Between the Buried and Me Bear the Burden of a Co-headliner in Exchange for a Larger Venue

By George Fenton

photo by Juan Pardo

On Sunday, progressive metal masters Between the Buried and Me took the stage at The Fillmore in Fishtown for the Philly date of co-headlining tour with math rockers CHON. Usually when BTBAM stop in Philly, they are often met with the misfortune of playing the TLA on South Street - which has great patronage, but often leaves something to be desired in terms of sound (especially in the wake of modern venues opening across the city). As a lifelong fan, I was happy to see a group of their caliber take shed their more frequented, 1000 cap venue, for one three times its size. The band certainly seemed aware of their new space, and put in the effort to make sure their set reflected that.  

With the time constraint of being the second to last band on the bill, BTBAM were still able to fit in a whopping nine songs into their set of just a little over an hour. That’s saying something considering many of their tracks are in the 8 to 15 minute range. While they were supporting their quasi-double album Automata I and Automata II, they kept the set well varied. BTBAM opened with their early hit “Alaska” off of their third record which shares the name. The track harkens back to the bands days of being rooted in the metalcore and hardcore scenes of the day. The band then darted to their Colors record with songs like “Prequel to the Sequel” (with guest vocals from their merch guy), and then dipping their toes into their albums The Parallax II: Future Sequence, and Coma Ecliptic, ending their set with their swing/big band/death metal/carnival song “Voice of Trespass” of their most recent record. An extremely cohesive set that covered a lot of their history in such a short time, however, there was a noticeable lack of any songs from The Great Misdirect, which was surprising given all the hype the band has put behind its 10th anniversary last month. 

Despite the incredible setlist and tight performance from BTBAM, there was a noticeable drawback, and that was the effect of the tour package overall. Often when a band like BTBAM wants to move to a larger venue they can’t fill themselves they’re forced to combine with another band, and it doesn’t always work out, especially when you’re working with a group as niche as Between the Buried and Me. There was a clear divide between those that were there for CHON and those that were there for BTBAM, which took the wind out of their sails, and incited awkwardness among the crowd as there would be short-lived mosh pits, and pockets of fans clapping along. Everyone in the room could feel the tension that they wanted to let loose to BTBAMs deserving set, but the lack of cohesion among audience members stunted that energy significantly. This isn’t the first time I’ve encountered this problem. Mastodon and Coheed and Cambria’s summer tour garnered similar results, as did Black Dahlia Murder and Whitechapel’s show the summer before. I know it’s the way the tour packages work sometimes, and it can be at great benefit toward the artists, but it's disheartening the current trend of seeing bands I love mismatched on co-headliners that more often than not result shorter show, for higher cost and no satisfaction. 

Photo by Juan Pardo