While She Sleeps + He Is Legend @ Fairmount Theatre

Fairmount Theatre welcomed a sold-out show this Thursday night hosted by While She Sleeps and He Is Legend. Let me tell you, the result of it was EX-PLO-SIVE!

There aren’t enough words to describe what I witnessed at that show, starting with He Is Legend (I’ve sadly missed Northgang and Savage Hands thanks to Montreal’s lovely weather but have no regrets whatsoever being there for the two main acts!). American rock band, He Is Legend delivered a satisfying 30-minute performance, composed of 8 songs, each one heavier than the others. They brilliantly showcased their sixth studio album White Bat, starting with the eponym song. White Bat, released in June 2019, is the catchiest and most cohesive record He Is Legend has released to date, and Schuylar Croom and the other members perfectly transferred that raw energy and talent in a live setting. Whether it is with “White Bat”, “Burn All Your Rock Records”, “Eye Teeth” or “Boogiewoman”, He Is Legend’s full set was a total banger. The crowd, despite not knowing them much, was totally engaging with the band and ready to rage harder than ever with the boys.

The band also picked a couple of others songs from older records to play, such as “The Seduction” from their first record I Am Hollywood, “The Seduction Of Dixie Wolf” from their 2006’s record Suck Out The Poison, as well as “Everyone I Know Has Fangs” from their third record It Hates You. Surprisingly they didn’t pick any songs from the two previous records before White Bat, that were still pretty decent in my opinion, but I guess the emphasis was on that last record and it was well executed, to say the least. Last but not least, the band delighted us with a Marilyn Manson cover of “The Fight Song”. After this performance, I’d vote for a switch in name from He Is Legend to They’re Legends, hands down.

English metalcore band While She Sleeps closed the night with one of the most entertaining sets I’ve seen in my life. I knew these guys were going to be good, but that good? I wasn’t expecting it. Lawrence Taylor blew me away, by not only his vocal skills but also by his stage presence and off-stage presence at times (those who were at the show will definitely understand what I mean by that). The band started off with “Anti-Social”, the first single of their latest album So What? What a way to start off the show, it put everyone on the same page from the first note. We all knew what to expect after that, banger after banger after banger, and While She Sleeps was more than happy to deliver our dose of metalcore straight to our ears and right on our face. They continued their set with “I’ve Seen It All” and “Set You Free” from their latest release, before making us go back in time. First with You Are We’s “Civil Isolation”, followed by “Brainwashed” and their latest single “Fakers Plague”, that they dropped at the end of 2019. Needless to say, the crowd found serenity here in this musical chaos.

It’s hard to go on much longer without mentioning the entire band’s stage presence that was simply amazing, mostly thanks to Loz Taylor and Aaran McKenzie that were all over the place. Loz even went climbed and made his way up hanging from the ceiling, a true showman! Not only that but the band also invited the crowd to join them on stage during one of their last songs. It was great to see everyone at the same level, fans and the band, all equal, sharing a magical intimate time together. If you want to have the time of your life at a show, I would strongly encourage you to go see these guys!!! I don’t know what they do while she sleeps but they will rock your socks off, especially during “The Guilty Party”, “Hurricane”, “Silence Speaks”, and the one and only “You Are We”.