Falling In Reverse live in Madison, Wi, 2020

To start off, I haven’t had a chance to see any of these bands live. Big mistake on my part. The opening band was The Word Alive, which came out like a lightning bolt. Then to finish off our ear holes and sear our minds with metalcore heavy hitters, Escape The Fate and Falling In Reverse, it was beyond expectations. The Drug in Me is Gold Tour is something to not miss.
Falling In Reverse US Tour 2020 poster
Opening bands usually get the short end of the stick with attendance, lighting house sound and energy, but The Word Alive woke up a “Sold Out” show right out of the gate. Grinding out their opener “Trapped”, red jumpsuit vocalist Telle Smith wasted no time to reach out to the fans with his engaging and upbeat energy.
 
Showcasing the night is when they dive into their back catalog and treat the room to favorites like “Misery”, “Heartless” and “Why Am I Like This?”. By the time they finished the set, the crowd was lit up, and ready for more. The Word Alive is a hard act to follow.
 
Purple and red lights painted the dark stage when Escape The Fate entered, but was quickly flashed with white once they started their set with “Gorgeous Nightmare”. The band drilled through their set with “We Won’t Back Down”, an anthemic and catchy song that showed us what to expect for the next hour with the band. “The Flood”, “Ashley” and “Something” made it impossible not to sing along and have a great time.
 
Every song fired like a metalcore cannon. It hit hard and kept the crowd energized. Escape The Fate proved once again that they will always give their fans some of the best live experiences they could want.
 
Darkness fell over the stage as the moment that we all were waiting for finally came… Falling In Reverse. Coming out to “The Westerner” was a cool buildup to an already great night. This song is a great anthem, but has some incredible transitions. With frontman Ronnie Radke pacing like a tatted panther on his ego-riser, it was difficult not to feel the emotion of the lyrics of “Caught Like a Fly”, “Sink or Swim” and “Sink or Swim”.
 
The pit was huge, with crowd surfers-a-plenty as the sold out crowd moved like the ocean during a storm. There was no stopping this relentless metalcore onslaught. Hearing “The Drug in Me is You” live was amazing and waiting for my personal favorites, “Popular Monster” and “Drugs” was well worth it. Then the comedic “Just Like You” finished things off, which had the crowd wanting so much more.
 
Seeing these bands for the first time really gave me the sense of how the metal genre has grown over the years. It’s great to see bands blend, twist and evolve styles of music into something so different and fresh. There was a monsoon of talent on that stage. I would fully expect to see these bands again. I would also give 5 out of 5 stars to the people that put this tour together. Great fit, great energy and great night!