Amaranthe With Failure Anthem, Citizen Zero, Cypher 16, Smash Into Pieces

Amaranthe a Swedish heavy metal band touring North America and Canada with 24 shows scheduled for their Maximalism Tour with, Smash Into Pieces also from Sweden, Cypher16 from London, England and American based band Failure Anthem from NC, and Citizen Zero from Detroit, MI. The Knitting Factory, Spokane, WA the 11th stop on the tour, February 23, 2017.

I happened to be concert hopping on this night and the Knitting Factory was my 3rd stop along the way. This particular Thursday evening was a busy night for music as Nonpoint was playing at The Pin with many local bands opening the show. I also caught, Luke Yates a local Country artist, at the Leftbank Wine Bar. I showed up to the Knitting Factory late and I was only able to catch the headliner, Amaranthe. This was my first time ever seeing the Swedish band perform live, this band is known for their 3 lead singers all with a different style they bring to the band's sound. The band is heavy metal but there is also a softer side to the band with Elize Ryd's vocals when she went into Amaranthe's encore song, "Endlessly" I knew right away I was really going to like this song and made sure I set my video camera on record to capture the performance, you can check out the video in this article. For this band being so heavy this song was beautiful and showcases Elize's vocal ability, such a beautiful voice with a high range I was very impressed.

Amaranthe (Endlessly)

Before the encore performance as the crowd is cheering the band to come back out on stage for a couple more songs Johan Andreasse, Amaranthe's bass player came out on stage and gave a 5 minute pep talk to the crowd. He wanted to voice his displeasure with the concert attendees throwing out a few choice words. I was standing next to a couple that had brought their 12 year old daughter to the concert and everytime Johan threw out these choice words I can't repeat this girl would look up at her mother with such a look on her face as they tried to cover her ears. I made a comment to them about different cultures, and she replied, she had been to several of Amaranthe's concerts and had never witnessed something like this at the other shows. Apparently during, Smash Into Pieces opening set there were some rude remarks yelled at the band to get off the stage by someone in the crowd, there could have been more than one person involved. I missed this rude behavior as I was not present at the venue yet, way to go Spokane what a way to give these bands a warm welcome. This kind of behavior is not cool in the rock n roll community and I would like to apologize to the bands in behalf of the choice few who try and make us look bad.

Here's the skinny on the bands performing on this tour below:

Amaranthe is a Swedish/Danish heavy metal band, The band is notable for having three lead vocalists: Elize Ryd (Clean Vocals), Jake E Lundberg (Clean Vocals), and Henrik Englund Wilhemsson (Harsh Vocals), each presenting a different vocal style. Other members include Olof Mörck - Lead & Rhythm Guitars, Keyboards, Johan Andreassen - Bass Guitar, Morten Løwe Sørensen - Drums. Their debut album was released in April, 2011.

Failure Anthem is an American hard rock band from Greensboro, North Carolina. Forming in 2013. Members—Chris [vocals], Ryan [bass, backup vocals], Kile [guitar], Troy [drums], and Wil [rhythm guitars.

Citizen Zero is an American hard rock band from Detroit, Michigan. Band Members Josh LeMay - Vocals/Guitar Sammy Boller - Lead GuitarJohn Dudley - DrumsSam Collins - Bass.

Cypher16 are a young, talented new organic rock band, who fuse electronic and metal influences with hints of industrial to create their own unique musical mix. Formed in 2007 from London, England.

Smash Into Pieces is an explosive rock band with worldwide aspirations, formed in 2008 from Örebro, Sweden–Members: Chris Adam Hedman Sörbye, Isak Snow, Per Bergquist, Benjamin Jennebo, Viktor Vidlund.

I wish I could say more about the other bands performing at this concert but I did not catch their sets. I did, however talk to a few of the members from the other bands and purchased some merchandise, I happened to score a selfie with, Citizen Zero so not all was lost. I will make sure to catch them all the next time they are in town. I would recommend to catch the Amaranthe Tour when they hit your city, they will melt your face off and that's a good thing. The tour ends in Reading, PA on March 11th. Please support your local music venues to guarantee we keep getting these awesome concerts coming our way. Until next time keep it real, and take it easy. Rock N Roll.