The best tours are the ones that show an eclectic selection of artists on the bill and, Falling In Reverse’s God Is A Weapon Tour is exactly that, and it recently hit Noblesville’s Ruoff Music Center.
Sleep Theory opened the show and, being one of the newest rock bands in all of rock, the crowd showed up early to rock out with them. For the last year, Sleep Theory have been played consistently on Sirius XM’s Octane, so the crowd was very familiar with the band’s music, and it showed.
Their set was an energetic cavalcade of radio hits. Lead singer Cullen Moore roamed the stage, dancing from one end to the other and showing potential to become one of the top frontmen in rock- and quickly.
Bassist Paolo Vergara and guitarist Daniel Pruitt traded places back and forth throughout the set and their stage presence was impressive for a band that just started to make their mark two years ago.
They wrapped their set with Moore standing on top of the crowd in the pit and then crowd surfing back to the stage. Sleep Theory’s stage presence and quick rise as a new band is reminiscent of a young Pop Evil and they could easily match that ascent and level of popularity if they keep it up.
Hollywood Undead was up next and, were able to play their full set this time around. They came through the same venue last year with Halestorm and I Prevail, but their set was cut short due to weather, so they were ready to throw down in full, and the party was on from the get-go.
They kicked it off with “Riot” and “Chaos,” and this is where the party of the night was. Their stage tech stayed on stage to play tambourine and even chugged a beer with the band while playing and singing background vocals.
With palm trees adorning the stage, the band invited a kid onstage from the crowd for “Coming in Hot” and the crowd was into it. The band have always been the party of the night and this was the case in Noblesville again.
Slaughter To Prevail was up next and took the intensity up to the max. With drummer Evgeny Novikov dealing with some visa issues and unable to play a few shows, the band improvised by putting Novikov’s mask on rotating platform, using backing tracks to replace the drums. Halfway through the set, you didn’t even notice.
They brought the aggression and got the crowd moving and screaming just in time for Falling In Reverse.
Falling in Reverse’ set was introduced by Donnie- a Crank Yankers-style pupped that acted as Radke’s younger brother and was super comical and a level of levity that we haven’t seen from the band before, leading to a live shot of the band walking from their dressing room to the stage.
They ran into a few issues to start their set. The stage lights and pyro weren’t working heading into second song, “Zombified.” Singer Ronnie Radke tried to be patient and was for as long as he was able to, even taking the stage tech’s word that things were fixed, leading to a second attempt at the song. However, it wasn’t the case and the band- and fans started to get restless.
Radke refused to play the set without the pyro because the amount of it was so important to the set and experience for the fans. After about 15 minutes of waiting, the band left the stage until things were back on track.
Finally, it started working and the crowd erupted when the first set of pyro went off. The band started “Zombified” from the beginning again and gave the fans what they paid for- an experience.
They threw in a few FIR classics like “I’m Not a Vampire,” “The Drug in Me is You” and “Just Like You,” the latter of which saw the video screen behind the band showing an “asshole cam” that followed Radke around the stage and also focused on the crowd too, poking fun at Radke’s notable reputation.
They even threw in a swerve in “Situations” from Radke’s days in Escape The Fate, which got a monstrous response from the crowd.
Mixed in between classic favorites were the band’s modern hits like “Bad Guy,” “Popular Monster,” “All My Life,” “Watch the World Burn” and more.
Falling Reverse’s set was a visually stimulating experience and one that put the fans first. Radke took a moment before “No Fear” for him and bassist DL to walk around the entire lower pavilion, greeting and talking to fans, encouraging the kids and telling them they’re the future of rock and roll.
The highlight was a young boy, nearly in tears as he high-fived Radke and overwhelmed with emotion as Radke told him he was the future.
If one word could describe the band in Noblesville, it was ‘appreciative.’ “A lot of artists have to stay in one lane and play one style of music,” Radke told the 15,000 in attendance, “but you guys let me do whatever I want and play whatever I want.” It’s true, though. The band’s hits range from country-rock, to rap and hip hop, to metalcore, to straight metal and the fanbase loves all of it.
Radke showed humble appreciation for the fans as a man who has gone through hell, created hell for many others, done and said some bad things and found his way through it, became a better person and appreciates everyone who’s still with him.
If you haven’t seen Falling In Reverse live yet, here’s what you can expect- more pyro than you’ve ever seen live before, a party of a night and a band who’s truly thankful that you’re there.
-Reggie Edwards