like an eternity, the music started up again, and every fan knew what to yell.
“Can you feel, can you feel my heart?” The crowd sang every lyric together. BMTH played a total of 10 songs, mainly from their 2013 album, “Sempiternal.” When they played “Chelsea Smile,” a song from their second album, “Suicide Season.” Sykes told the crowd that he wanted everyone to sit on the floor and then jump up once he started singing again. he refused to continue until every single person was on the ground. Once everyone sat down, the crowd waited for the music to start up once again.
“I’ve got a secret,” was all you heard as fans jumped up, shouting the lyrics in time with Sykes as loud as they possibly could. When the song ended and BMTH left the stage, fans begged the band to play one final song.
“So you want another song?” Sykes asked the crowd. The fans screams answered his question. BMTH finished with their song “Sleepwalking.” During the song, no one moshed. It was completely calm as fans sang together and held their phones or lighters up to illuminate the arena.
When “Sleepwalking” ended, BMTH gave a big “thank you” to the crowd for making the show so amazing. BMTH then left the stage, and MegaFest was officially over.