REVIEW: Between The Buried And Me, The Acacia Strain at Webster Hall | 03.17.2024

Show Reviews

Mar 19

Written By

Between The Buried And Me are in the midst of a 34-date, 17-city tour through the US and Canada. Sparing the head math, the band is treating every city on the tour to two nights of face-melting prog metal goodness. “The Colors Experience”, as it is dubbed, consists of BTBAM dedicating the first night to performing their 2007 album, Colors, in its entirety, and the second night to do the same with their 2021 follow-up, Colors II.

I was fortunate enough to attend night two, where the band delivered a performance proving the sequel can indeed be just as good as its predecessor.

THE SHOW

Albany-based deathcore outfit The Acacia Strain are joining Between The Buried And Me on the tour, and they opened the show with an album play-through of their own. The band performed Failure Will Follow, in full; a sludgy record that runs nearly 40 minutes in length despite consisting of only three songs.

“It’s an album we never thought we’d play live,” frontman Vincent Bennett shared upon its completion. I was glad that they did; the muddy power that comprised the trio of downtempo doomy tunes served as a sonically impactful introduction to the band.

Bennett thanked BTBAM for giving The Acacia Strain the opportunity to explore a less traditional approach to their setlist for this tour, and the fans for being so attentive during the performance. “I appreciate you watching a 42 year old man having a nervous breakdown onstage.”

The band then switched things up and played some self-described “dumb-dumb cave man bullshit,” capping off the set with a couple fast and heavy tunes that got the hardcore dancers (literally) in full swing.

With an album play-through comes an obvious setlist; removing the intrigue of the band’s choice for the opening song seems like it would make the first notes of it less impactful. However, when Between The Buried And Me frontman Tommy Rogers began playing the piano line to “Monochrome,” Webster Hall went nuts, the impact just as strong if not more so than the element of surprise.

And so began the adventure of Colors II. Watching the album performed front to back was an enriching experience. The methodical compositions and melodic twists and turns showcased the brilliance of the music and the talent of the members that were performing it.

BTBAM offered limited pageantry and there was no need for it; the music spoke for itself. Guitarist Paul Waggoner hopped up on his riser from time to time but was otherwise locked in to playing his parts flawlessly. Touring guitarist Tristan Auman, who is filling in for Dustie Waring, was stationed toward the rear of the stage, next to drummer Blake Richardson, and he made his way to the front of the stage from time to time to interact with the crowd before returning to his position. Bassist Dan Briggs was behind his keyboards, stepping back only to make room for himself to play some insanely good bass lines.

Frontman Tommy Rogers was the most mobile, as frontmen often are, alternating between playing keys and roaming the stage from riser to riser while delivering his signature vocals. The crowd screamed along to Rogers as they jumped, moshed, and crowd surfed toward him with arms outstretched.

As a North Carolina native, it was pretty great to get to see BTBAM the night after my Alma Mater NC State, a college located in BTBAM’s hometown of Raleigh, won the ACC Championship. It’s been a real NC week for this NY transplant. I can’t really explain it, and perhaps someone out there can articulate it for me, but something about BTBAM’s sound just feels like North Carolina to me. Their ability to channel the Tar Heel state in their music adds a layer of home-y warmth; like Cheerwine and barbecue, but metal.

Colors II closes with the 15-minute epic “Human Is Hell (Another One With Love)” and so too did BTBAM’s set, with no additional song selections or encores included. I suppose it would have been a bit much for me to request they play The Silent Circus in its entirety as an encore, but we can all dream.

THE SHOOT

When I first created Dangit Bee!, my plan was to incorporate helpful tips and tricks as it relates to concert photography. In practice it’s turned into more of a stream of consciousness around photography. I’m going to attempt to dial it in a bit more, providing specific notes about shooting each band while still offering anecdotes about my own journey as a photographer.

Let’s dig in…

The biggest challenge for both bands was that rather than it being the first three songs, photographers were given the first ten minutes of each set. It was hard to keep track of time without having song breaks to help with my pacing, so I only knew that I’d run out of time when security gave me a tap on the shoulder to let me know. My suggestion would be to operate as if you're shooting the third song, but for the entire time. In other words, make sure you're crossing your T's and dotting your I's from start to finish.

THE ACACIA STRAIN

The lighting has moments of difficulty, primarily when they're blasting the band in blue; be patient, though, because there were plenty of moments where the lighting was totally fine.

The band doesn't move around all that much so you can work your way from member to member. Vocalist Vincent Bennett spends most of his time leaning on his mic stand, and while the mic and stand provide some minor challenges, you'll have no problem getting shots of him.

I wish I had more notes to give here, but this was a pretty easy set to shoot; you won't need to strategize much, just enjoy it!

BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME

Same deal as The Acacia Strain lighting-wise. They opened the set in intense red light that seemed like it was there to stay, but then suddenly there was an abundance of clean light and it stayed that way for the most part. Use the time in the red light to figure out some compositions so you can be ready to go as soon as the lights change.

Vocalist Tommy Rogers is often behind his keyboard and mic, but he spends a near equal amount of time roaming around the stage; if you'd rather not bother with shooting through the equipment, use those times to focus on the other band members.

Bassist Dan Briggs was the toughest to shoot since he was obstructed by his keyboards for almost the entire time; most of the shots I have of him were taken once I was out of the pit.

I feel like most of my strongest shots were taken of the band after I left the pit. Not sure if you'll have the same experience, but I suggest sticking around for as much of the set as you can. The lighting changes enough to where you can get a nice variety of shots.

Regarding my own photography journey, I'm starting to really love editing in color. There were lots of shots where I'm struggled to get the colors just right, but the ones where was able to motivated me to continue past the ones where I could not. Besides, there's always black and white!