Fans of Secrets were disappointed the day before the show when they found out that the bands vocalist, Xander, wasn’t making it to our great nation. This was the second show they were supposed to play in Toronto since they got signed to Rise Records, and the second time they failed to do so. Fans aren’t exactly hopeful for the Vans Warped Tour this year. 

Stepping in for Secrets was everyone’s favorite Toronto native, Sleep When You’re Dead. The band was the perfect warm up to the varied sounds coming up later, letting moshers stretch their arms, legs, and neck, and letting the younger ten year old girls find a suitable hiding place early on. 

Up next was everyone’s favorite, over embracive frontman Jerry Roush and his new band Glass Cloud. Right off the bat it seemed as though the  band acquired some sort of projector that truly emulated how little they cared about authority, and really focused on the fact that they were there to have fun – the old school hardcore way.  The guitarist and bassists doing full 360’s for nothing short of the first 30 seconds making it almost impossible to believe that they could play, and also not accidently break themselves and each other. After a short four song set, Jerry Roush got offended when the monitor technician cut them off. Initially reluctant to leave the stage Roush got the entire crowd chanting “stop being a cunt” after pointing out the fact that the sound tech ‘fingered herself at night because she couldn’t get any.’ Finally, the band gave up and left the stage – not after getting a song’s worth of time and entertainment out of it. 

Up next was a cult favorite, Issues. Playing all but one of their songs – with the exception of the worst of them – the band got nearly everyone moving. The energy didn’t even give out when the band played their cover of Justin Bieber’s Boyfriend. The song that had critics and fans alike confused and shocked, twice, confused and shocked everyone even a third time. Ending their set with King of Amarillo, the band decided to continue to try to mess with the system by inviting as many people as possible on stage for no reason other than just complete chaos and anarchy.

Tired fans got a nice chance to take a break before Silverstein seeing as Like Moths to Flames was up next.  Playing an 8 song set list (Issues and Glass Cloud had only 5) the band managed to confuse fans by seemingly playing the same song for close to half an hour. It seemed as though there was little transitions, and even when there were the songs still sounded like one. Often this is a great thing; many albums that flowed are regarded as some of the best music ever recorded. However, this isn’t flow we’re talking about; it’s the excessively generic vocals and instrumentals provided by the band. Closing with You Won’t Be Missed, A Skylit Drive fans got to enjoy themselves for the first thirty or so seconds while the band played the intro riff that they ripped off Tempt me, Temptation. 

After 8 songs it was finally over and it was time for Silverstein to hit the stage. Playing a set that focused on the latest record This is How the Wind Shifts, the show was a treat for both old time veterans and new fans. A never ending high-energy performance and incredible vocals by Shane Told really blew the crowd away, and for once, the headliner blew the openers out of the water. All the previous nonsense was easily forgetting close to the end of the bands set when Shane Told called up a guy named Mike and his girlfriend Jen who had ventured to Toronto from Connecticut so that he could propose to her on stage. It would have been extremely sad if, during their synchronized stage dive, her ring, or at least the rock, fell off. Soon after, it hit time for the band’s encore full of Call it Karma and Departures performed acoustically and finally My Heroine and Smile in Your Sleep. Fans left satisfied after a night of yelling, singing, screaming, laughing and crying – a feat never accomplished by any show before.    

- by Misha Kotok