Pierce the Veil at MGM, 11/21/23
After several years of radio silence, Pierce the Veil’s return to their spot in the pantheon of early 2010s emo royalty had to be spectacular. Known for spectacle, sound, and slinging guitar riffs around like they weigh nothing, the legions of fans that waited patiently expected nothing but the trio’s best. The sold-out Boston date of their Jaws of Life tour, named after the new post-hiatus album that was released earlier this year, proved that not only is Pierce the Veil back in terms of releasing music that absolutely hits, they’re also ready to rock and f-cking roll night after night on stage.
Vic Fuentes, frontman for Pierce the Veil, greets the crowd.
A cold and rainy evening was quickly forgotten upon my entry to the shiny new MGM Fenway venue, where I was ushered to the pit for the first of three openers, Destroy Boys. The Sacramento trio, padded with a tour bassist, riled up the crowd with a bouncy set filled with screams as the two vocalists battled it out on bass and microphone. Their newest release, Shadow (I’m Breaking Down), was particularly good, and their short set ran the gamut of the Boys’s 6-year career.
Ramone Valerio of Dayseeker.
Rory Rodruigez of Dayseeker.
Destroy Boys was quickly followed by Dayseeker, a self-proclaimed “post-hardcore” band with stunning vocals and the guitar skills to match. Frontman Rory Rodruigez waltzed around the stage, mixing gritty roars with soaring, existential lyrics about solitude and sympathy. “Crying While You’re Dancing,” the fifth song they performed and probably the most relatable for a venue filled with emotional Pierce the Veil superfans, and “Neon Grave,” dedicated to Rodruigeuz’s recently late father, both appeared in my Spotify Liked Songs immediately after the set ended. I’m a big fan of complex bass undertones and well-crafted vocal breakdowns – Dayseeker had both in spades. A huge swell of applause emerged from the crowd as they exited with a sweet message about their growth over the ten years they’ve been together - a massive contrast to the next and final opener.
LS Dunes is best described as a punk supergroup. Formed from Circa Survive vocalist Anthony Green, My Chemical Romance guitarist Frank Iero, Coheed and Cambria guitarist Travis Stever, bassist Tim Payne from Thursday and drummer Tucker Rule, also from Thursday, these dads (literally!) know how to rock, and they brought their absolute A-game to the Boston show. Green thrashed around on stage like a bat out of hell, pausing only briefly to take the rowdy crowd’s temperature in response to the rhythmic conversation between Payne’s bass and Rule’s drums, fine-tuned within an inch of their life after years of touring together. The first words out of Green’s mouth, before their first song and debut single “Permanent Rebellion” started, was “oh, yeah. It’s going to be THAT kind of show tonight!” – and it was.
Given that LS Dunes has only been together since the start of 2022, it came as no surprise that their set was almost their entire discography. After the thrashing sounds of “Permanent Rebellion” came “Bombsquad,” another uptempo rager with Iero’s signature melodic riffs singing right alongside the vocals. “Benadryl Subreddit” was a personal favorite, with a great bridge that Green sang exactly like the recording - tough to do when you’re switching between a guttural scream and an angelic harmony with the rhythm guitar. They wrapped up to thunderous applause with “Old Wounds,” their newest song, and then it was finally time for the headlining act.
Man, Piece the Veil’s stage presence is legendary for good reason. They’ve got the energy. They’ve got the vocal presence. They’ve got the crowd banter. They’ve got the ability to not slam into each other while they rush across the stage carrying heavy instruments at light speed. Tony Perry, the shy lead guitarist, plays well as the straight man to wildly energetic bassist Jaime Preciado, while frontman Vic Fuentes sings his heart out every night of the tour and gushes over how much they appreciate the fans for stickin’ with them through their hiatus. They’ve really, truly still got it.
The show opened with “Death of an Executioner,” a thrumming album introduction that was the perfect warmup for those who planned to jump and dance the whole night. “Caraphernelia,” an emo classic from their second album, was up next to turn up the nostalgia factor to ten. The setlist masterfully balanced songs from Jaws of Life, their menace of a comeback album released in 2023, and their prior three studio releases. “Hold On ‘Til May” was put on “hold” halfway through to pull a fan up from the audience. Fuentes thanked everyone in the room for their dedication to the song, calling it one of his favorites, and gifted the 15-year-old his guitar before they launched into the iconic bridge, “If you were me, you’d do the same…
A quick, romantic pause for acoustic versions of “Resilience,” off Jaws of Life, and “Bulletproof Love,” from 2010’s Selfish Machines, turned into the entire room (no exaggeration! Including balconies!) screaming and dancing their hearts out to “Hell Above,” a certified Pierce the Veil classic. “So Far So Fake” and “Jaws of Life” followed after, with the latter seeing a tongue-in-cheek curtain drop moment that garnered a roar of approval. The band finished off the show with “Besitos” and “King for a Day,” both perennial favorites, and then vanished into the night. Black, yellow, and green confetti stuck to everyone’s shoes as the crowd scattered outside of Fenway, chattering about the best parts of the evening and whether or not they got kicked in the face by a crowd surfer (I did, three times. And I’d still go see them again.) Safe to say Pierce the Veil’s re-debut in Boston was a smashing success.
