Show In Review: Between the Buried and Me
I made it out to the House of Blues last Thursday, March 15th, 
with comp tickets courtesy of Las Vegas Metal Scene to see Between the Buried and Me . I unfortunately have to be the bad guy and say that I was not very impressed. I have heard through the grapevine that this show had AMAZING reviews, but I frankly am not in that same mindset.
We arrived a bit late, just missing Leprous’ set , which I heard was outstanding by the way. I can say that I have never felt like a stranger in a local venue until this night. there were only a very small handful of the normal crowd that I know and see at most shows. It was a sea of plaid over shirts and indie band / sarcastic screen T’s. Paired with meticulously trimmed hipster facial hair and emo hair cuts.
For sure not my standard crowd. We were in a 
very light not so hardcore rock / metal audience. There were definitely no mosh pits. This is more like rock you sway to and just feel reverberate within. Might be some chill music to listen to while stoned. Not as aggressive as the thrash, death and black metal trees. There were some fun moments though.
The Dear Hunter took the stage, they gave me that indie rock mixed with old school blue grass feel. The composition of their music and the transitions throughout the high and low points of each song were exquisite. There were some seriously impressive hair and beards on that stage. No Balding bearded wonders here.
They are bit slower than what I normally am into, but there were a few songs that I was definitely into such as Witness Me, and The Most Cursed of Hands . One of their songs kinda gave me that Feel Good Inc. by Gorillaz vibe. There were two friends , one of which I ran into in-between sets later on, dancing along to one of their songs classic swing style in the middle of the the crowd where a mosh pit would normally have formed.
When Between the Buried and Me came on, a small pit broke out in the beginning and then died off to 5 people . The band members mostly stayed in one spot aside from the vocalist (minimally) and the guitarist on stage right. The crowd build up and interaction 
left a lot to be desired. In the midst of which I felt like I was listening to the sound track of a B rated sci-fi movie based out of the 80’s. It was very disappointing, having seen them play live before. I was let down. They had some of the crowd swaying and bumping up and down for a couple of the other songs but that was it.
The biggest thing that can kill a show for me is the lack of 
engagement with the crowd. You might as well have statues on the stage and just play your album if you aren’t going to move around and amplify the vibe of the crowd that came to see you. The other big one is sound. If the sound is off, which it was, and you aren’t keeping your shit tight…. “snobs” like me will hear it. Now some will say this is on the sound guy and it partially is, but its only partially the sound guy’s fault if you are missing notes and losing your grove.
Winona and I looked at each other, the synchronized facial expressions of distaste were magical. We both looked at each-other with this kind of stink face and said to one another “I want to leave.” If you’ve seen me at a show, you know that I don’t leave until the very end unless I am flat out exhausted or the show is complete garbage. Over all the first two bands I give props. But I definitely expected more out of this show.
Great article!