1st State Metal Invasion: Polaris, BlessTheFall, Thousand Below, Nerv at The Queen, Wilmington Delaware

The Australian metalcore band Polaris invaded the 1st State on Tuesday, 9/10/2024 when they arrived to the historic The Queen for the 11th stop of the North America 2024 Tour featuring BlessTheFall, Thousand Below, and Nerv. Not only was Polaris playing in Delaware for the first time, blessthefall also scratched the first state off their list as it was also their first time playing in Delaware. All four bands brought their own unique sound to the stage and with the help of the energetic crowd they showed that Delaware loves it's metal.

Even on a Tuesday night, fans packed The Queen and gave it their all. From crowd surfing to moshing, they were ready to rock the moment the bands hit the stage.

Bless The Fall, Full Band

Nerv:

The alternative pop/rock 4 piece band from Sacramento, CA comprising of vocalist Dillon Jones, guitarists Scott Buchanan and Jordan Grokett, and drummer Tyler Clark come together to create a genre bending sound that really resonates with fans. They made their mark on scene in 2017 with their debut single "Enough" followed by their highly successful debut EP Bad Habits. Continuing their success, Nerv released their first full length album We're All Patients Here in 2022. Taking to the stage first is always a daunting task, however, these guys know how to deliver a heck of a opening set.

Kicking the night off with the song "Low" from their new album, the fans immediately started singing along; prompting the singer to ask the crowd who has heard of them before which resulted in a roar from the crowd. The band fed off of the crowds energy and continued to deliver a high energy performance with songs "Bad Nature" and "Blue" from their 2022 album.

Mid way through their set they performed their newest single, "FAKE!" followed by fan favorites "Bad Habits" and "Lost". Nerv's high energy performance and incredible sound made for one of the best opening acts I've personally seen in a long time.

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Thousand Below:

Post Hardcore California based band Thousand Below joined the tour and brings along their shifting genre sound that blends perfectly with the rest of the bands. Forming in 2017 with members James Deberg, guitarist Josh Thomas, bassist Josh Billimoria, and drummer Max Santoro*, their debut single "Tradition" off of their first album The Love You Let Too Close, helped the band quickly gain recognition in the music industry when their album began charting on the Billboard Independent Albums Chart. They began touring with bands like The Devil Wears Prada, Dance Gavin Dance, Blessthefall, and more.

Following the release of their sophomore album, Gone In Your Wake (2019) the band had plans to tour with Bad Omens and The Plot In You, as well as festival appearances. However, the pandemic led to world wide cancelations leading the band to work on other things such as an acoustic EP. After the pandemic, the band worked tirelessly to continue their success and quickly got back on the road joining Caskets and Normandie, followed by the announcement of their first headlining tour in the US and their upcoming third album Hell Finds You Everywhere (2022). Taking to the stage, the crowd was eager to start moving and soon after the first song "Shake" came on the pits began to open and surfers started to flow over the barrier. Continuing with songs off of their debut album; "Tradition" and "Silent Season", the crowd returned the same energy the band was giving off, making the entire place come alive.

Slowing it down a bit, they performed their newest single "Wrong Again" as well as songs off of their newest album, such as "Hell Finds You Everywhere" and "Venenosa". Finishing off their epic set with the song "Sabotage", the crowd formed one last mosh pit for Thousand Below as they prepared for the madness that was to come next.

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Blessthefall:

One of the original "myspace metalcore" bands, Blessthefall is one of the metalcore greats that have been paving the way since 2004. Their debut album His Last Walk hit the shelves in 2006 followed by their 2nd album in 2009 called Witness. Over the years, Blessthefall continued to push the boundaries and grew into a well known band across the industry. From releasing 6 full length albums and not only touring with bands like Silverstein, Escape The Fate, Crown The Empire, and The Word Alive, but also completing their own headlining tours as well as playing on the Warped tour multiple years in a row. After their 6th studio album Hard Feelings in 2018 and a 10 year anniversary tour of Witness in 2019, the band took a almost 5 year silent hiatus, leaving fans unsure if they would ever get more Blessthefall.

Well, in 2023 the band answered our questions and announced new music such as the song "Wake The Dead" and a tour with Caskets later that year. Although they have been apart of the metal scene since 2004, Blessthefall's trip to The Queen was their first time playing in Delaware, making this a "small" historic moment for the band. The second those lights dimmed and their logo was reviled on the wall behind the stage, the entire building began to shake from the crowds cheers. Many of us, including me, didn't think we would get the chance to see the mighty Blessthefall play again; so the moment they began to play you could feel the energy change in the room. From what I thought was an already energized crowd was now a full blown festival like pit.

The entire floor began to move, arms flying, bodies surfing, even the fans on the upper balcony were jumping along. It was like one big family reunion. Kicking off their set with the 2023 single "Wake The Dead" followed by "Cut Throat" and "Hollow Bodies" the band gave us a taste of what's in store, an amazing trip down memory lane. Taking us way back to 2009, they performed "2.0" and "What's Left Of Me" from the album Witness, which generated the first "wall of death" of the night. The room split in 2 right down the middle and when that breakdown hit two walls of humans collided and one giant pit formed, even pushing the crowd into the sound booth! Talk about beautiful chaos!

For the remainder of their set the crowd never stopped moving as they partied like it was 2010 Warped Tour all over again. During the final songs; "Promised Ones" "You Wear a Crown But You're No King" and fan favorite "Hey Baby, Here's That Song You wanted" Their singer Beau Bokan and bassist Jarred Warth joined the fans on the barrier, allowing fans to surf up and sing along to their favorite songs. Talk about a unforgettable experience and the night wasn't even over yet.

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Polaris:

Award winning Australian metalcore band formed in 2012 by high school friends drummer Daniel Furnari and guitarist Jake Steinhauser, has quickly become a household name in the metal scene around the world. Dropping their first EP Dichotomy in 2012 independently, they began to work on new music as they developed a local fanbase. In 2015 the band dropped their 2nd EP titled The Guilt & The Greif with singles like "Unfamiliar". The new EP quickly gained traction and landed at No. 34 on the ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) charts.

Riding the success of their 2nd EP the band continued to tour with bands like The Plot In You and Alpha Wolf while they continued to work on new music. they finally released their first full length studio album The Mortal Coil which gained huge success and is now considered a iconic metalcore album beloved by fans around the world. The Mortal Coil peaked at number 6 for the ARIA charts and landed them nominations for best hard rock or heavy metal album and album of the year in 2018. Following this success the band went out on another headlining run with Void of Vision and Northlane during their European Summer Tour. In 2019 the band released The Death of Me as their second studio album and once again they were nominated for best hard rock album as well as a Rolling Stone Australia Award nomination. As the years went on they continued to build on their rapidly growing success. The band that was once a bunch of high school students are now on the cusp of being one of the most talked about metalcore acts out there and even begun hitting all the major festivals like Download and Full Force.

As the pandemic came and went, the band announced they have begun working on a new album and released a headlining Australian run with August Burns Red, Kublai Khan Tx and Currents. Sadly tragedy struck in 2023 and original guitarist Ryan Siew passed away. The band and Ryan's family decided that Fatalism would be still be released. "This is the last set of complete songs that we wrote together with Ryan," the band said, "and though the circumstances of their release are now framed by this tragedy, the meaning of the songs and the love we have for them has not changed." They went on to release three singles off of the album and on September 1st, 2023 Fatalism was released and debuted number 1 on the ARIA Albums Charts and went on to be nominated for album of the year and won the AIR Best Independent Album award. They continued to to tour the EU and AUS for the remainder of 2023/2024 and finally made their way back to the United States.

Polaris's return to the US was something many fans have been waiting for and considering the near packed house on a Tuesday night, they were ready! The band came out performing a perfect mix of their hits from earlier albums and showcasing Fatalism, mixing in the new songs as their set went on. To kick things off, the intro to "Crossfire" began while the stage was washed in deep blue light. You could feel the anticipation building as each member began to turn around and face the fans. Finally the band breaks out into song and the crowd erupts into cheering. The mosh pit takes up most of the center of the floor and rail riders had the main railing rocking back and forth. To say they were energetic was an understatement, it was borderline chaos and everyone was loving it, including the band. After performing the songs "All of This Is Fleeting" "Hypermania", "Above My Head", "Overflow", and "Sonder" the band took a brief moment to thank the crowd for being so alive on a Tuesday, saying "We will return to Delaware!" before jumping back into playing. As they started playing the song "Masochist" the crowd again split in two for the 2nd wall of the death of the night.

The breakdown hits, lights flash, the crowd surges inwards and you can literally feel the moshing through the floor. All the while fans are flowing over the barrier like a waterfall as the singer Jamie stretches the microphone out for their chance to sing along. The energy of the room only grew from there as they continued to play some of their biggest hits yet, like "The Remedy", arguably one of their most known songs to date. I personally have not heard a louder crowd than that night during that song. I had to put the camera down and just watch to take it all in. Such a beautiful moment that we were all lucky enough to experience.

Laughter and tears, moshing and surfing, the crowd loved every second of the incredible show. Each band came and left it all on stage and certainly proved that Delaware should be a staple for metal acts to come, especially at The Queen. The rising stars Nerv and Thousand Below paired with metalcore greats Blessthefall and Polaris makes for a amazing show that I would encourage anyone to attended.

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Please see our photo gallery of each band! Links below! Nerv: https://www.beyondthebarrierpa.com/portfolio-collections/nerv/nerv-at-the-queen Thousand Below: https://www.beyondthebarrierpa.com/portfolio-collections/thousand-below/thousand-below-at-the-queen-248333 Blessthefall: https://www.beyondthebarrierpa.com/portfolio-collections/blessthefall/blessthefall-at-the-queen Polaris: https://www.beyondthebarrierpa.com/portfolio-collections/polaris/polaris-at-the-queen