Underoath @ Agora (11/30/24)
This past weekend, Underoath visited Cleveland as part of their 20th anniversary celebration for their hit album "They’re Only Chasing Safety."
Opening for them was rising Nashville-based band, Twin Stacks. Only releasing music since 2022, they are on the cusp of growing their following. Their sound set a vibrant tone for the night and got fans started for the evening to come.
Something I love about this tour, Underoath made a point to book different openers for almost every city, giving different bands the same opportunity to reach wider audiences and changing up the experience for fans at each show. So if you’re a fan that follows the band to multiple cities, you’ll still be able to have a new experience each night.
Following Twin Stacks, was a band coming from their home in Leeds, under the name Static Dress. Immediately they caught my attention with their energetic performance. Their music blends post-hardcore and metalcore, appealing to a diverse range of listeners. Both the guitarist and bassist provide backing vocals, and the combination of their voices truly elevates the overall sound. Another thing that caught my attention, was that a single member of the band likes to remain anonymous. This is interesting simply due to the fact it is usually a unanimous decision for everyone to go anonymous in bands. A very interesting choice, with lots of room to wonder who the member is.
Lastly, for the band everyone came to see, Underoath ramped up the anticipation for the crowd. Instead of the lights immediately going dark, they were slowly dimmed over a minute or two, giving a trippy experience for the fans. When the lights finally went out, each member of the band was lit up one by one with lamps that were placed throughout the stage. Their setup was very cozy, felt at home with a couch in the center of the stage, and the warm tone of the lamps. They opened up with a very melancholy version of ‘Some Will Seek Forgiveness, Others Will Escape’. For the first half of the show Underoath played through TOCS, and for the other half, they played songs from their other albums. This gave variety to the show, and also let their longtime fans hear the album they know so well, with some of their other hits. During the earlier set of the show, Spencer Chamberlain had some young kids come up on stage with their parents and sit on the couch to watch one of the songs being performed. It was heartwarming to see these boys, who were only 11 or 12 years old (and not yet born when the album was released), enjoying the same music their parents listened to.
Lately, Cleveland has hosted a handful of artists that have been touring for a few decades, which has served as a welcome period of reminiscence. I think it’s all good for us to reflect how we’ve grown between the original release of “They're Only Chasing Safety” and now.
Photos by Sami Butler
Twin Stacks
Static Dress
Underoath
