Live Review: August Burns Red w/Currents & Erra 10th Anniversary of “Constellations” Tour @ Camden Electric Ballroom

Camden Electric Ballroom will no doubt see August Burns Red receive a heroes welcome as following the hugely successful “Messengers” anniversary a couple of years ago, they’ve repeated the concept with “Constellations” and will be playing the album in full. Given how good their current album “Phantom Anthem” is, you could question why they’re not just touring that but… That’s for another day. Tonight, incase you hadn’t guessed it from our 10th Anniversary review of the album, is a night for celebration because the now decade old “Constellations” has sold out Camden Electric Ballroom, making it August Burns Red’s biggest UK show to date.

We get a phenomenal light show tonight with Currents [9/10] not only opening the show but laying down the guantlet for both Erra and August Burns Red. They use strobe lighting in parts and silloute themselves against the Electric Ballroom stage as they tear the place up. Since the last time we saw them at Camden Underworld, they’ve released “I Let The Devil In“, tightened up their live show with “Apnea” and “Night Terrors” getting pride of place, grown their collective hair and added a number of Deathcore growls and roars to tracks that didn’t have them, in a partial return to their older sound. New song “Poverty Of Self” which was released with accompanying music video via SharpTone Records just yesterday gets a mid set airing and is the heaviest track of the DJentlemen’s career.

Erra [8/10] may not have the bone breaking power of Currents these days but what they do have is plenty of Progressive Tech-Metal groove. They play a career spanning set that keeps everyone’s head nodding and faces smiling. “Drift” is a big sing-a-long a highlight, while their constant movement around the stage sees each member appear everywhere throughout. Now nearly three month old new song “Eye Of God” beefs up the middle of the set, while closer “Breach” is a fine note to end on.

August Burns Red [10/10] are indeed greeted as the heroes that they are and they play “Constellations” in full from start to finish with a few surprises.  Frontman Jake Luhrs does some Zen Yoga dancing during the jazzy interlude of  “Ocean Of Apathy”, showing some slick moves for a big man. “White Washed” gets the call and response better Luhrs and the audience to the repeating lines “You’re the straw that’s crushing my back, You are the salt that’s burning my wounds” which is just special beyond words. Luhrs then picks up the bass for “Meridian” while bassist, now a fellow payed up member of the shaved head and beard club, Dustin Davidson plays guitars. He wrote “Rationalist” and so plays that on guitar as well while guitarist JB Brubaker plays bass. If that wasn’t enough for the instrument switching after “Constellations” is over and before the encore proper, we get treated to a drum jam between bassist Dustin Davidson and the bands drummer Matt Greiner who gets a full work out demonstrating some fine skills. We then get “Ghosts”, “Invisible Enemy” and “Empire” before the band close on “Composure” while accompanied by dry ice cannons in Pyrotechnic flame style. It’s nothing short of phenomenal.