Converge at Reggie’s
Celebrating its 20-year anniversary in style, Converge took to the road with a new split 7-inch and some of hardcore’s most interesting opening acts. The band’s current tour features support from both Trap Them and Burning Love, two bands with vastly different takes on the hardcore genre. With the addition of a local opener, Converge found a way to build a line-up that had enough diversity—and enough similarities—to get fans in the club early.
Last night’s stop at Reggie’s Rock Club also had the added support of local act The Eunuchs. The band walked out to a club that was half full and a reception that was ice cold. Bassist Edward Gobbo attempted to reach out to the crowd with humor, but the audience returned his jokes with blank stares and only a smattering of applause. Although the group began to hit its stride toward the end of its set, The Eunuchs’ take on metallic hardcore was far from captivating.
Ontario, Canada’s Burning Love had the difficult task of trying to appease a room full of now-apathetic fans. Somehow, the group found a way to meet the call. Vocalist Chris Colohan spent years in Cursed honing both his voice and his stage presence, and it pays off for Burning Love. Whether he was running around the stage or jumping in the crowd, Colohan commanded attention and his vocals consistently hit the mark. Burning Love didn’t stray too far from the hardcore blueprint, but the guitar work of both Pat Marshall and Andrus Meret featured enough classic metal influence to keep Burning Love’s songs from feeling rehashed.
Although Trap Them was not the evening’s headliners, it proved to be an incredibly hard act to follow. The members put everything they had into the show, but no one more than drummer Chris Maggio. Not content sitting on his drum throne, Maggio would often be seen bouncing behind his kit and even playing standing up during particular sections. Not to be outdone, the rest of Trap Them proved that they were equally capable of commanding the audience’s attention while highlighting songs from this year’s Darker Handcraft. Ryan McKenney’s vocals were spot on, and his presence on stage was intimidating due to his erratic nature. Switching between stoically planting his foot on the monitor and throwing himself across the stage, McKenney was an enigmatic force. Trap Them’s set list was strong, but the group’s performance helped make the songs even more powerful.
With the seemingly impossible task of following Trap Them, Converge promptly started setting up. Vocalist Jacob Bannon paced across the stage, occasionally doing calisthenic-style warm-ups. As soon as the band finished line checking, it ripped immediately into “Concubine” from 2001’s Jane Doe. It was apparent that even after 20 years in the genre, Converge has not lost its strength. Bannon threw himself and the microphone all over the room, and the crowd ate it up. Despite Reggie’s having a rather strict policy against stage diving and crowd surfing, there was nothing that could be done to stifle the audience’s enthusiasm and its disregard for these policies.
Whether Converge was playing new songs—“Runaway,” from the band’s newly released split 7-inch with Dropdead—or old tracks such as “The High Cost Of Playing God,” the crowd responded ferociously. Converge appeared to be sucking in this energy, and it performed with the youthful exuberance of a band half its age. Bassist Nate Newton spent a good deal of the show either jumping or head banging, while guitarist Kurt Ballou nailed his parts and stomped around his side of the stage.
Never slowing down, Converge pummeled fans with song after song of intensely chaotic hardcore. The band made its way back for an encore and asked the crowd that they wanted to hear. That final song ended up being “Last Light” from 2004’s You Fail Me. As the song concluded, Bannon threw his microphone into the air and not long after it hit the ground, he was already sitting atop a monitor shaking hands and talking with the fans.
Converge has not lost an ounce of the ferocity that made it popular well over a decade ago, and this 20th-anniversary tour is proof of that. The group isn’t touring nearly as often as it once was, but it’s not from a lack of commitment. Judging by last night’s show, Converge is having as much fun as ever. Here’s hoping that it won’t be going away anytime soon.
