Omaha Bleeds for Hatebreed!

22 hours ago
4 min read

Story and Photos: Spencer Fleming

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The streets of South Omaha ran with blood Wednesday (7.15) when Hardcore legends Hatebreed brought the Summer Slaughter tour to the Admrial Theater. With seven bands on the bill this was like a mini festival on a Wednesday. You might think how can they get seven bands all on one show without starting at noon??? Well, hardcore bands traditionally play shorter sets due to their fast pace and super high energy, but in addition to each band slotted for only 20-30 minutes the show started at 4:30! That's absolute insanity for a weekday show. I tried my best to catch all the bands but I missed one of the locals Setback by just a few minutes. Next time!

My night started with a band from Lincoln, Iced Wrist. These guys brought the heat! This was my second time seeing them and I really enjoyed their set. They had some cool merch so I picked up a spooky looking long sleeve. Won't be long and that crisp fall air will be here. I can't wait to rock this shirt while crunching some leaves.

I'll be honest the next few bands all kind of blurred together. We heard from Face Yourself, The Last 10 Seconds of Life, Snuffed on Sight, and Devourment. After shooting photos for each band I hung out in the lobby where the air was much cooler. My brother Stu was working the door so it was nice catching up. While I was hanging out I saw several waves of people getting kicked out for fighting. Every show has at least one dude who acts a fool and gets the boot (heck even Weird Al a few weeks ago saw a scuffle!), but this may have been the most fights I've ever seen at a show. One after another security was guiding people to the doors, many of them saying things like "he punched me in the face, I didn't do anything!". One person had a nasty cut on their head and was dripping blood. One guy had to have EMS called for getting knocked out cold after drinking and fighting. Remember kids, ya booze ya lose! It was absolutely wild. I went into mosh retirement a long time ago so you won't catch me in a pit scuffle any time soon.

The scheduled start time for Hatebreed was 9:55. For a week night show that's brutal! Luckily Dave Campbell and his crew were able to keep things moving and cut the time down in between sets. The clock struck 9:15 as Hatebreed took the stage with force! Jamey Jasta stepped out in all black ready to pummel the crowd. Normally the band closes with "I Will Be Heard", arguably one of their biggest songs, but this time they opened with it! The crowd was whipped into a frenzy with circle pits and fists flying everywhere. The standard photography rules at shows are you shoot the first three songs and then occasionally you can shoot extra shots from the back. Before the third song was even over the fighting had reached it's peak.

Jamey stopped the song and spoke to the crowd. "Take it outside and fight a fair one guys, one to one. You know what happens when you fight one to one? You'll probably end up being friends. Heck, you might even become lovers, who knows!". I love how Jamey took control of the crowd and brought some levity to the situation. While Hatebreed songs are brutal hardcore bangers, the band is all about having fun.

Hatebreed ripped through their set with classics like "Live For This", "To The Threshold", and "Everyone Bleeds Now". My personal favorite was one of their later-in-life hits "Looking Down The Barrel Of Today".

About halfway through Hatebreed brought out what is now a staple of their shows "The Ball of Death". This giant black beach ball bounced all over the room and back to the band as they kicked it out into the crowd. I kept watching the chandelier hoping it wouldn't break anything! The ball made it safely back to the stage hands though and the Admiral made it out unscathed. I'm not sure if it was all the fighting or what, but Hatebreed only played about 40 minutes, choosing to end with one of their most popular songs "Destroy Everything". I know they were scheduled for an hour but honestly after so many bands the little bit of early ending was almost welcome. I'm not sure if it was the heat or summer madness but the crowd sure did get some anger out that night. I think people will be talking about the brutality of this show for a while. I hope everyone made it home with some merch instead of a black eye for a souvenir! Even with all the craziness I still had a great time and wouldn't hesitate to see Hatebreed again.

Thanks so much to Hatebreed management and Dave Campbell and his team. Thanks for reading and we'll see you at the next one!

Hatebreed