It finally happened. The night I have been waiting for since I got the tickets in April. THE BAD OMENS SHOW, GUYS. It was everything I wanted and more.

The openers for this tour are I See Stars (who have recently released an EP and a new single, along with their return to touring) and ERRA. I have been listening to ERRA as part of my personal hardcore revival, but hadn’t listened to I See Stars at all until this past month or so when I was studying up on the setlist.

I See Stars played tracks from their latest two albums, as well as the three tracks from the new EP. I enjoyed the set and so did the crowd, but frontman Devin Oliver did ask us to wake up a few times. I feel like first opener is always the toughest spot in the lineup, because personally I’m not totally in the show mindset yet, I’m focusing on moving through the crowd or thinking about merch and venue logistics, and I know a lot of people do the same for that initial set. It’s always tough for me to get out of real-world and into show-world, but I See Stars has both the talent and the reputation to get everyone on board, and that’s exactly what happened. Great choice for opener, and later Noah from Bad Omens was so gracious and really brought them back to the forefront of the show and reminded us that it was a privilege to see them on their first tour back.

ERRA was next and I have been waiting for that since I found out the lineup. I have been big into ERRA these past few months, and I love when I know enough of an opener to sing (or scream lol) along. They are such a talented group of guys and their set was awesome. I love a metal band who loves to show off their technical skills and it was great to see them in their element. They did a great cover of “Stockholm Syndrome” by Muse, and (even though I knew it wasn’t a possibility) I held out a tiny shred of hope they would figure out how to get Courtney from Spiritbox in to the “Vanish Canvas” collab they released. I was sad to see their set end, and would love to catch them on a headliner if I get the chance.

So the crowd was pretty chill for both openers and I had a great time. Bad Omens has been having a tough string of shows audience-wise lately and I blame “Just Pretend”. Even though it’s a great song and I think a great showcase of what they can do, it’s also a little misleading. Bad Omens are a heavy band at their core and I don’t think the crowd reflected that. Not to say lots of posers, but a lot of kids who heard about the band online without any prior experience or exposure to the scene. Plenty of us have waxed poetic about that so I’m not gonna go crazy but I did get hurt for the first time at a show ever despite being nowhere near the pit and it’s not like it’s anyone’s fault but I think it is a reflection of the two world colliding (literally). 

When Noah asked whether we knew what a Wall of Death was, there was a group of guys who ran and then there were groups of younger girls who looked like deer in the headlights and didn’t know how to react, not realizing that them being in the way meant they were going to get pummeled. It was an interesting demographic for sure, but I think considering there was no need to stop the show like at dates in these past weeks, we did okay.

They played all but three tracks from 2022’s The Death of Peace of Mind, and sprinkled in some fan favorites along the way. Production value was at an all time high, and they may as well have been playing the album through the speakers, their sound team was incredible. Noah and the guys have an irresistible stage presence and the only word to describe us all would be enraptured.

An interesting change from the last iteration of the Concrete tour was the switch between “Miracle” and “Broken Youth”. Noah has said in the past he hates playing “Broken Youth” but I guess we made enough noise where they replaced a live “Miracle” with a remix as an intermission. Still super cool but I like that song and was looking forward to hearing it live. The highlight of the night (and seemingly every Bad Omens show) was “Dethrone”. It’s always funny when a band pretends there’s no encore, but they did come back out after “one more song” chants and played “Concrete Jungle” and of course “Dethrone”. Noah jumped over the barricade and joined us all in the crowd and it felt like old, pre-pandemic times when artists weren’t confined to stages.

The Bad Omens show was completely worth the wait and I will fight for my life in the Ticketmaster queue whenever I have the chance. An absolute joy across the board, best night of my year, without a doubt. The post-concert depression I have right now is off the charts and to me, that’s a sign of a memorable gig.

by Nadia Alves

Nadia Alves has been a music enthusiast since she can remember. Going to shows is her main pastime. The other is being upset when she can’t go to shows. This is her first official venture into writing about music. You can follow her on Twitter.