Emmure and Suicide Silence rip apart Indy\’s Emerson Theater

From the outset the odds were stacked against Emmure when they performed at the Emerson Theater in Indianapolis. Lead singer Frankie Palmeri was put on mandatory vocal rest after suffering a major tear in his vocal cords at the beginning of their tour with Suicide Silence.

To Palmeri’s credit, he came out before Emmure was set to go on and explained the situation to the crowd, apologizing for his absence, but reassuring fans that they would still enjoy the show that was now being headed up by their tour manager, Jon Blake.

Despite Palmeri’s absence the guys in Emmure started their night off strong with the controversial “Bring A Gun To School.” It immediately became clear that Blake was more than capable of stepping up and putting on a show that the fans would still get in to.

Unfortunately, midway through the second song, “Nemesis,” technical issues that would plague the band throughout the entirety of their set started to arise. Initially there was simply a strong buzz that tore through the room, but over the course of the song the issue escalated, eventually taking out the vocals entirely.

Blake continued to scream, but his efforts were futile. At this point the band was becoming visibly frustrated, but the crowd didn’t seem to mind the technical problems, as they carried on and screamed every word until the mic issue was resolved. Emmure certainly had the most crowd interaction of the night, as a steady stream of stage divers and crowd surfers passed through the front, and Jon made sure to connect with as many of them as possible, as he would grab them so they could yell into the mic together.

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The buzzing returned and drummer Adam Pierce seemed especially perturbed by the issue as he flung a stick off the side of the stage in frustration. Crew members worked on switching out gear, but even by the end of the set the problems were only partially resolved.

As the band walked off stage you could certainly tell that they were upset about the performance, but the crowd’s only disappointment seemed to be that the set wasn’t longer. Given their frustration, it’s pretty safe to say that the show at the Emerson Theater is one the band will want to quickly put behind them, but from an onlooker’s perspective, and certainly from a fan’s perspective, the show was a massive success- if anything that frustration just fueled the energy and intensity from the band.

Finally, headliners Suicide Silence hit the stage right around 10pm. Opening with “No Pity,” their set was brutality at its finest from start to finish. Suicide Silence’s fate as a band looked uncertain after the sudden loss of lead singer Mitch Lucker, and filling his shoes would be daunting at best, but Hernan “Eddie” Hermida has stepped into the role and made it his own while still honoring the massive achievements that the band made under Lucker’s leadership.

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Hermida ensured that a circle pit remained going throughout the entirety of their show- and at one point he even cleared all the guys out in order to give the girls a chance to get in on the fun. The band played a total of 13 tracks, leaving fans thoroughly exhausted by the end of the night.

The Stronger Than Faith tour continues on through the end of March, snaking along the east coast before finishing off in Tuscon on March 26.

-Ashley Adcox