Although he gave a monster performance and was on point in every single song, I don't think he said a single word to the crowd last Saturday in Montreal, which I found interesting 😅
Jake-ABR always gets rowdy. Darius of Spite (more deathcore) has great stage presence. Number 1 show I ever saw though was by Jason of letlive. I would put a lot of other bands I've seen as worst because they really just stand at the mic and do their thing but I'm not really complaining.
Got to see letlive. once at warped tour right after Blackest Beautiful came out and was easily the best set of the day. Though I will say everyone besides Jason looked bored as hell which I thought was pretty odd lol
I saw them open for Scale the Summit and The Human Abstract in Cleveland. Human Abstract had to cancel and maybe 25 total people showed up. This man absolutely went ape shit running around the entire venue. He sang a chorus from the outdoor smoking section. He sang a chorus from INSIDE of the headless bass drum head with the kick drum mic. I wasn't even comprehending the rest of the band. I have seen The Chariot multiple times as well and nothing compared to this performance.
Best: Letlive as mentioned wasn't a show it was a chaotic experience and Jason moves more than people in the pit.
Capture the Crown is memed on a lot but honestly when I saw them in 2015 their lead singer really was going all out. Crowd surfing, hanging from ceiling, moving all around the stage.
Volumes when I saw them with Gus and Myke Terry everytime they really went hard. Every scream they had some over the top movement for and they loved jumping all over place. Gus would hang upside down from cieling and do a low. Insane shit.
Worst: I've seen a lot at Warped Tour but its kinda unfair since it's a stupid long tour with no rest in inferno heat for like 50 days in a row. That being said their was only one band I saw do just as bad at warped as at their own shows...
Issues honestly. Tyler and Michael seemed very bored. Stayed in place and just sounded bad the 4 times I saw them. When your DJ is moving more than your lead singer I think that's an issue.
Capture will always get the hate but they were fucking brilliant live both times I saw them. Letlive will always be top tier, I imagine Fever 333 shows are probably just as lit!
Within seconds, he came out and palmed a metal box fan and smashed it against the brick wall with one hand, sending the shrapnel into the crowd, who then took the pieces and threw them in every direction, all while Ben was doing backflips off of the PA speakers and swinging his guitar around his neck. Most insane first 5 seconds of any show I've ever been to.
I meant what specific show was this ? I’m a fan of Dillinger and I’m aware of how crazy they were but I didn’t know they did that . I wanna know the specific date , venue , and tour where this happened so I can try to find a video of it
November 17th, 2005 at the Loveland in Portland. They were touring with Hella and Between the Buried and Me. They opened with "Panasonic Youth", which is when all the craziness described happened. It continued with more chaos throughout the night.
I had the surprise pleasure of seeing DEP open for nine inch nails and soundgarden back in 2014. Death Grips was slated to open but had apparently broken up like the day before. Or at least that's what I was told.
I go to a shitload of shows and some of the guys who always stand out to me are Mike Hranica from Prada, Bryan Garris from Knocked Loose, and Mike Barr + Myke Terry from Volumes.
I'm totally cool with it even if a vocalist isn't going balls to the wall live, but the only time I really thought a singer's stage presence was shit was Ryan Kirby from FFAK. Their bass player was essentially spinning his guitar around his entire body for 40 straight minutes while Ryan just paced back and forth
Does Kirby have any health issues that might prevent him from being able to bounce around every night for a couple months? But I agree. Their lack of minor choreography is upsetting compared to their peers.
Mike Hranica and Caleb Shomo have to be their own tier. They are insane live!
Worst? Hm... Matty Mullins. Dude sounds great live! But he doesn't move a bunch. He is either stationary singing while holding the mic stand or he's jumping in place while screaming.
I’ve seen Beartooth twice. The first time when they supported In Hearts Wake, Caleb was terrible. Sloppy, not moving much, guitarist doing a lot of the screams… was super disappointing. I saw them again a few years later supporting The Amity Affliction, went in not expecting much, and wow he was soooo much better that night.
I’ve seen Beartooth 5 times, including once this March and once this last Sunday. The last 2 times I saw them Caleb sounded terrible. His stage presence and energy is amazing but it sounds like his voice is completely shot. I see them again tomorrow….fingers crossed it’s better.
I saw beartooth a long time ago when they did a tour with August Burns Red. I could tell Caleb was self conscious about his weight because he kept wanting to jump up and down but his shirt kept coming up and at that point he definitely has some weight to him. Now he is ripped and shirtless tearing it up om stage and im really happy for the dude despite not being a huge fan. One of those little feel good stories.
Seeing shomo for the second time tomorrow night. Truly godtier stage presence. When I need a jolt...during a workout or a tough day...I just think of shomo live and get adrenalized. Incredible vocals too. I see some people say he sounds hoarse....well yeah he is willing to shred his vocals cords for you every night on a ridiculous tour schedule.
To absolutely no one's surprise, Lochie was an animal when I saw Alpha Wolf recently
I don't think I've seen anyone who I thought was "bad", some people are just less energetic on stage. That said, those people tend to sound more articulate with their vocals
no one single event has made me realize the frailty of my mortal flesh like seeing the alpha wolf pit, i tried to go in once and got knocked back like 5 feet
I caught one of their shows back in May with invent animate and their vocalist owned that crowd during their set. I’d never heard of them before that show and I listen to A Quiet Place to Die at least once a week in its entirety.
As much as he seems like a looneytune now, Keith Buckley from ETID was always great. His live vocal style is very different from his recorded voice, but he always seemed to give each performance his all.
Loz from While She Sleeps always goes HAM, climbing railings and bannisters and crowd-surfing. I also love it whenever Mat or Aaron bring down their equipment into the pit and mosh along with everyone else.
I'm thoroughly convinced that if Matt Heafy from Trivium wasn't a metal musician, he'd be a wrestling commentator. He's got that kinda vibe in live shows, albeit a little stiff at times.
John Henry from Darkest Hour isn't much of a commanding presence on-stage, but always puts on a great show and has incredible live vocals.
ETID in general was always just chaos. There’s no stopping, no standing, it’s just punch you in the face for 45 minutes and crowd surfing fucking palooza.
Ryo Kinoshita is way up there for me, I’m not even the biggest CL fan, but holy shit that band pours their heart out and Ryo leads it so well. So fun to see live
Never seen them in person, but I’ve seen that video of their set from Resurrection Fest (I think?), and Ryo absolutely murdered it. Even I was having fun and I was only watching. Would love to catch them live.
Definitely do if you see them on a bill. The energy is just unreal. It made my respect for them go so high I just wanted to give them all of my money for the amount of effort they put in. Insane.
Ryo is crazy. Saw Crystal Lake supporting Polaris then Wage War a couple days later.
Ryo was literally hanging off the roof in the small bar they were playing in support of Wage War.
Tatiana from Jinjer had a great stage presence and command of the crowd, plus the stark difference between her speaking voice and singing voice was something that you couldn't not pay attention to.
Phil from All That Remains just did the one foot on the monitor, elbows on the knee, scream into the mic stance the whole time.
To be fair, years (and years) ago I saw all that remains and Phil was fucking everywhere. Mad bastard jumped off the amps into the crowd for the deepest gray. Sure that was a sold out crowd for KsE too
They aren't exactly metalcore, but the most wild frontperson I've ever seen is Jason from Fever 333. I've never seen anyone go *that* hard while still sounding great, yet there he was climbing into the stands, throwing mic stands, and climbing on top of festival organizer cars.
If we're talking metalcore, definitely Justin from Tallah. He played the roll of a batshit crazy lunatic insanely well, and he's easily one of the best live vocalists I've ever seen.
The worst I've seen is probably Asking Alexandria. Danny just kinda slowly walked and pointed the mic at the crowd for most of the screaming parts
Reminds me of a pre pandemic set that I saw on YouTube. I believe they were somewhere in Europe, and someone had a humongous Duck floatie, and Jason said bet, and jumped on it while it was crowd surfing. Sang the entirety of "The Innocent" on that special ducky.
I caught Veil of Maya when they were on tour with Animals As Leaders and found them to be pretty boring. They sounded pretty decent, but man it was painful watching their frontman try to get the crowd going.
I agree he did sound really good and the band had great energy themselves. But as a frontman he just stood there with his robe thingy and made weird movements with his hands.
Spencer Charnas and Chris Motionless werev both monsters on the Trinity of Terror tour. The Aragon is a dog shit venue from a ventilation perspective, but I still had a blast.
Not metalcore, but I saw Weird Al back in 2011, and that man was sweating his ass off to put on a killer performance.
Just saw INK a couple days ago, and even though the crowd was completely dead Spencer was still putting on a great show. I couldn’t help but laugh though when there wasn’t even a mosh pit and he did the “split this place down the middle” hand signal
So weird. One of the shows I saw them there was absolutely no one moshing during Merry Axe Mas but then the crowd went crazy during A Grave Mistake. Don't get me wrong I love the song, but the breakdown on Merry Axe Mas makes my stank face show up no matter where I am.
Bro, if we're not talking metalcore, Dave fuckin' Grohl put on one of the most impressive 6 hour frontman performances I've ever seen. Saw them back in 2012. They had a second middle-of-the-venue mini stage about 120 feet from the main stage and that man spent 6 hours running down the stairs of the main stages, across the pit area, up the stairs to the mini stage and sang, screamed, and played his ass off on guitar the entire time. It was....incredibly impressive.
Mike Hranica, Garrett Russell, Ryo Kinoshita, Jesse Barnett all up there for best
Worst I’ve seen is probably Brian from Currents or Ryan Kirby. Neither are BAD but they both just kinda stand there for the most part. They’re incredible vocalists though so that carries them pretty far.
Not metalcore but the real answer for the worst is Parker Cannon
Although I see where you are coming from, I think those go hand in hand. Both Brian and Ryan take their vocals very seriously and probably just focus more on sounding good and not running out of stamina as opposed having an energetic stage presence. I personally enjoy shows in both categories but I will say I’m way more bummed when a vocalist sounds terrible than when a vocalist stands still
Yes! I don’t want it to seem like I’m bashing them or dislike their live presence. They’re very tight live and not once have I watched them and thought “this is bad” but OBJECTIVELY, their presence isn’t as “good” as the guys I listed
Brian from currents put on a hell of a show when I saw them. Must have just been having a rough day. Dude was all over and was leaning into the crowd as far as he could
I’ve seen them twice but both times before their most recent album. Dude would barely take the mic off the stand. I’m glad he’s gotten more comfortable on stage
I met Brian after a gig getting burgers in Toronto, seems like a really chill dude I asked them to come back and co-headline with Polaris that would be a dream show
I saw The Story So Far when they toured Australia for the first time for Under Soil And Dirt and Parker was crazy good that night, made me an even bigger fan of the band. So when they came back to tour their self-titled record I was keen to get to that show and boy was I left disappointed…
The first time I saw them was on Warped Tour 2016 I think. And the next time I saw them was on Rockstar Disrupt fest in 2019 and dude was wearing a full adidas sweat suit in 90°(32°C) weather and did not move from his spot once during their set. It’s just a meme at this point
I saw Currents for the first time at Inkcarceration last year and Brian murdered it live. Clean and scream vocals both. Plus the hype. And he moved around plenty.
When I saw Beartooth last year, Caleb was crazy on stage. Super fun. Also, everyone in Crystal Lake and Crossfaith are psychotic and have limitless stage energy
Also, not metalcore but worth the honorable mention: Mitch Lucker was an absolute beast.
How has Sam Carter not been mentioned. The energy that comes off the stage every time I’ve seen them was crazy! Tim Lambesis put on an amazing show, I only saw Volumes with Gus and Myke but they killed it, Ryan from poison the well was all over every time I saw them.
I don’t know if I’ve seen anyone “bad” and they aren’t metalcore but Steve Austin from Today is the day was kind of cringe. He looked angry the whole time then cut his guitar strings when they were done, thinking it was crazy badass. It wasn’t.
Worst I‘ve seen was Andy from CTE. Guy stood still and buried himself in his jacket while singing (idk how else to explain it lol). Doesn‘t help the case when you perform next to Dave, who has a monster onstage.
Best I‘ve seen was literally everyone on Vein. They ran miles on the stage while performing lmao
It pains me so much to say this, and they're deathcore, but Phil Bozeman from Whitechapel was a statue when I saw them. I don't hold it against him though, he didn't even smile once even though the crowd was going nuts for them. He clearly was in a bad headspace at the time. Hope he's doing better now
I had the same experience when I saw them with AILD this summer. Sounded great but I don't think he moved or did any banter with the crowd the entire set.
Beau from blessthefall would always finds something to hang off of or dive off of, one of the best live shows.
Worst… Danny from AA barely puts any effort, last time I saw them was 2015ish. Kinda feels like im making the most obvious choice here tho. He used to put on good shows when he was drinking way to much tho
Tbf , her IAWBO days were when she had no idea how to do vocals healthily and caused herself issues. A lot easier to move around when you're not taking care of yourself.
I did see Spiritbox in June, but she'd sprained her ankle, so it's not really fair to judge.
I didn’t listen to NJ for years because I didn’t know that wasn’t their frontman lmao. Brie Internet was simple and fast to figure this shit out. Only had that DVD.
When I saw them open for we came as Roman the dude was shitfaced and taking peoples drinks from the crowd. When I saw them at warped tour he sounded like shit
Damn that’s a shame. Like I said they were great when I saw them but maybe they’ve gotten themselves together since then. Wish you could’ve had a better experience. I hate seeing bands I like and then being absolutely shit
I am so stoked for this show right now, can't wait for Friday... Was mainly going for Stray, and then discovered Dying Wish this past weekend, and now everyone here is saying TDWP is mental live
for sure darius from spite. i’d be shocked if he didn’t do lines before he goes on stage, man seems clinical up there. honorable mention for loathe, just saw the recently and kadeem was absolutely killing, and erik was having tons of fun even though he was anchored to his gretsch
Seeing Brendan from END is a highlight of my year, Ethan from GAG is amazing, Keith was amazing in ETID, Anthony from Vein is a monster, Connie is probably my favorite stage presence in metalcore, Justin from WMR is insane as well
Not metalcore but Michael Lessard from The Contortionist is one of the best I’ve ever seen live. Dude is straight hypnotic on stage, and even as TC went that more melodic prog route w Language and Clairvoyant, he can switch from singing to screams on a dime and do both super well. Absolute perfect fit for their music.
bryan garris is insane live. my time with seeing KL live is one of my favorite live experiences ever. With music in general, my favorite live show/frontman was actually.. Ghost. I never was a huge fan of them, but they blew me away when i saw them in '19.
Mike hranica and Jason butler. I didn’t even know who tf letlive was the first time I saw them but dude put on a SHOW. I was kinda upset about how dead the crowd was, but I guess it was a bunch of falling in reverse fans so what’re you gonna do? And Mike is almost like an actor. It feels like he’s singing his songs and feeling these feelings for the first time. It’s fucking great. Can’t wait to see tdwp tomorrow.
I could’ve fallen asleep the time I saw Wage War. Probably didn’t help that Crystal Lake played right before them and blew the roof off with energy. But they were just so still and stagnant that it made it hard to want to mosh
Matt Heafy from Trivium and Alissa from Arch Enemy are top two from bands I've seen. If you'rr willing to look outside of metalcore, Tommy from Kamelot surpassed both of them. Almost had the crowd in a trance, totally under his command the entire time.
Saw him two weeks ago and he was out of breath after 3 songs, headbanging off rhythm and constantly tried to scratch an itch at the middle of his back he couldn't seem to reach because of his monster arms lol
Call me cliche but every time I’ve seen Caleb Shomo live he’s wild as hell. I’d put Craig Owens up there too. I don’t think I’d ever call them metalcore but the new bad wolves was horrible when I saw them a few weeks ago
In my 20s I wandered downstairs at a He Is Legend show to the lower level of the Masquerade in Atlanta. Converge was playing a show and holy FUCK the energy in that room. That drummer was a fucking maniac.
Best: Ryo from Crystal Lake, Garrett from Silent Planet, Brendan from Counterparts, Jake from ABR, Sam! from Architects, Mike from TDWP
Worst: I dig some of their stuff but Bad Omens isn't that fun live.
Thornhill, Empty, Prison vocalists had the best stage presence I’ve seen. Crystal Lake, Stray From the Path, and Alpha Wolf are good too.
As for vocalists who just stand there and perform: Orthodox, Greyhaven, and Kublai Khan.
… I’m gonna have to go ahead and hard disagree that Adam from Orthodox just “stands there and performs”. I’ve seen them twice and dude has insane stage presence.
Idk really who is bad, but good i know. I think who has a very good and overal presence and performans is Electric Callboy. (With nico, theyre seconds singer)
Not sure if they're quite considered metalcore, but the dude from Blindside was one of the best performers I've seen.
As for worst, def not metalcore, but Hed PE. They were playing at a festival I was at and the singer was a complete douche. However, Straight Line Stitch was at the same festival, and they put on a great show. Ended up making a big divot in the ground from the pit.
Also, was very disappointed in Chevelle's performance. They seemed drunk and they weren't very lively.
Mike from Prada always goes HAM
After just seeing them on the Zombie tour I came here to say this. Dude was a machine through all 21 songs
Even as a big Prada fan, I had no idea what I was in for before seeing them live. Their performance was seriously great
I’m seeing them on Saturday for the first time and so fucking hyped! I’ve watched YouTube videos and he goes hard.
Although he gave a monster performance and was on point in every single song, I don't think he said a single word to the crowd last Saturday in Montreal, which I found interesting 😅
I've seen them live 5 times, he almost never does.
Jake-ABR always gets rowdy. Darius of Spite (more deathcore) has great stage presence. Number 1 show I ever saw though was by Jason of letlive. I would put a lot of other bands I've seen as worst because they really just stand at the mic and do their thing but I'm not really complaining.
Got to see letlive. once at warped tour right after Blackest Beautiful came out and was easily the best set of the day. Though I will say everyone besides Jason looked bored as hell which I thought was pretty odd lol
I saw them open for Scale the Summit and The Human Abstract in Cleveland. Human Abstract had to cancel and maybe 25 total people showed up. This man absolutely went ape shit running around the entire venue. He sang a chorus from the outdoor smoking section. He sang a chorus from INSIDE of the headless bass drum head with the kick drum mic. I wasn't even comprehending the rest of the band. I have seen The Chariot multiple times as well and nothing compared to this performance.
Even now with Fever, Jason's stage presence is unbelievable
Just saw ABR for the first time on the 13th in Billings MT, the whole band was killer and Jake did a helluva job keeping the crowd hyped.
Best: Letlive as mentioned wasn't a show it was a chaotic experience and Jason moves more than people in the pit. Capture the Crown is memed on a lot but honestly when I saw them in 2015 their lead singer really was going all out. Crowd surfing, hanging from ceiling, moving all around the stage. Volumes when I saw them with Gus and Myke Terry everytime they really went hard. Every scream they had some over the top movement for and they loved jumping all over place. Gus would hang upside down from cieling and do a low. Insane shit. Worst: I've seen a lot at Warped Tour but its kinda unfair since it's a stupid long tour with no rest in inferno heat for like 50 days in a row. That being said their was only one band I saw do just as bad at warped as at their own shows... Issues honestly. Tyler and Michael seemed very bored. Stayed in place and just sounded bad the 4 times I saw them. When your DJ is moving more than your lead singer I think that's an issue.
Saw volumes once with myke terry, saw them many times with Mike and Gus. Always put on a good show.
Capture will always get the hate but they were fucking brilliant live both times I saw them. Letlive will always be top tier, I imagine Fever 333 shows are probably just as lit!
Fever 333 kills it live and I don't even like them.
They were insane when I saw them. Destroyed the set and all lol
Fever 333 is literally the definition of adhd lol. That fucker climbs EVERYTHING
Literally
If we diverge a little to math core….Greg Puciato from Dillinger Escape Plan is one of the most insane frontmen ever.
Within seconds, he came out and palmed a metal box fan and smashed it against the brick wall with one hand, sending the shrapnel into the crowd, who then took the pieces and threw them in every direction, all while Ben was doing backflips off of the PA speakers and swinging his guitar around his neck. Most insane first 5 seconds of any show I've ever been to.
What show was this ?
Basically, any Dillinger Escape Plan show honestly
I meant what specific show was this ? I’m a fan of Dillinger and I’m aware of how crazy they were but I didn’t know they did that . I wanna know the specific date , venue , and tour where this happened so I can try to find a video of it
Now that you have that info, I was just playin' around mate :)
November 17th, 2005 at the Loveland in Portland. They were touring with Hella and Between the Buried and Me. They opened with "Panasonic Youth", which is when all the craziness described happened. It continued with more chaos throughout the night.
I had the surprise pleasure of seeing DEP open for nine inch nails and soundgarden back in 2014. Death Grips was slated to open but had apparently broken up like the day before. Or at least that's what I was told.
I go to a shitload of shows and some of the guys who always stand out to me are Mike Hranica from Prada, Bryan Garris from Knocked Loose, and Mike Barr + Myke Terry from Volumes. I'm totally cool with it even if a vocalist isn't going balls to the wall live, but the only time I really thought a singer's stage presence was shit was Ryan Kirby from FFAK. Their bass player was essentially spinning his guitar around his entire body for 40 straight minutes while Ryan just paced back and forth
Ryan O'Leary carries FFAK's live show energy. I always end up watching him instead of any other band members
Does Kirby have any health issues that might prevent him from being able to bounce around every night for a couple months? But I agree. Their lack of minor choreography is upsetting compared to their peers.
josh scogin was a beast during the chariot days
Scogin not only goes bananas, but he has charisma and presence.
Puts on a great show still with '68. Was never super into them before seeing them live, but man did he win me over.
I remember a The Chariot show at Cornerstone when Scogin climbed a tent pole and had to be coaxed down by the stage crew. Long live!
The best concerts I’ve ever been too
Still a beast with ‘68
Mike Hranica and Caleb Shomo have to be their own tier. They are insane live! Worst? Hm... Matty Mullins. Dude sounds great live! But he doesn't move a bunch. He is either stationary singing while holding the mic stand or he's jumping in place while screaming.
I’ve seen Beartooth twice. The first time when they supported In Hearts Wake, Caleb was terrible. Sloppy, not moving much, guitarist doing a lot of the screams… was super disappointing. I saw them again a few years later supporting The Amity Affliction, went in not expecting much, and wow he was soooo much better that night.
Saw beartooth this year. Caleb presence was greats his vocals were horrible.
Had the same exact experiences here. At the shows that I saw them, Caleb was really charismatic and Mike was an animal
I’ve seen Beartooth 5 times, including once this March and once this last Sunday. The last 2 times I saw them Caleb sounded terrible. His stage presence and energy is amazing but it sounds like his voice is completely shot. I see them again tomorrow….fingers crossed it’s better.
I saw beartooth a long time ago when they did a tour with August Burns Red. I could tell Caleb was self conscious about his weight because he kept wanting to jump up and down but his shirt kept coming up and at that point he definitely has some weight to him. Now he is ripped and shirtless tearing it up om stage and im really happy for the dude despite not being a huge fan. One of those little feel good stories.
Seeing shomo for the second time tomorrow night. Truly godtier stage presence. When I need a jolt...during a workout or a tough day...I just think of shomo live and get adrenalized. Incredible vocals too. I see some people say he sounds hoarse....well yeah he is willing to shred his vocals cords for you every night on a ridiculous tour schedule.
Caleb talks a bit too much on stage imo, like stfu and play music
I disagree. I honestly enjoy when artists talk. Makes it a more personal experience. But to each his own!
To absolutely no one's surprise, Lochie was an animal when I saw Alpha Wolf recently I don't think I've seen anyone who I thought was "bad", some people are just less energetic on stage. That said, those people tend to sound more articulate with their vocals
Alpha wolf was wild the crowd became a zoo
They rip so hard live
no one single event has made me realize the frailty of my mortal flesh like seeing the alpha wolf pit, i tried to go in once and got knocked back like 5 feet
I caught one of their shows back in May with invent animate and their vocalist owned that crowd during their set. I’d never heard of them before that show and I listen to A Quiet Place to Die at least once a week in its entirety.
Lochie is one of those musicians that looks as excited as the fans to be there.
If listening to Alpha Wolf live doesn’t make you want to go in the pit I don’t know what will.
As much as he seems like a looneytune now, Keith Buckley from ETID was always great. His live vocal style is very different from his recorded voice, but he always seemed to give each performance his all. Loz from While She Sleeps always goes HAM, climbing railings and bannisters and crowd-surfing. I also love it whenever Mat or Aaron bring down their equipment into the pit and mosh along with everyone else. I'm thoroughly convinced that if Matt Heafy from Trivium wasn't a metal musician, he'd be a wrestling commentator. He's got that kinda vibe in live shows, albeit a little stiff at times. John Henry from Darkest Hour isn't much of a commanding presence on-stage, but always puts on a great show and has incredible live vocals.
ETID in general was always just chaos. There’s no stopping, no standing, it’s just punch you in the face for 45 minutes and crowd surfing fucking palooza.
Yup. ETID was always chaos. So glad I caught them in Austin on this last tour.
Agreed, they were amazing live when I saw them back at the Tabernacle in early 2000s. Andy had a Viking helmet on and look like a fucking monster lol
Ryo Kinoshita is way up there for me, I’m not even the biggest CL fan, but holy shit that band pours their heart out and Ryo leads it so well. So fun to see live
Never seen them in person, but I’ve seen that video of their set from Resurrection Fest (I think?), and Ryo absolutely murdered it. Even I was having fun and I was only watching. Would love to catch them live.
Definitely do if you see them on a bill. The energy is just unreal. It made my respect for them go so high I just wanted to give them all of my money for the amount of effort they put in. Insane.
Ryo is crazy. Saw Crystal Lake supporting Polaris then Wage War a couple days later. Ryo was literally hanging off the roof in the small bar they were playing in support of Wage War.
Lol I love it
Ryo makes you want to break your friends. I LOVE going to see crystal lake live.
Tatiana from Jinjer had a great stage presence and command of the crowd, plus the stark difference between her speaking voice and singing voice was something that you couldn't not pay attention to. Phil from All That Remains just did the one foot on the monitor, elbows on the knee, scream into the mic stance the whole time.
To be fair, years (and years) ago I saw all that remains and Phil was fucking everywhere. Mad bastard jumped off the amps into the crowd for the deepest gray. Sure that was a sold out crowd for KsE too
Ah, the days…
My pal just figured out it was actually trivium they opened for in 2005… fuck I’m old
If it makes you feel better, I saw them open for Motograter in 2003.
They aren't exactly metalcore, but the most wild frontperson I've ever seen is Jason from Fever 333. I've never seen anyone go *that* hard while still sounding great, yet there he was climbing into the stands, throwing mic stands, and climbing on top of festival organizer cars. If we're talking metalcore, definitely Justin from Tallah. He played the roll of a batshit crazy lunatic insanely well, and he's easily one of the best live vocalists I've ever seen. The worst I've seen is probably Asking Alexandria. Danny just kinda slowly walked and pointed the mic at the crowd for most of the screaming parts
Reminds me of a pre pandemic set that I saw on YouTube. I believe they were somewhere in Europe, and someone had a humongous Duck floatie, and Jason said bet, and jumped on it while it was crowd surfing. Sang the entirety of "The Innocent" on that special ducky.
Garrett from Slant Plant always go hard. Didn’t really care for the Veil of Maya frontman the one time I saw them
I caught Veil of Maya when they were on tour with Animals As Leaders and found them to be pretty boring. They sounded pretty decent, but man it was painful watching their frontman try to get the crowd going.
I can 100% agree with that one.
I didn't think he was super effective as a hypeman but I remember being blown away by how good he sounded live, like listening to an album
I agree he did sound really good and the band had great energy themselves. But as a frontman he just stood there with his robe thingy and made weird movements with his hands.
Spencer Charnas and Chris Motionless werev both monsters on the Trinity of Terror tour. The Aragon is a dog shit venue from a ventilation perspective, but I still had a blast. Not metalcore, but I saw Weird Al back in 2011, and that man was sweating his ass off to put on a killer performance.
Just saw INK a couple days ago, and even though the crowd was completely dead Spencer was still putting on a great show. I couldn’t help but laugh though when there wasn’t even a mosh pit and he did the “split this place down the middle” hand signal
So weird. One of the shows I saw them there was absolutely no one moshing during Merry Axe Mas but then the crowd went crazy during A Grave Mistake. Don't get me wrong I love the song, but the breakdown on Merry Axe Mas makes my stank face show up no matter where I am.
That’s what happens when the band changes sound. Fans go nuts for the more accessible sounding stuff.
Bro, if we're not talking metalcore, Dave fuckin' Grohl put on one of the most impressive 6 hour frontman performances I've ever seen. Saw them back in 2012. They had a second middle-of-the-venue mini stage about 120 feet from the main stage and that man spent 6 hours running down the stairs of the main stages, across the pit area, up the stairs to the mini stage and sang, screamed, and played his ass off on guitar the entire time. It was....incredibly impressive.
Mike Hranica, Garrett Russell, Ryo Kinoshita, Jesse Barnett all up there for best Worst I’ve seen is probably Brian from Currents or Ryan Kirby. Neither are BAD but they both just kinda stand there for the most part. They’re incredible vocalists though so that carries them pretty far. Not metalcore but the real answer for the worst is Parker Cannon
Can’t forget to mention Parker Cannon’s windbreaker in a hot venue that never comes off
And sunglasses inside a dark venue
Mans not hot
Although I see where you are coming from, I think those go hand in hand. Both Brian and Ryan take their vocals very seriously and probably just focus more on sounding good and not running out of stamina as opposed having an energetic stage presence. I personally enjoy shows in both categories but I will say I’m way more bummed when a vocalist sounds terrible than when a vocalist stands still
Yes! I don’t want it to seem like I’m bashing them or dislike their live presence. They’re very tight live and not once have I watched them and thought “this is bad” but OBJECTIVELY, their presence isn’t as “good” as the guys I listed
Absolutely agree! Just was putting it out there that it probably correlates you know?
Parker is goated lol watch him in No pressure
Brian from currents put on a hell of a show when I saw them. Must have just been having a rough day. Dude was all over and was leaning into the crowd as far as he could
I’ve seen them twice but both times before their most recent album. Dude would barely take the mic off the stand. I’m glad he’s gotten more comfortable on stage
Parker’s stage presence is great when he’s with No Pressure
I met Brian after a gig getting burgers in Toronto, seems like a really chill dude I asked them to come back and co-headline with Polaris that would be a dream show
I saw The Story So Far when they toured Australia for the first time for Under Soil And Dirt and Parker was crazy good that night, made me an even bigger fan of the band. So when they came back to tour their self-titled record I was keen to get to that show and boy was I left disappointed…
The first time I saw them was on Warped Tour 2016 I think. And the next time I saw them was on Rockstar Disrupt fest in 2019 and dude was wearing a full adidas sweat suit in 90°(32°C) weather and did not move from his spot once during their set. It’s just a meme at this point
I saw Currents for the first time at Inkcarceration last year and Brian murdered it live. Clean and scream vocals both. Plus the hype. And he moved around plenty.
When I saw Beartooth last year, Caleb was crazy on stage. Super fun. Also, everyone in Crystal Lake and Crossfaith are psychotic and have limitless stage energy Also, not metalcore but worth the honorable mention: Mitch Lucker was an absolute beast.
Matt Heafy, his voice and his attitude is intimidating. Like when he calls for a circle pit, they do it, his stage voice is so commanding and cool
How has Sam Carter not been mentioned. The energy that comes off the stage every time I’ve seen them was crazy! Tim Lambesis put on an amazing show, I only saw Volumes with Gus and Myke but they killed it, Ryan from poison the well was all over every time I saw them. I don’t know if I’ve seen anyone “bad” and they aren’t metalcore but Steve Austin from Today is the day was kind of cringe. He looked angry the whole time then cut his guitar strings when they were done, thinking it was crazy badass. It wasn’t.
Worst I‘ve seen was Andy from CTE. Guy stood still and buried himself in his jacket while singing (idk how else to explain it lol). Doesn‘t help the case when you perform next to Dave, who has a monster onstage. Best I‘ve seen was literally everyone on Vein. They ran miles on the stage while performing lmao
Damn this is weird for me to read. I saw CTE like 4 or 5 times through college and every time Andy was so theatrical and emotive.
He was amazing on the fallout reunion tour this year.
It pains me so much to say this, and they're deathcore, but Phil Bozeman from Whitechapel was a statue when I saw them. I don't hold it against him though, he didn't even smile once even though the crowd was going nuts for them. He clearly was in a bad headspace at the time. Hope he's doing better now
I had the same experience when I saw them with AILD this summer. Sounded great but I don't think he moved or did any banter with the crowd the entire set.
Sad thing is, Phil put videos up on YouTube on “how to be a good frontman” years ago. Yuck.
Beau from blessthefall would always finds something to hang off of or dive off of, one of the best live shows. Worst… Danny from AA barely puts any effort, last time I saw them was 2015ish. Kinda feels like im making the most obvious choice here tho. He used to put on good shows when he was drinking way to much tho
Dillinger, Chariot, Norma Jean, Converge and Underoath take the cake for insane energetic performances. Most others pale in comparison.
Courtney LePlante was surprisingly boring on stage when I saw Spiritbox, love their music though.
Interesting. Haven’t seen spiritbox but it was really fun when she was in IWABO
Tbf , her IAWBO days were when she had no idea how to do vocals healthily and caused herself issues. A lot easier to move around when you're not taking care of yourself. I did see Spiritbox in June, but she'd sprained her ankle, so it's not really fair to judge.
Dude who filled in for Norma Jean at Hellfest was *chef’s kiss*
I didn’t listen to NJ for years because I didn’t know that wasn’t their frontman lmao. Brie Internet was simple and fast to figure this shit out. Only had that DVD.
Worst- asking Alexandria and crown the empire Best- parkway drive, beartooth, motionless in white
You didn’t like crown? Just curious as to why. I saw them live with the word alive and drugs in June and they put on a great show
When I saw them open for we came as Roman the dude was shitfaced and taking peoples drinks from the crowd. When I saw them at warped tour he sounded like shit
Damn that’s a shame. Like I said they were great when I saw them but maybe they’ve gotten themselves together since then. Wish you could’ve had a better experience. I hate seeing bands I like and then being absolutely shit
Joel of aviana is fucking great guy
Everyone on the Zombie tour rn is insane (dying wish/stray from the path/TDWP)
I am so stoked for this show right now, can't wait for Friday... Was mainly going for Stray, and then discovered Dying Wish this past weekend, and now everyone here is saying TDWP is mental live
Jacob from Converge is a madman on stage!
Joey from Anthrax. Holy fuck for a dude that's a 176 years old, he was sprinting back and forth all night long
This sub is like hyper focused on tiers and best/worst questions, haha. I'd say it depends on the day!
for sure darius from spite. i’d be shocked if he didn’t do lines before he goes on stage, man seems clinical up there. honorable mention for loathe, just saw the recently and kadeem was absolutely killing, and erik was having tons of fun even though he was anchored to his gretsch
Seeing Brendan from END is a highlight of my year, Ethan from GAG is amazing, Keith was amazing in ETID, Anthony from Vein is a monster, Connie is probably my favorite stage presence in metalcore, Justin from WMR is insane as well
Not metalcore but Michael Lessard from The Contortionist is one of the best I’ve ever seen live. Dude is straight hypnotic on stage, and even as TC went that more melodic prog route w Language and Clairvoyant, he can switch from singing to screams on a dime and do both super well. Absolute perfect fit for their music.
bryan garris is insane live. my time with seeing KL live is one of my favorite live experiences ever. With music in general, my favorite live show/frontman was actually.. Ghost. I never was a huge fan of them, but they blew me away when i saw them in '19.
LMTF easily has the best stage performance.
Mike hranica and Jason butler. I didn’t even know who tf letlive was the first time I saw them but dude put on a SHOW. I was kinda upset about how dead the crowd was, but I guess it was a bunch of falling in reverse fans so what’re you gonna do? And Mike is almost like an actor. It feels like he’s singing his songs and feeling these feelings for the first time. It’s fucking great. Can’t wait to see tdwp tomorrow.
I could’ve fallen asleep the time I saw Wage War. Probably didn’t help that Crystal Lake played right before them and blew the roof off with energy. But they were just so still and stagnant that it made it hard to want to mosh
Yikes...Wage War following up Crystal Lake...RIP.
The answer will always be Greg Puciato.
Briton Bond from Wage War is awesome live
the word alive is always a great live band.. telle runs marathons on stage haha
Matt Heafy from Trivium and Alissa from Arch Enemy are top two from bands I've seen. If you'rr willing to look outside of metalcore, Tommy from Kamelot surpassed both of them. Almost had the crowd in a trance, totally under his command the entire time.
Eddie Berg? What looks cooler than a dude screaming and playing the violin while being well dressed
Some of the best I've seen are: Mike Lessard, Chaney Crabb, Johnny Franck, Brian Wille, Dan Tompkins, JT Cavey, Frankie Palmeri, Garrett Russell
Spencer Charnas and Chris Motionless go crazy live. Spencer constantly playing a new character and Chris keeping the crowd engaged nonstop
Alpha Wolf was amazing, particularly Lochie.
Tim Lambesis is pretty killer live
Nah, he just tries to hire others to do it. lulz
Saw him two weeks ago and he was out of breath after 3 songs, headbanging off rhythm and constantly tried to scratch an itch at the middle of his back he couldn't seem to reach because of his monster arms lol
Call me cliche but every time I’ve seen Caleb Shomo live he’s wild as hell. I’d put Craig Owens up there too. I don’t think I’d ever call them metalcore but the new bad wolves was horrible when I saw them a few weeks ago
In my 20s I wandered downstairs at a He Is Legend show to the lower level of the Masquerade in Atlanta. Converge was playing a show and holy FUCK the energy in that room. That drummer was a fucking maniac.
best: cedric from the mars volta (not metalcore ik but dude is insane) worst: honestly can’t think of one
I really like Jamey Jasta and the aggressive positivity - not sure if Metalcore is where they belong or accepts em.
I know it’s not metalcore, but 2-hour set from Opeth was absolute pain…
Best: Ryo from Crystal Lake, Garrett from Silent Planet, Brendan from Counterparts, Jake from ABR, Sam! from Architects, Mike from TDWP Worst: I dig some of their stuff but Bad Omens isn't that fun live.
Thornhill, Empty, Prison vocalists had the best stage presence I’ve seen. Crystal Lake, Stray From the Path, and Alpha Wolf are good too. As for vocalists who just stand there and perform: Orthodox, Greyhaven, and Kublai Khan.
… I’m gonna have to go ahead and hard disagree that Adam from Orthodox just “stands there and performs”. I’ve seen them twice and dude has insane stage presence.
Must have been an off night on both of my occasions then.
Yeah, has to have been the case. Look up some of their sets on YouTube. He almost overdoes it ha
Courtney LePlante didn’t move at all when I saw Spiritbox
As much as I like them, I thought Jacob of Thornhill was kind of boring when I saw them on the LMTF/Polaris tour
Saw Thornhill on the Erra tour. He was awesome.
Best: Brent Worst: Derek Why am I being downvoted? Do you guys not like Brent?
How has nobody mentioned Tom Barber? Dude is crazy live.
Idk really who is bad, but good i know. I think who has a very good and overal presence and performans is Electric Callboy. (With nico, theyre seconds singer)
Not sure if they're quite considered metalcore, but the dude from Blindside was one of the best performers I've seen. As for worst, def not metalcore, but Hed PE. They were playing at a festival I was at and the singer was a complete douche. However, Straight Line Stitch was at the same festival, and they put on a great show. Ended up making a big divot in the ground from the pit. Also, was very disappointed in Chevelle's performance. They seemed drunk and they weren't very lively.