Saturday 27/01/07 Senses Fail, Saosin, Alexisonfire, The Sleeping @ The Rialto Theater, Tucson, Arizona

The house is sold out and it’s already elbow to elbow on the floor. A cutting edge line up of Alternative/post-hardcore and hardcore promises a formidable presence on stage. Righteous power fills the air as the New York band The Sleeping starts the night off right with ‘Don’t Hold Back.’ Many in the crowd are visibly moved whilst they sing with Doug Robinson as he delivers ‘Heart Beatz’ with poignant intensity. The audience claps their hands over their heads, crowd surfers fly forward and ‘The Climb’ builds ever harder and faster. Doug stops, glares and breaks out in a wicked grin. The piece abruptly pauses, everyone screams then the instrumentals explode. We are blown away. Their hit song ‘Loud and Clear’ takes over the head banging crazed mob as Doug pours his all into the words.

Someone shouts “Canadians do it better!” George Petite waves and Alexisonfire has possession of the house. The horde keeps hollering during ‘This Could Be Anywhere In The World,’ they ****ing love this band. George roars on, the mosh reaches a fever pitch and ‘We Are The End’ rules the venue. The finish up with ‘Boiled Frogs’ as the audience sings “Whoa” throughout this piece then George jumps out onto crowd who hold him up high whilst he continues to thrash in their faces. They leave the stage as everyone chants “One last song.”

The smell of Champa incense fills the venue and Saosin enters the stage amidst a deafening roar. Cove Reber has a standout expressive quality to his vocals that mesmerizes propelling ‘Come Close’ into another realm. Five people simultaneously surf forward as ‘It’s So Simple’ comes in on hard instrumentals balanced against sweet epic harmonies. All eyes are locked on the stage whilst ‘7 Years’ proves that Cove is one of the best vocalist to come along in years. Absolutely amazing. The band works the stage, madness takes over and even the mob in the balcony are on their feet as Cove says “You have a beautiful venue here, I love it.” Yep, we love it too.