By: Mary Welch

Well I’ve got to say…. it feels SO GOOD to be back.

It’s been a very long last year and a half as I’m sure you all know. Taking a break was nice, but I have been beyond ready to get back into shooting shows again. I’m fortunate enough to have attended not one but the two Beartooth shows in southern California last weekend. It was kind of a draining two-day trip, but well worth putting nearly another thousand miles on my car and spending time with my best friend/co-pilot.

First up was Dragged Under. Now if you know me personally, you know I’m not afraid to say when I’m just not feeling it. I wasn’t too impressed with Dragged Under even though I noticed everyone else was having such a great time. The thing is that.. they absolutely changed my mind on the second night, the one I photographed. I think I was way too excited for Wage War the first day (who I am a huge fangirl for) to really give them the chance they deserved until I was ready to pay more attention on night #2. The fans reciprocated the energy the band gave and the level of excitement was definitely what I anticipated with shows returning. Their song “Chelsea” was ridiculously good. I look forward to seeing them again now and hope to in the future!

Alright, I shouldn’t even get started on Wage War because I won’t shut up. I’m definitely biased here.. oops! But I think it was my bestie who said this walking back to the car after the show: they “f*cked sh*t up.” After their set ended on night #1, I said to him how we made the right decision staying in town for the next night. If you didn’t know Beartooth was on next, you would think they were the headliner. I was super stoked to hear them play two new songs, one “High Horse” and the other “Teeth,” as well as older songs like “The River,” “Alive,” and “Gravity.” They really reminded me how satisfying working in the music industry can be.

I’ve seen Beartooth one or two times before so I had an idea as to what to expect, but a reminder really didn’t hurt to say the least. They owned the stage exactly as if they hadn’t played in over 500 days. Their extensive 17 song setlist, including “Disease,” “Skin,” “Hated,” “You Never Know,” and many more, proved to us how much they missed shows too.

If you’re able to make it out to the remainder of The Below Tour this August and September, you better get your tickets ASAP! You can find them right here.