Sick New World Sideshow: WAGE WAR at Brooklyn Bowl

It’s been a crazy weekend here in Vegas with the madness that is Sick New World coming to town. Just like When We Were Young last year, this year we got a special set of sideshows taking over many of the popular venues here in the city. And we’ve been hard at work covering a handful of the festivities!

Friday, April 26, 2024 – WAGE WAR – Brooklyn Bowl, Las Vegas

Openers – Sleep Theory – Veil of Maya – Nothing More

Walking up to the venue, a full crowd could be seen from afar. I always love this. Though crowds can be hard to navigate sometimes, the fullness and energy always makes up for it and really adds intensity to the show experience as a whole. I was hoping to make it in time to catch at least part of Sleep Theory’s set, since I do enjoy finding new bands within this genre and supporting the up and comers, but between the crowd and a hiccup at the box office, I unfortunately missed them. I heard they were killer, though and they received praise and good words from the rest of the bands on the bill so that’s always a good thing!

VEIL OF MAYA

I’ve been a casual fan of Veil of Maya for quite some time. These guys offer a number of interesting elements to their music in general. So much so that I think just about anyone can find something they like about them. They’ve got this cool djent-prog like sound, with a mix of guttural and clean vocal contrasts. I admittedly had to go through and look at their past tours to see what other tours they came to Vegas on, since I could not remember if I had seen them before or not, but it looks like I did see them back in 2008 on their “Thrash and Burn” run with DevilDriver & Emmure. Because it’s been quite some time since then, I essentially was looking at their set with fresh eyes and ears again.

Since the band veered away from their more deathcore-ish roots, their setlist doesn’t seem to have anything that goes past the last decade. While I enjoy that earlier stuff, I’m not going to shit on them for that. Their evolved sound is good, and it’s been taking them to some cool places these days. The first few songs played were off of their last album titled, “[m]other”, and they wrapped up their set with their most played song on Spotify, (almost 30 million plays) “Mikasa” off their 2015 record, “Matriarch”.

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NOTHING MORE

Tours like this are interesting. Nothing More has almost a cult following from what I understand and have seen. A good chunk of the fans in the front row were there specifically to see them, and either moved to the back and/or left after their long, intense set. And I’m only pointing that out because I saw a completely different set of faces along the barricade once Wage War took the stage. I admittedly had never seen or cared much for this band. They have a great sound, but I like things a little bit heavier.

Despite that little tick in my own preference, I absolutely respect the high energy and intensity these guys brought to the room during their set. During the first three songs, both vocalist Johnny Hawkins and guitarist Mark Vollelunga could be seen in the photo pit area interacting with fans. I have always loved when band members do that. It really gives the fans a special experience. 

While these guys aren’t my cup of tea, I would definitely see them again if the opportunity presented itself. 

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WAGE WAR

It’s been a good SEVEN years since I’ve seen the guys in WAGE WAR. It was opener set for fellow Ocala, FL friends, A Day to Remember in 2017 on this very same stage. I remember being blown away by their fresh energy. I was most looking forward to seeing how this band has grown through the years. They have gained a massive fan base since I last saw them, and they deservedly earned that fan base. 

Wage War played a great variety of songs from their entire catalog, opening with “Stitch”, off of 2017’s “Deadweight”; which is a song that I fell in love with after I had first seen them, and ending with “Manic” off of 2021’s album of the same name. Crowd surfers could be seen moving towards the stage consistently throughout their entire set, and at several points in the night you could feel the vibration of the floor so intensely because of all of the jumping. 

While I don’t think this event was sold out or at capacity, there were definitely enough bodies that made it seem that way. And the energy stayed so high that vocalist Briton Bond kept saying periodically that this was the best crowd of the tour so far. They’re only about a week in, so hopefully we can keep that high ranking!

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Setlist:

1. Stitch
2. Low
3. High Horse
4. Godspeed
5. Prison
6. Teeth
7. The River
8. Alive
9. True Colors
10. Death Roll
11. Nail5
12. Circle the Drain
13. Manic

Wage War is co-headlining this tour with Nothing More, promoting their new album due to be released on June 21st. The first single, “NAIL5” was released on April 12, just a couple weeks ago and fans have already seen the band perform this banger live. (According to positive posts on their socials.) This evening’s entire bill we be on tour well into May, so make sure you go check them out! Head on over to https://wagewarband.com/ for show dates, merch and more!

Live photos by Courtney Ware for ZrockR Magazine 2024 – All Rights Reserved.