Downtown Phoenix found itself hosting a flock of black-clad rock fans in their best makeup as Black Veil Brides kicked off the Vindicatour II at The Van Buren. The California heavy rockers might not be sporting the theatrical facepaint anymore but they certainly brought plenty of production and visuals- with a side of comedy- to an audience that was beyond thrilled to welcome them back.
US-based Archers and UK-based Caskets got the night going, amping up the crowd during their respective sets. Both bands had plenty of their own fans in the crowd and the room quickly filled in as Archers called for the first mosh pit of the evening. Caskets wasted no time in keeping that energy alive, beckoning crowd surfers to the front and attempting what ended up being a halfhearted wall of death in the middle of the performance. Their opening sets had the perfect balance of heavy rock guitars and metalcore vocals to get the fans on the barricade to bang their heads and cheer loudly as they gave way to the night’s headliner.
The candles were lit and the instantly recognizable organ of “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor” summoned Black Veil Brides to the stage. The band started with a throwback on “Knives and Pens”, whipping the already excited audience into a frenzy of singing and hair tossing. Singer Andy Biersack sauntered back and forth across the stage, smiling widely at the fans and showing off his impressive vocal range on “Bleeders” and “Vindicate”.
“We’re going to do something we’ve never done before- we’re going to murder a member of the audience!” shouted Biersack in just one of many hilarious moments between songs. His deadpan delivery and dry, sarcastic humor had the audience in stitches and they clamored for his attention in the hopes to be teased next. Biersack obliged, helping a fan locate their lost phone (and ribbing them mercilessly in the process), joking about the crowd missing Avenged Sevenfold for their consolation prize of a show and comparing the crowd surfers to flopping fish.
The band’s chosen setlist for this leg of the tour had a little something for every type of fan, including notables like “Rebel Love Song”, “Revenger” and the Wrestlemania-featured “Woe and Pain”. BVB threw themselves into this tour kickoff, delivering a performance that had Phoenix fans smiling and sweating from matching that energy. The main set ended with the lights going down on “Perfect Weapon” before the audience chanting brought the band back out to end the night on “In the End”. Black Veil Brides are no strangers to Arizona and they repeatedly thanked the crowd for continuing to rock with them after so many years. The end of the show was a reluctant goodbye and a strong start to the Vindicatour II.
