DEVOUR THE DAY LIVE - Val Air Ballroom, West Des Moines, IA - June 16th

Posted on June 25, 2013 by Sommer Sharon

Devour the Day was included in the lineup when well-known Hinder and not so well-known up-and-coming band Acidic, played Val Air Ballroom in West Des Moines, Iowa on Sunday, June 16, 2013.

The Memphis, TN based band is considered the reincarnation of Egypt Central, with a much different sound than the now defunct alternative metal band. Devour the Day incorporates some screaming vocals with a contemporary rock sound, and throws in heartfelt lyrics about the trials of life. Joey “Chicago” Walser has continued on with Devour the Day on bass and backing vocals while former Egypt Central drummer Blake Allison has stepped out from behind the kit to tackle lead vocals and guitar. The full band is only officially considered Walser and Allison, but they’ve pulled in touring musicians Dustin Schoenhofer (Bury Your Dead and Walls of Jericho) on drums and Jeff James (Egypt Central) on guitar to round out their live shows.

Devour the Day is no doubt one of the more gorgeous looking rock bands new to the scene. Allison has luscious brown wavy locks that were in his face the majority of the time as he tossed his hair around. He looks circa 1990, a modern-day Eddie Vedder or Chris Cornell. And he had a shining, beautiful candy apple red guitar strapped to the front of him. Both Walser and James had rippling pecs, strong exposed tattooed arms, and the sweat dripping off of them most of the show made them look like glistening gods.

The crowd was fairly subdued when Devour the Day initially stepped on the stage, as the first opening band Acidic just didn’t have the oomph to get the Hinder crowd excited. But as Devour the Day started their set, you could see pockets of people who were excited to see them and who genuinely seemed to be enjoying the music as they danced around. With each song, those few pockets of people enjoying the show seemed to infectiously spread to others in the crowd. Not strangers to the venue, Devour the Day had played there just a month ago as an opening act for Buckcherry, so it’s possible some of this crowd was familiar with them.

Get Out of My Way is one of the more unique songs on Devour the Day’s album because of its digital effects, so it was interesting to hear how they would accomplish that song in a live setting. It was not performed as it is on the album, and something was definitely missing for fans who like and are accustomed to the album version. Fortunately because of this band’s infancy, most people at the show were probably not very familiar with the recorded composition. To this crowd it was likely as seamless as any other song they performed.

Good Man is the band’s current single release. It’s played on Sirius XM Octane and currently sits in the top 10 on the Big ‘Uns Countdown. The track is also played on various active rock radio stations across the country, making it by far the most recognizable song by Devour the Day. It was obvious by the waves of shouts that erupted from the crowd when they started playing it that many of them had heard the track.

Devour the Day played each of the 10 tracks from their debut album Time and Pressure, which just released in May 2013. It’s impressive to see an opening band have the ability to play such a long set, when often opening bands are only allowed to play a condensed version of their material. It’s also impressive that the crowd seemed exhilarated throughout every song. The crowd response speaks volumes to how solid their album is, which we’re in agreement with based on our stellar review of the album, which we published just last month in our June issue.

As former Egypt Central members, Devour the Day is no stranger to the stage, and they exhibit an experienced presence. While it seemed a very comfortable position for them, you have to admire these guys for how seamlessly they’ve come out to the front. They’ve quickly worked to get back out on the road, with Egypt Central making the official announcement of their demise just in December 2012. They are motivated to make a name for themselves, and this show made it clear that they are putting it all out there.