Knocked Loose was in Omaha Tuesday (May 7) at the Waiting Room, and the place was packed! The scene really turned out to see these crazy dudes from Oldham County, Kentucky.
I was turned on to Knocked Loose when I saw them with Hatebreed and Crowbar at Sokol last spring. Now that show leaned a bit more metal, so there really wasn’t a lot of crowd surfing or stage diving, but this show was a straight up hardcore bill, so the people were ready to riot. Every band had the same mission: crank it loud, pump out super low-end bass, and scream in your face.
Now, I normally don’t get to cover hardcore shows so this was a totally new experience for me. I arrived pretty early so I could get a spot up front and stay out of the push pit. As I got to the stage I met Sam and Quentin, who drove from a small town in Northwest Missouri about two hours away. It was awesome talking to those guys about all kinds of music, from 90s metal to classic rock to hardcore. We had a lot of the same tastes so time just flew by. I really appreciated them hanging out and sharing all their concert stories.
As the lights went down the first band Sanction, stepped on stage. The lead singer was wearing a 1997 Morrisey tour shirt. I said “This band already rules based on the singer’s love of Morirssey!” He gave me a big smile and a thumbs up. Things were off to a great start. As soon as Sanction started playing, stuff got super heavy. The guitars were shredding, the deep bass was pumping, and the singer was screeching at the top of his lungs.
People behind me in the crowd started spinning around with fists in the air and flying kicks. It was a trip! It wasn’t long until people started crowd surfing and diving off the stage. Things started getting crazy in a hurry.
Sanction played a quick 20 minutes before thanking the room for the support.
After Sanction, was the group Higher Power. These guys had the same aggressive, in your face riffs, but they also mixed in a bit more rapping or at least the singer had a much faster flow. The guitarist ripped though and had a lot of wicked solos. The crowd was equally pumped for these guys and the mosh pits continued to increase.
Following Higher Power was Harms Way. At this point, a lot of the songs started to blend together. I appreciate a band like Knocked Loose bringing four openers, but they were all very similar in style. After a while you start to get beaten over the head with heavy caveman riffs. Harms Way’s lead singer was jacked! He looked like the hulk of hardcore. He was literally air punching as hard as he could. Lord help anyone who gives this dude any guff, yikes!
Before Knocked Loose there was one more act, hardcore heavyweights The Acacia Strain. As Jamey Jasta would say, “these dudes were harrrrrrd!” Again, the riffs were fast, loud, and aggressive. Acacia had some awesome double-bass parts and breakdowns though, and that really made things fun. I couldn’t tell you for the life of me what the lead singer was saying, but the crowd sure knew every word. I had a great time watching people grabbing the mic and just letting it rip. Dudes surfed their way to the front to scream their favorite songs. If I was a few pounds lighter and a few years younger I would’ve loved to be up there with them!
Finally, it was time for the final act, the mighty Knocked Loose! The lights went out and the country song “Blue” blared over the house speakers.
Knocked Loose stepped out and the loud doomy riffs began. The crowd surged forward and screamed along with lead singer Bryan Garris. I had to fight for every shot at this point as the place was packed! People pushed through the crowd to try and get on stage. Once they reached their personal summit, they ran across the stage and dove onto the unsuspecting crowd.
Bryan asked the crowd if they had seen Knocked Loose before and a good portion of the room had their hands up! The band has been steadily gaining steam in the hardcore scene over the last few years, playing several headline runs and major support slots. Recently, Knocked Loose was added to A Day to Remember at Harrah’s Stir Cove happening June 7 next month. I’ll be really interested to see the dynamic of the band’s set during that show given it will be outdoors in the hot sun.
As I mentioned earlier, this was a unique experience for me as I normally get to cover rock and metal shows. Over the years I’ve seen a lot of crazy crowd situations, but this one was absolutely nuts! I’ve really enjoyed seeing Knocked Loose’s steady progression and I can’t wait to catch them next month with A Day to Remember!
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