Melancholy skies and melancholy music. On October 2nd, Jannus Live in St. Petersburg FL welcomed the Dark Sun Protocol Tour. The tour was headlined by Dayseeker and supported by a mix of metal genres found with: Kingdom of Giants, Catch Your Breath, and Alpha Wolf.
Kingdom of Giants kicked off the show with intensity. It was an action packed seven song setlist that had the crowd pumping with anticipation by the end of it. Lead singer Dana Willax leading the crowd in song and at one point getting a security guard monitoring the mosh pit, to crowdsurf to the stage.
Following them was Catch Your Breath, a metalcore band from Austin, Texas. Despite sound difficulties in the first three songs of their seven song setlist, the band put on a great show. Their name might sound familiar to you because of their popularity on TikTok with their song “Dial Tone”, which had the whole crowd singing along with Josh Mowery and band. Also they had a rocky start, they put on a great set!
It has been 8 months since Alpha Wolf was in Florida, and it was like they never left. The Australian metalcore band put on a high intensity ten song setlist, which had multiple pits forming and crowd surfers flying through the air. Though lead Lochie Keogh was not too happy about security involvement in the pit (and very vocal about it), I know that the fans were happy with the show they put on.
You know the feeling when you are coming down from an adrenaline high. Your heart rate slows, you become focused on your surroundings, and you feel eerily aware of your body. That is what the transition from Alpha Wolf to the headlining band Dayseeker was like.
Welcomed in with a warm blue glow, a dark sun if you will, Dayseeker took the stage to a sold out crowd. The crowd screamed as the opening notes of “Dreamstate” played over the speakers. Beside the amazing vocals from Rory Rodriguez and Gino Sgambelluri, Dayseeker knows how to put on show production. Their lighting color palette coming from their Dark Sun album cover and casting the most beautiful ambient glow over the crowd. Their fourteen song setlist garnered songs from their whole discography, surprise vocal features from Dana Willax of Kingdom of Giants and Tyler Levenson from Afterlife, and even a cover. That cover ended up being “My Immortal” by Evanescence, letting Rory take center stage with acoustic guitar in hand as the crowd illuminated the stage with their phones and lighters.
Dayseeker is a band that lets the music speak for itself, the visuals are just an added bonus. If you go to a Dayseeker, you will sing, scream, and in my case, cry, but don’t worry you are in a safe space because I bet the person next to you will be doing the exact same thing. I look forward to the future of Dayseeker and all the emotions they will make me feel.
