Norma Jean Tour with He Is Legend

It's been about seven years since I last saw Atlanta's Norma Jean perform live. Being one of my favorite bands, that's way too long a gap. With a new album out on their original label, I had to catch them this time around. As a bonus, they were on tour with He Is Legend, another favorite of mine. Luckily, I was able to attend their tour stop on St. Patrick's Day at Chain Reaction in Anaheim, California.

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Chain Reaction is a very small venue in an outdoor strip mall. It probably only holds 200-300 people, maximum. It's so tucked away, in fact, that I had trouble finding it, even with my phone's GPS navigation.

The inside sort of reminded me of a cleaner CBGB, as the place has stickers, posters, and tee shirts adorning the walls of the acts who had played there in days past. Looking at the venue's tee shirt collection was a trip down memory lane for me, as I was able to spot merch for quite a few bands that I used to frequent in high school and college. The crowd was generally a younger crowd, so I wondered how many of the acts they were familiar with. Norma Jean has been around since the late 90s, so attendees were probably pretty versed in the scene's history.

Set Sights

First up was a young hardcore band called Set Sights. I'm almost certain they were a local band, but I couldn't find much information about them online. (They need to step up their social media game to get some exposure.) The band was very energetic, and I generally liked them. However, it's hard to really review them for a couple of reasons: First, I can't judge the crowd's reaction as the place was still pretty empty. The sound mixing was terrible, leading to quiet, garbled vocals. My low rating is not a reflection of the band or their music quality, but more for the performance, which was plagued by the aforementioned problems (which weren't the band's fault).

Setlist: N/A
Sound: ★½ out of 5
Energy: ★★★½ out of 5
Live Performance: ★★★ out of 5
Overall: ★★ out of 5

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Comrades

Comrades is a post-hardcore band from Virginia, and they taught me a lesson to keep an open mind and not to rush to judgment. I'll explain. When I heard the band name, I assumed it was a tribute to Marxism. (As if the word "comrades" only applied to the Soviet Union. I was wrong.) I had already written them off before they played, and they ended up being my favorite of the three opening bands. I bought their CDs after the show. (You should too! I put a video below so you can see if you'll like them.)

The band is comprised of a husband and wife guitarist/bassist duo, plus a drummer who also screams the loud parts. All three were highly talented musicians and good performers, especially Joe (the guitarist). Some of his riffs dropped my jaw. The crowd concurred, as I noticed lots of air guitar in the crowd. By this time, the mixing booth had fixed most of the issues so they sounded great. Overall, a really solid performance, and Laura's clean singing is a very unique contribution to heavy music. Her lovely voice is used as a counterpoint to the chaotic nature of hardcore music, and it really works.

My only (small) gripe is that Laura spent a little bit too much time talking about one of the songs. I'm totally in favor of bands talking to the crowd between songs, but it's a fine line between just enough and too much, especially when you're talking about inspiration. Let the music do the talking! As I mentioned, this is a very small gripe and I enjoyed the performance a great deal. I'm looking forward to seeing them again when they're back in town, and this time I'll know the songs and try to sing along.

Comrades Setlist: TBD (Dark Tongues, Pt. II | Brother (Less) | Shepherd's Hymn)

Setlist: N/A
Sound: ★★★★ out of 5
Energy: ★★★½ out of 5
Live Performance: ★★★★ out of 5
Overall: ★★★★ out of 5

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Capsize

Capsize is another band I had never heard before. They're a straightforward hardcore band, which I like, but it's not my favorite genre. I can still get into it from time to time. The vocalist told us that He Is Legend was the first show he ever attended ten years ago, and touring with them has been a dream come true. I really like hearing stories like this, as it shows how one generation's art/music/whatever touches and affects the next. (So keep creating! I do.)

Capsize brought a lot of energy to the crowd, but only towards the last few songs of their set. The vocalist kept trying to force a circle pit by shaming the crowd. He finally got one when the crowd was into it. The lesson here: Don't push it! People don't like being told what to do, especially fans of alternative music. You've gotta earn that pit. (They did.)

I've embedded a video below so you can see the band for yourself. Enjoy!

Capsize Setlist: XX (Sew My Eyes) | Calming, Crippling | The Same Pain | You Can't Come Home The Same | Favorite Secret | The Angst In My Veins | Tear Me Apart

Setlist: N/A
Sound: ★★★ out of 5
Energy: ★★★½ out of 5
Live Performance: ★★★ out of 5
Overall: ★★★ out of 5

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He Is Legend

He Is Legend turned out to be my favorite band of the night. I enjoyed basically every aspect of the performance, so it's hard to know where to begin. I hadn't seen them in probably about ten years, and since then they've gone on hiatus, re-formed, gotten a new drummer, and completely shed their "screamo" roots. That said, I enjoyed their old stuff the most, ironically. However, they played a new song that punched me right in the guts. So heavy. I can't wait for the new album on April 28th.

They sounded great, the energy was high, and the crowd participation was the best of the night. I think, to be fair, most of the attendees were there to see He Is Legend. If you've never seen them, check out their new music video, below. This is a mature, heavy rock band.

He Is Legend Setlist: The Widow of Magnolia | Everyone I Know Has Fangs | Attack of the Dungeon Witch | Stranger Danger | Be Easy | Sand | Mean Shadows | The Seduction | I Am Hollywood

Setlist: ★★★½ out of 5
Sound: ★★★★ out of 5
Energy: ★★★★ out of 5
Live Performance: ★★★½ out of 5
Overall: ★★★★ out of 5

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Norma Jean

Finally, the almighty Norma Jean took the stage. (That's not me talking, that's how they described themselves.) As I mentioned in the introduction, I haven't seen them since 2010, and they're a completely different band. I don't mean they've changed their image or their music, I mean the actual band members are different. I didn't even recognize them when they took the stage for a sound check, I thought they were the sound techs. Oops.

The music has indeed changed with the new members. The latest album is a bit more melodic while the older music was more technical and chaotic. It's still unmistakably Norma Jean. They mostly played songs off the new record, so thankfully the music is very good. (In fact, I was remiss in not including it in my favorite albums of 2016. I've since listened to it a few more times and it definitely deserves a spot. The problem is, I don't know which album it would replace.) I've embedded my favorite song off the new album below. Cory, the lead vocalist, explained that the song is about his abusive relationship with his ex-wife. In fact, most of the album is pretty dark, lyrically, which contradicts the more melodic direction of the music. It's a strange mashup, but it works.

Norma Jean is still a band worth seeing all these years and lineup changes later, if you're into heavy music. They sounded fantastic and the energy was almost as high as for He Is Legend, despite the dark, depressing tone of the songs. As much as I enjoyed their overall performance (especially the Deftones-inspired song Reaction), they saved the best for last. The encore song was Memphis will Be Laid to Waste, the best song off their best record. The crowd agreed with me, and the night was definitely ended on a high note.

Norma Jean Setlist: I. The Planet | Everyone Talking over Everyone Else | Synthetic Sun | Funeral Singer | The Anthem of the Angry Brides | Reaction | 1,000,000 Watts | "The Potter Has No Hands" | If You Got It at Five, You Got It at Fifty | Forever Hurtling Towards Andromeda | Coffinspire/Dilemamachine | The End of All Things Will Be Televised | I Used to Hate Cell Phones But Now I Hate Car Accidents | IV. The Nexus

Encore: Memphis Will Be Laid to Waste

Setlist: ★★★ out of 5
Sound: ★★★★ out of 5
Energy: ★★★ out of 5
Live Performance: ★★★★ out of 5
Overall: ★★★½ out of 5

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