After being on a five-year hiatus, blessthefall announces their Hollow Bodies 10 year anniversary tour, and fans go WILD. With fans being able to upgrade to exclusive VIP experiences and merch, it’s no surprise that many of their shows on this tour have sold out, Tampa being one of them.
The Orpheum has been a local favorite concert venue for many years, but after moving to a bigger location last year, the Orpheum has gained even more love. Now providing an outdoor concert experience and tiki bar, fans are able to enjoy moshing, sitting, or hanging back inside the venue where the concert is live streamed onto the indoor stage.
Arriving to the venue, the line started to quickly wrap around the building with fans bouncing with excitement and anticipation. The staff from the venue and event coordinators were extremely helpful and interactive with fans, doing in line interviews and handing out VIP merchandise while waiting for doors to open.
Included in the VIP experience was a Hollow Bodies vinyl, exclusive pin, VIP lanyard, and a tour poster which is signed during your meet and greet experience. Blessthefall was extremely interactive with fans, remembering fans from other show locations, answering questions, and taking their own pictures of fans’ art. Following the meet and greet came individual pictures and a Q & A session where fans connected even more with the band. The VIP experience was a super comfortable and chill one, where you can tell this fan base is really more like family.
During the VIP experience the weather took a turn for the worst as clear skies turned into torrential downfall, but that’s Florida for you, and fans hunkered down before the Venue let guests in a little early to shelter from the rain. A little rain never stopped true fans though, and the show went on after the weather cleared up.
Dragged Under kicked off the show and dragged everyone out of their seats. Despite the sprinkles of rain, the crowd grew larger and larger as they played hits like “Suffer” and “Chelsea”. The energy only went up from there as Kingdom of Giants took the stage next. As the crowd grew larger, so did the pit, which extended all the way back to the bar area. Kingdom of Giants kept the energy up through every song, and definitely made some new fans that night. The excitement continued through the break in sets, and more people filled in eagerly awaiting Caskets. Throwing balloons into the crowd, Caskets started the show with “Guiding Light”, and fans immediately started signing along with every word. In moments, everyone was rushing to the front and singing song after song. Caskets not only gave us an incredible performance, but included us in a very special birthday celebration as the entire venue sang “Happy Birthday” to drummer Jim! Not tired yet, fans enjoyed singing along to early 2000s hits between sets while waiting for blessthefall. The energy seemed to shift as the intro to “Exodus” started playing. This is what everyone’s been waiting for, and as blessthefall comes out one by one, the crowd erupts. Singing the entirety of “Hollow Bodies” felt like it took everyone back to the first time they heard the album. Beau was extremely interactive, putting himself in the crowd multiple times and encouraging high-fives with all crowd surfers. After the entirety of Hollow Bodies, they played their newest song “Wake the Dead” and older favorites as well. During the final song “Hey Baby, here’s that song you wanted” he made a point to run along the crowd and high-five and interact with as many fans as possible. Guitar pics, set lists, and drum sticks were thrown to multiple fans at the end as extra special remembrances of an incredible concert experience. All bands poured their everything into their performances and besides the weather, everything seemed to go perfectly and everyone involved made the night one to remember. The experience was by far one of the best concerts I’ve attended.
Article by Sam Marie
Photographer: Nicole Torregrossa