FROM ASHES TO THE NEW – ALIVE – THE TOO OF THE FURNACE – NEW PARADIGM

FROM ASHES TO THE NEW – ALIVE – THE TOO OF THE FURNACE – NEW PARADIGM

By Kat Gullage

FROM ASHES TO THE NEW SELLS THE LEGENDARY PLACE OF FUGO

They made us sign a waiver.

I've been to the legendary Toad's Place in New Haven a billion times, give or take. I don't recall them ever having us sign a waiver. He said, and I'm paraphrasing, Shit will spill and make the floor slippery, so expect that you might fall and break your ass. And if you do, you can't sue the Toads and a bunch of other entities. Toad's has a strict no snooping policy and if you participate we can kick you out. Moshing may occur spontaneously and will be stopped immediately by staff. If you bust your ass, you can't sue Toad's or the other tweets mentioned in the disclaimer. Everyone had to sign it before entering.

We were there for Lancaster, PA From the ashes to the new. I saw them once before, as the opening act for Motionless In White, at the Mohegan Sun Arena. I looked back at this review, I liked them, but their sound needed to be tweaked in this 10,000 seat venue. This night we were a sold out crowd of 1,000 in a historic rock and roll club.

From the ashes to the new took the stage and opened with “Armageddon” from their latest LP, Faint. The place immediately erupted and the biggest mosh pit I've ever seen at Toad's erupted in front of the soundboard. The fans were crowd surfing and losing their fucking minds. I think the band was really like “Holy Shit”.

Lead singer Danny Case (whose perfect coif can only be rivaled by NFL quarterback Andy Dalton's) said “We've only played one song and we already know this is the best audience ever.” “Our sound guy has a decibel meter and the record is 119 set by Albany.” (That was the opening night of this tour.) They gave us a coupla practice and then we gave it and of course we set a new record with 120-something.

Photos by Donna Marie Eriquezzo

Other Faint The track is next with “Dead To Me”. The moshing continued non-stop, even through the very long animated intro to 'Broken' from the LP The future. Then it was back to Faint for “Monster In Me”. Danny again, “Okay New Haven sing this with me! As loud as you can!” The crowd joins in to “Scars That I'm Hiding” from the LP Panic.

There is a girl in the pit holding her own against the mostly male participants. She's like a roller derby queen out there. In the meantime, I'm making light attempts at kung fu to defend myself. One of my favorites, “My Fight” from their EP of the same name, From the ashes to the new released in 2013, had us all jumping.

Another really long intro for the next song, so let me introduce the rest of the group. Matt Brandyberry is the founder and co-singer. He's more rap/clean and Danny is more raw/metal. Lance Dowdle on bass, drummer Mat Madiro and guitarist Jimmy Bennett.

The sound in the club environment is far superior compared to seeing them in the arena. All this hype was for another piece Faint, “Heartache”. Lance Dowdle wears different masks during the concert and at one point strikes this pose that makes me wonder if he's ever had professional dance training. He is fun to watch.

Danny's voice gets lost a bit during “Echoes”. Matt addresses the fans, “Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We feel more and more isolated, social media is NOT social, going to a rock show is social!” “Hate Me Too” leads into a trip back to The Future for “My Name”.

Matt in the crowd again, “We opened here for Hollywood Undead and they sold the place out, nobody knew who we were. I thought, wow, I want to do that one day. And thanks New Haven, we did it! We're all here, Saturday night. We don't always agree on a lot, but we can agree to do this! I know, I have a young child at home and it's hard to be away. I question my decisions all the time. But when I go on stage and see you, I remember that I love you! Take out those cell phones and your hands are shaking!”

We weren't all on the phone, but we were all swaying with our hands up to “Barely Breathing.” Things pick up again with their title track 'Panic' and 'Nightmare'. Matt addresses us one last time, “We have a rule. Take care of your self! We are family. He leans down and singles out a fan, “Are you okay up front? Because your face looks cracked.”

Danny announces that the club has something else after their concert, so they have four minutes to play. “Do you want to hear 1 more? 2 more? 5 more?” We have a track I didn't expect, “One Foot In The Grave” and they finish it off with “Through It All” from their first LP, First day.

From the ashes to the new he gave us a great sounding tight set and the fans went wild which made for a fun night. Danny said “It was the best audience so far”. I asked Jimmy Bennett after the show if they meant that or if they told their entire audience. He said he was “100% the truth”.

I have not heard From the ashes to the new Yet? They are worth adding to your playlist. Catch them (in a smaller space) near you, they will exceed your expectations.

Thank you loyal rockers and readers!

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