Thousand Foot Krutch\’s Born This Way Tour dominates Pieres

It’s been a long road for Christian rock. A genre that once had just a handful of impressive bands and only a select few gain success in the mainstream world has blossomed into one of the most revered and respected movements in music- mainly because the lyrical content has become more honest about what the bands believe while not alienating anyone. They do this by talking about their beliefs but doing so in a way that anyone can relate but not feel preached at. Two of these bands are Thousand Foot Krutch and We As Human- both of which are touring together right now with Like A Storm and Righteous Vendetta as part of Thousand Foot Krutch (TFK)’s Born This Way Tour, which made a recent stop at one of our favorite venues- Fort Wayne, Ind.’s Piere’s Entertainment Center. Righteous Vendetta are one of the more impressive young bands around right now and, fresh off the release of their latest album- Defiance- they’ve started to pick up a lot of steam. They kicked off the show with one of the more high energy sets you’ll see from a rising band and set the stage early for a night of intensity and had the crowd engaged from the beginning. Look for them to grow at a rapid pace over the next year or two. [lg_slideshow folder=\”2014/Thousand Foot Krutch Born This Way Tour/Righteous Vendetta/\”] New Zealand’s Like A Storm have been a regular performer at Piere’s this year, making a stop in Fort Wayne on virtually every tour they’ve played this year. Therefore, the crowd knows them very well as does the band with the fans. This made for an even better show since, as support, your set is usually pretty short so fans typically leave wanting more. They played pretty much the same setlist they’d played three weeks earlier when they stopped in with Otherwise, but the crowd ate it up nonetheless and left wanting to see them an unprecedented seventh time. They brought it all- a didgeridoo, a cover of AC/DC’s “TNT” as well as an impressive rockified version of Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise” and closed it off with their smash hit “Love The Way You Hate Me.” [lg_slideshow folder=\”2014/Thousand Foot Krutch Born This Way Tour/Like A Storm/\”] We As Human were next on the night and, with just a debut album having released last year, they’ve grown to a level of popularity that you’d see from a band after two or three albums- I like to compare it to the success of Halestorm, who were headlining at the end of their debut album cycle. We As Human switched up the setlist a bit, which worked to their favor and kept longtime WAH fans who’ve seen them in the double-digit (like this reviewer) on their toes. Opening with “Zombie,” it was on from the start. They played all the songs the masses wanted to hear- “Dead Man,” “Strike Back,” “Bring To Life” and their no. 1 hit “Take The Bullets Away,” which is one of the most emotion-filled and cries of the heart you’re ever going to hear. Anyone who’s battled depression or suicide will connect immediately. They also threw in a goodie for the longtime fans- “Double Life,” which was recorded before they signed with Atlantic Records. We As Human are blowing up fast and it won’t be long before they’re headlining their own tour. Maybe next year? [lg_slideshow folder=\”2014/Thousand Foot Krutch Born This Way Tour/We As Human/\”] After the always-captivating set from We As Human, headliners Thousand Foot Krutch took the stage to finish off the crowd. While they’ve been around since the 90’s, TFK have blown up in the mainstream world over the last few years- starting with their Welcome to the Masquerade album and it only grew with 2012’s The End is Where We Begin. With the release of OXYGEN:INHALE this past August, TFK’s following is growing exponentially and they haven’t strayed from their beliefs through any of it- if anything they’ve gotten more vocal about it. TFK played a set included songs from every record back through Phenomenon, closing with “Rawkfist” for the longtime fans with a huge emphasis on the new record- and rightly so, it’s just stellar. TFK have been in the game for decades so the know exactly how to work a crowd and it showed with massive amounts of crowd participation and frontman Trevor McNevan holding the mic out to the crowd on numerous occasions for them to sing along. [lg_slideshow folder=\”2014/Thousand Foot Krutch Born This Way Tour/Thousand Foot Krutch/\”] Playing over an hour and a half still wasn’t enough time for every big TFK song to be played so a few good ones were left out but the setlist was still top-notch. It’s good to see the band at the top of their game after so long and after so many long, grueling tour cycles as well. To top it off, the band headed over to the merch booth after playing to sign for any fans who wanted- something you just don’t see from a headliner at all anymore. -Reggie Edwards