After a Wednesday of snow, ice, rain, and cold, the city of Toronto was treated to a Thursday of sunshine, warm weather, and an overdose of first-class Metalcore.
OPENING ACT: Vended
After a Wednesday of snow, ice, rain, and freakin’ cold temperatures, the city of Toronto was treated to a Thursday of sunshine, warm weather, a nice breeze, and an overdose of first-class Metalcore, courtesy of VENDED, BURY TOMORROW and WHILE SHE SLEEPS during their North America 2025 Tour. Keith Ibbitson of Metal Paparazzi and I were there at the always fun The Danforth Music Hall to enjoy those relatively young but already renowned bands of the Metalcore scene worldwide (but not before savoring a nice and sweet cinnamon roll at Cinnaholic, of course, as quality fuel for the rest of the night), and despite the beyond horrid traffic that’s now a constant in Toronto (except for Monday nights), most fans were able to arrive in time to grab some merch, have a few drinks and get ready for the action that was about to begin on and off stage.
It was 7pm when Des Moines, Iowa’s own Alternative/Nu Metal band VENDED took the stage of The Danforth Music Hall for an incendiary performance, perfectly warming up everyone for the main attractions of the night. If you know nothing about those guys, the band features two musicians who are sons of members of Slipknot, singer Griffin Taylor is the son of Corey Taylor, and drummer Simon Crahan is the son of Shawn “Clown” Crahan, but that doesn’t mean they’re a copy of Slipknot; quite the contrary, they have their own sound and style, and the crowd loved every single second of their show, already igniting a sick circle pit. Their debut self-titled album was out in 2024, it’s available on Spotify and other streaming platforms, and you should definitely give those guys a listen because they’re excellent in what they do.
Setlist
Intro
Nihilism
Ded to Me
Am I the Only One
The Far Side
Pitiful
Asylum
Band members
Griffin Taylor – lead vocals
Cole Espeland – lead guitar
Connor Grodzicki – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Jeremiah Pugh – bass, backing vocals
Simon Crahan – drums
Hailing from Southampton, Hampshire, England, BURY TOMORROW needed only a few seconds to electrify the crowd with their frantic performance, with the floor section exploding into an awesome circle pit for the delight of the fans and the band. Their dual vocal attack formed of Daniel Winter-Bates on harsh vocals and Tom Prendergast on clean vocals works extremely well live, with the heavy kitchen blasted by Davyd Winter-Bates on bass and Adam Jackson on drums adding an overdose of groove to their core sound. All of their songs sounded vibrant live, and if you know nothing about them go check their latest release The Seventh Sun, from 2023, on Spotify, and get ready for their upcoming album Will You Haunt Me, with That Same Patience, as I’m sure you’ll have a great time listening to those UK rockers. Needless to say, whenever they schedule a live concert in your town, you know where you’ll be that night, right?
Setlist
Abandon Us
Earthbound
Death (Ever Colder)
Let Go
Villain Arc
What If I Burn
Boltcutter
Black Flame
Cannibal
Majesty
Life (Paradise Denied)
Choke
Band members
Daniel Winter-Bates – harsh vocals
Kristan Dawson – lead guitar, backing vocals
Ed Hartwell – rhythm guitar
Tom Prendergast – keyboards, clean vocals
Davyd Winter-Bates – bass
Adam Jackson – drums, percussion
It was already past 9pm when Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England-based outfit WHILE SHE SLEEPS attacked the crowd with their share of Metalcore made in the UK, just like Bury Tomorrow had just done, and once again the fans at the venue went wild, jumping up and down, screaming the lyrics together with frontman Lawrence “Loz” Taylor, raising their fists and horns in the air, and of course slamming into the pit with a huge smile on their faces. There were moments of friendship and love, when Loz asked fans to hug their families and friends, a Slipknot-like moment with everyone going down and waiting for his sign to start jumping, cellphones with their flashlights on in the air, and an overdose of crowd surfing. I’m not kidding, there was this small girl with a ponytail and a red hoodie that might have broken the worldwide record of crowd surfing in one night, as she kept flying around every 10 seconds nonstop. All of their songs also sounde great live, including the new ones from their 2024 album Self Hell (available on Spotify), and I guess based on the warm reaction from the entire venue that it won’t take long for Toronto to enjoy another night together with While She Sleeps.
Setlist
Rainbows
Leave Me Alone
Anti-Social
You Are All You Need
The Guilty Party
You Are We
Self hell
Systematic
Four Walls
Hurricane
Enlightenment(?)
Silence Speaks
To The Flowers
Sleeps Society
Band members
Lawrence “Loz” Taylor – lead vocals
Sean Long – lead guitar, backing vocals
Mat Welsh – rhythm guitar, piano, vocals
Aaran McKenzie – bass, backing vocals
Adam “Sav” Savage – drums, percussion
THE HEADBANGING MOOSE 