A love letter to Florida.
That is what Wage War’s November 1st show at Addition Financial Arena in Orlando Florida was. Falling in between dates on their Stigma tour, Wage War brought along the tours three openers: Fame on Fire, Thrown, Erra, plus a special edition in Pop Evil.
It was a full circle moment for the Ocala based band who have grown through the Florida local music scene and have now taken over the metalcore scene. In their 9 year career as Wage War, they have opened for the mainstream acts like Godsmack and Chevelle, and today marked their first headlining arena show, fitting as it may be, in their home state in front of a sold out crowd.
The lights went black and soft blue lights cast a glow, outlining lead singer Briton Bond. It was only fitting that the band opened with the first track from their Stigma album, “The Show’s About To Start.” The spoken word alongside a ticking clock had the crowd buzzing with anticipation, and when that clock stopped, the show truly began. Fans were met with confetti, strobe lights, and fire. Wage War wasted no time throwing their fans into their head-banging discography. Paying homage to the state and scene that raised them, they played songs from every album they have released. Guaranteeing that fans got to hear their favorites from each.
Whether you love Wage War for their headbanging riffs, fast paced drum runs, or the perfect combination of Briton Bonds harsh vocals with Cody Quistad’s powerful clean vocals, you got it all with this eighteen song setlist. The first half of the show took us back in time, with tracks like: “Stitch,” “The River,” and “Circle The Drain.” Then, came Stigma, welcoming in this era with the track “Blur.” The band powered through these songs before ending the set (before the encore of course). After giving no reprieve to the crowd, they were kind enough to slow it down a bit, for 56 seconds to be exact, when they started their two song encore with the song Johnny Cash. The stillness of the crowd was soon contradicted as Briton’s vocals kicked in. Wage War closed out the night with fan favorite: “Manic.” The song sent the crowd into a frenzy and crowd surfers popped up on top of the crowd for one final ride.
As the music faded out and the band took their final bow, the feeling in the air was electric. This was not just a hometown show, but a sold out arena hometown show. Wage War’s love for Florida and the scene that helped them succeed runs deep, and we received a glimpse of what Florida Boys can do, and it’s pretty damn amazing.
