Sunday, May 13, 2018 – The Waiting Room in downtown Benson in Omaha, Nebraska always brings great shows. In conjunction with 1% Productions and Third String Productions, they were able to bring We Came As Romans, Miss May I, and Like Moths to Flames, with local support from Your Last Chance. This was truly a night full of metalcore.
First up came from locals, Your Last Chance. This my fourth time seeing them live. They were such a perfect fit for this bill. I really enjoyed their new material, which should be on an upcoming EP hopefully by the end of the year. I believe they won some fans over during this show. Be sure to check these guys out as they are killing it in the local scene.
Next up was Columbus, OH’s own Like Moths to Flames. This was my first time seeing them live. They went on 15 minutes after they were scheduled due to some technical difficulties, but still power through their set. I was surprised to see such great reception to them. They have an album that came out last year on Rise Records, called Dark Divine. One of the songs they played, “Empty the Same”, had a video dropped for it. It’s a very emotionally-driven song and a nice change of pace for the night. Good set, overall. I can see why Omaha loves them.
The direct support came from another Ohio-based band, Miss May I. I had been looking forward to seeing them live because the last time they played Omaha was 2013, opening up for Killswitch Engage at Sokol Auditorium. I always love vocalist Levi Benton’s energy on stage. Gives 110% every time. Also, awesome showing by bassist/clean vocalist Ryan Neff, killing it on the clean vocals. BJ Stead, lead guitarist, shredded my face off, as well. It was nice hearing some material from their three most recent albums, as they didn’t have those released the last time I saw them. The crowd was really receptive to them, going hard in the pit. Let’s hope it doesn’t take almost five years for them to come back to Omaha, as their set was really promising for more.
Finally, it was Michigan’s We Came As Romans to hit the stage. This was my 3rd time seeing them live. I believe this was their first headline show in Omaha since 2012, so it’s been awhile for a full headline set from them here. They blended the new material with the older material pretty well. I’m still trying to get used to Kyle Pavone’s, singer, EDM setup, but it’s his passion for that kind of music, so I will allow what he does, musically. Dave Stephens is one of my favorite metalcore vocalists, so much passion in his voice. The crowd energetic to start off their set, but they really welcomed the band with open arms and couldn’t stop moving. I hope this show put Omaha back on the back for metalcore acts to come play more shows here. The Waiting Room is a perfect fit for bands of We Came As Romans’s caliber. Shout out to Austin Gaule, promoter for Third String, for bringing this tour to Omaha and hopefully some more rad shows like this one.
– David Taylor, Reviewer for Go Venue Magazine
