letlive. – (5/10/12)
letlive. – May 10th, 2012 – Rocketown in Pompano Beach, Florida on The Flashflood of Colour Tour
California native post hardcore band letlive. (it’s one word) got the crowd going opening for UK based electronicore band Enter Shikari on the North American leg of the band’s world tour in support of their third album A Flashflood of Colour.
The band was quick to get the crowd going with their first song “Le Prologue” the short and sweet song was all they needed to let the crowd know that they had taken the stage and demanded every second of their attention and a whole lot of their energy. “there are no martyrs in resolution/ if you remain still / don’t expect restitution” belted out the band’s front man Jason Butler as the crowd began to quickly condense themselves closer to the stage in what looked like a mock stage pile up and shout back “stand up! stand up!”
letlive. wasted no time getting into their next song “The Sick, Sick, Sick 6.8 Billion” the follow up to the “Le Prologue” on the band’s record Fake History. At this point in the band’s set it was as if the crowd had been given some sort of cue to begin endless stage diving and pile ups in attempt to grab the mic from Butler’s hand and shout the words “I got my fathers stitch on mother’s day/
it does appear life’s a bitch!”
Through out the course of the band’s set the Butler’s stage presence radiated nothing but sheer anarchy and rage, Butler was a monster killing it on stage note after note in the best possible way. The entire band played in a way that was completely refreshing to see, the band’s set had no bass drops or dubstep interludes, it was nothing but pure post-hardcore that reviled the demeanor of the founders of hardcore punk such as Refused and Black Flag.
The two best points in the band’s set were definitely when they played “Day 54″, a powerful ballad about the facts of life, and watching the crowd packed with letlive. and Enter Shikari fans alike the powerful words “to all my friends who’d rather get high / I’ll be at ground level watching you die / fuck drugs and fuck straight edge / those are both the things that got the best of my friends / and to all the girls that make it a trend / to fuck all of my friends / will all die of the same disease / whether you got it in bed or you got it on your knees” in unison with Butler closely followed by the band’s cover of Black Flag’s “Fix Me”
Overall, I was definitely impressed with letlive. after hearing comparisons from anything from Glassjaw to “a modern day Refused” and being repeatedly encouraged to buy the band’s album Fake History once it was re-released on Epitaph. The band has a marvelously entertaining and refreshing stage presence, from Butler backflipping off a wall parallel to the stage during “Renegade ’86″ to him jumping off the stage, running through the pit, and climbing the cage that encases the soundboards at Rocketown during the band’s finale, there was constantly something new to watch to say the least. On top of being interesting to actually watch, the band above all, did each and every song they played justice.
The bottom line:
Would I pay to see them again?: Yes. The fact that the band played their two longest songs “Day 54″ and “Muther” and still kept the crowd’s undivided attention had me sold, also their Black Flag cover was great.
letlive. (is one word)
Recommended for fans of: Glassjaw, The Sleeping, Refused, Envy on the Coast
Rating: 5/5
