Review and photos by Nate Follmer

Edited by Morgan Kohler

The Dark Sun Protocol tour made a stop in Pittsburgh, and Stage AE was packed to the rafters with a stacked metalcore lineup, featuring Kingdom of Giants, Catch Your Breath, Alpha Wolf and Dayseeker.

Kingdom of Giants kicked off the night with a high-energy set that got the pit spinning and crowd surfers flying over the barrier. Kingdom of Giants recently released their latest EP Bleeding Star, which was heavily featured throughout their set. This wasn’t my first time seeing Kingdom of Giants. They were awesome the first time and were even better this tour. It was clear this wasn’t just an opening band. When your opener feels like a headliner, you know it’s going to be a good show. 

Next up was Catch Your Breath, a hard rock band hailing from Austin, Texas that brought the Texas heat with their intense performance. For being sandwiched between two bands with a massively heavy sound, Catch Your Breath did a great job keeping the crowd hot with their commanding stage presence and driving melodies. The crowd was singing along to their entire set while sending surfers across the sea of fans. 

Alpha Wolf took the stage next and wasted no time warming up the crowd. Their entire set was pure chaos. Security earned their money that evening. I have never seen so many crowd surfers coming over the barrier at Stage AE. I saw Alpha Wolf earlier this year at Soundstage, which is a much smaller venue, but both shows had the same energy. These guys throw everything they have into their shows, regardless of their size. 

Dayseeker closed out the night with a headlining set that was nothing short of spectacular. I wasn’t expecting their set to be as heavy as it was that evening. A majority of Dark Sun was represented through nine tracks out of their setlist of 13 songs. If you listen to Alpha Wolf’s Half Living Things and then Dayseeker’s Dark Sun albums back-to-back, you might wonder how they ended up on a tour together. Trust me, it works. Dayseeker mixes their light, but haunting, melodies with a deep driving heaviness that needs to be witnessed to be understood. The visuals that accompany their set are some of the best I’ve seen. Their screen wasn’t just a looping band logo. Each song had its own mini cinematic piece. I found myself watching the visuals more than I did the band. 

The Dark Sun Protocol tour is running across the country until the beginning of November. I highly recommend checking it out if there’s a stop near you. This was easily a top three show for me this year. Each band brought a unique energy to the tour. On paper, I wasn’t sure how this would work, but I understood after seeing it live.

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