Say my name, mother fucker!!
Knocked Loose terrorizes Orlando on November 12th for their rescheduled 'You Won't Go Before You’re Supposed To' tour date due to Hurricane Milton's path. The new date had a small line-up change with friends Counterparts, Militarie Gun, and Three Knee Deep at the Orlando Amphitheater. This show concluded their 2024 tour so they pulled all of the gimmicks including pyro, fog, an immersive light show, and an ominous set design which included a giant neon cross.
My night started with the last opener, Canadian hardcore band Counterparts, fronted by goliath Brendan Murphy. A band that has done a lot for the hardcore and metalcore scenes while making their way to be legends in the scene, and being both intense and reinvigorating. Their brutal sound blended with lyrics that connect us emotionally, letting us scream our pain with him. The crowd screamed out in out powerful lyrics in unison like, “Will you love me when there’s nothing left to love?”
Counterparts released a new album on November 7th entitled Heaven Let Them Die, and they chose Orlando to debut two of those songs "A Martyr Left Alive" and "No Lamb Was Lost." Both songs have proven that they have zeroed in on the hardcore sound, and verified that Counterparts will be a beacon in the scene for years to come.
In the darkness, all you could see was a lit cross and dense fog until the lights flashed and a menacing Bryan Garris appeared, with his fist defiantly in the air, while the background played the Unsolved Mysteries theme song. Knocked Loose's first song is "Thirst" from the new album, which dropped on May 10th of this year. Recently nominated for a Grammy for Best Metal Performance for the single "Suffocate" featuring singer Poppy, the fans were ready to celebrate the well-respected band. Bryan Garris would often command the crowd, leading them with demands: “Orlando, a second ago I asked you to jump, right now I am telling you!!” During the performance, they placed new tracks from "Blinding Faith" and "Don’t Reach For Me," to past bangers "Counting Worms" and "deadringer." At one point in the night, he asked the crowd to raise their hands if they had heard the new record. Excitingly, he exclaimed, “that's a lot of hands up, now listen if you just raised your hand, you volunteered yourself to crowd surf.” I saw bodies take to the sky, one by one being launched up as if on a conveyor belt. The energy was intense during the show with not just one mosh pit, but several, causing security to constantly be on their toes watching the audience and the barricade where bodies were flying, hoping the band noticed their leap of faith into the air.
Although the essence of hardcore was shown, the crowd would still pause if something dangerous happened, picking up fallen brothers and sisters to make sure they were alright before continuing to go hard. During one song, the audience went a little too hard and the show was briefly paused while Bryan Garris checked to make sure all was well. “When these things happen, there is always a dip in energy…” he starts, “but do not let this energy die. What we have is a beautiful thing. There's not a lot of places where this kind of chaos can exist and thrive.” They then restarted "Trapped in the grasp of a memory.” The rest unfolded naturally, with the crowd absolutely losing their shit. They ended their set with "sit and mourn," and the giant confetti cannon went off, celebrating the ending of their tour.
