Coming off the release of their 13th album, I, the Mask, Swedish band In Flames has embarked on a 12 day tour to promote their new album. The album, which features songs such as I am Above and (This is Our) House, is the band’s 13th studio album and runs 50 minutes of pure metal. The tour, which spans from February 12 to March 7, is joined by long time legends All That Remains, and All Hail the Yeti. The Cleveland date also featured a Cleveland band; Brothers At Arms.
To start things off, Brothers At Arms took the stage. Coming from Cleveland, you could see the excitement in the band. Being the first band on a show is always a difficult thing; the crowd is usually a bit thinner with lower energy. After all, most of them are there to see the headliner or main supporting act. This was evident during the bands set. The crowd was pretty unresponsive, which is unfortunate because the band played well. It wasn’t the most jaw-dropping performance, but as far as opening acts go it was really enjoyable. As the set went on, however, the energy picked up. More people trickled in and the cheers after every song got bigger and bigger. I was particularly impressed with the singers ability to hit a wide range of notes. They genuinely looked like they were enjoying themselves, and I look forward to seeing more from Brothers At Arms in the future.
I’ll admit, I had never heard of All Hail the Yeti before tonight, but after tonight I’m a fan. I particularly enjoyed frontman Connor Garritty’s screaming. He looks like someone I would go grab a beer with. The entire band did their best to bring some life to the crowd. No, they weren’t jumping off of every surface possible or anything like that, but they brought a certain unique feeling to the stage; it was refreshing.
Excitement levels rose as All That Remain’s crew began setting the stage. When the band took the stage they came out with a bang. During their set the band took a moment to pay homage to their former guitarist Oli Herbert who passed away in 2018. The entire theatre began chanting his name; “Oli! Oli! Oli!” It humanized the band and brought everyone closer. Filling in for the band is guitarist Jason Richardson of Chelsea Grin, Born of Osiris, and many others. The entire band shredded the entire set; you could feel the booming of the drums. It was during this set that moshes started to break out. They played tracks off their new record as well as some old stuff.
The time had come. In Flames. Even from the first song these guys blew me away. For a band that’s been around since 1990, they still put on one hell of a show; crowd surfers and mosh pits were common during the performance. While the lighting didn’t lend much to photography, it fit the mood of the show perfectly; it was dim and brooding, with dark reds and greens being common. Singer Anders Fridén knew how to move and energize the crowd, he’d call for circle pits regularly. The whole performance reaffirmed their position in the metal world. Having been around for 28-29 years, I’d venture to say they’ve achieved legend status. If you’re able to consistently put out 13 records and still bring hundreds of people to your show, you must be doing something right.
Connect with In Flames (click icons):
Words and Photographs by contributing photojournalist: Dan Cornelius
