Since the Corona virus stopped live performances from happening, bands are finding new ways to get their music to the people. Live streams it is. And even though you’re behind a screen, you still feel the energy from the band. At least, it was like that with Escape The Fate. We got a 30 second countdown, keeping the tension high. And then boom, we got the closest thing possible to experiencing a live show. Of course, we still miss our actual live shows. There’s so much more to a live gig that you can’t experience though a screen. But hey, better something than nothing and Escape the Fate had us covered for the next hour.

It started of with purple and red lights, then the band came on stage and everything went black for a few seconds. ‘Do You Love Me’ from their latest album ‘I am Human’ blasted from our speakers seconds later. After this clean song, we dived straight into ‘Ungrateful’, a faster screamed song with a clean chorus from the 2013 album ‘Ungrateful’.  

Continuing with ‘Gorgeous Nightmare‘ from the 2010 self-titled album ‘Escape the Fate’. Only 3 songs in and already we had cuts from three different albums. It sounds like this is going to be a diverse set. 
On to the next one, we have ‘On To The Next One’. Sorry, I had to make that joke, quarantine is getting to me. This one is from the 2008 album called ‘This War Is Ours’. After this song the band took some time to chat with the fans.

A reality check hit the fans when lead singer Craig Mabbitt said ‘Hope everybody on the world wide web is having an amazing evening, morning or midnight’. Actually, it hit a little earlier when I found out the livestream started at 19PM PST and not CET… Oops. One very big benefit of a live stream is that you can rewatch it whenever you want. You can’t participate in the chat anymore if you’re not watching live, of course. It’s a cool thing that they added the chat, but there were so many people commenting that the band couldn’t keep up with reading it. It did lead to some funny moments when Craig said ‘Make some noise in the chat!’. Fans could also donate to the band or buy merch. And as lead guitarist Kevin Gruft said: ‘Every donation we’ll take a piece of clothing off’. Unfortunately, he only took of his jacket and shirt, still wearing a tanktop underneath. But that’s just my opinion.

This live stream was the first time that they played ‘Invincible’ live. It’s the soundtrack for the upcoming movie ‘The Retaliators’ and can also be found on Escape the Fate‘s new album ‘Chemical Warfare‘, that will be released on February 19, 2021. The movie originally had its release in 2020, but that seems to be pushed to 2021. The original music video shows the band playing the song and violinist Lindsey Stirling filling in the melody.  

One really heartwarming moment was when they played ‘Walk On’, the last track of their upcoming album ‘Chemical Warfare‘. You know that feeling when everybody is taking out their lighter or phone flashlight and is shining it towards the band. And when you’re at the front row and you turn around all you see is thousands and thousands of lights? Well, that’s the feeling that blasted through the screen. A perfect song to close the show with.

Overall, this livestream was awesome. We got a wide range of songs from different albums to bang our heads to. You can see the effort Escape the Fate, LIT lighting (the company that provides safe venues and everything else a band needs to be safe at a venue) and all the people around them put into this. You can see the joy they have on stage, the fun they experience playing live-ish again. You can also hear the sadness when Craig Mabbitt says ‘One more song! One more song! Can you hear that?! Or ‘I was dreaming the crowd singing that with us’, just after they finished playing ‘Issues’. It’s not only the fans who miss the festivals and shows, the bands obviously do miss it too. A funny one was when he said ‘Ok Google open that shit up. Alexa, start a mosh pit during ‘This Is Our War (Guillotine 2)’. I wonder if any phones responded to that. 

I was dreaming the crowd singing that with us

Craig Mabbitt

One thing that could have been better was the sound. There were a couple of false notes here and there and there could have been more bass. But then I also have to say that I don’t know how hard it is to get sound across through a live stream with absolutely no delay. 

Is this the new form of live shows? Maybe… Will it stay for a while? Probably… Do we all hope we can go back to shows and headbang together and have moshpits without furniture blocking the way? Hell yeah.

Setlist:
Do You Love Me
Ungrateful
Gorgeous Nightmare
On To The Next One
Invincible
Just A Memory
Remember Every Scar
Something
The Flood
Issues

Encore
This Is Our War (Guillotine 2)
One For The Money
Broken Heart
Walk On