From Ashes To New Brings The Blackout Tour along with Phix, Ekoh, Point North and To The House of Blues Las Vegas

Phix

Hailing from Lubbock, Texas, Phix’s sound of metalcore/rap was excellent addition to this already versatile lineup! Phix took the stage along with a guitarist and a drummer (who is ELEVEN years old by the way and absolutely rips), and played one of the most energetic sets I’ve seen from an opening act. His eight song set included a quaking drum solo from the eleven year old drummer, Bronx, and a performance of his newest single ‘Doomed’ that features fellow touring rapper, Ekoh.

I’ll definitely be listening to a lot of this guy in the next few weeks. I’m a big fan of his vocal melodies and the way they blend over the heavy instrumentals.

Phix has not released a full-length album since 2018, but has released a staggering number of singles and features since then. His new single ‘Alone’ is set to drop on 6/21, so mark your calendars!

Ekoh

My dude, Jeff Thompson! I’ve been a fan/supporter of Ekoh since 2015 when my band was doing a lot of shows with him in the local Las Vegas scene. It’s so awesome to see local artists make it on big tours like this one, and the hometown crowd really showed out for Ekoh. In what can only be described as the most crowd-involved set I’ve ever seen, Ekoh absolutely ripped through his discography, and took many opportunities to let us know how much love he has for his hometown fans. Towards the end of his set, Ekoh got even more involved as he crowd-surfed across the sea of fans at House of Blues that night, and proceeded to end his set by signing people’s shoes on stage. ALL of this was done while he was spitting bars and never missing a beat. Ekoh is a true Vegas gem, and hands down one of the most talented rappers/songwriters in the scene right now.

Ekoh’s newest release ‘Nobody Likes Me’ featuring Tech N9ne is set to release on 6/21.

Point North

I think this is my second time seeing Point North, and they crushed it again. Point North is a pop-punk band from Los Angeles. Despite several lineup changes, the band has found success as a three-piece, releasing several full-length albums under Hopeless Records and completing a number of U.S. tours. While they performed an energetic 40-minute set, the stage production/crowd involvement was nothing to write home about. I was, however, very impressed with their sound. Every instrument, track, and vocal was very well mixed and produced, and the band kept everything very tight.

Point North’s latest release ‘Prepare For Despair” came in August of 2023, and they are slated to appear at a few different festivals this year. Hopefully they’ll play their cover of ‘Hammer’ next time I see them!

From Ashes To New

Holy COW man these guys blew me away. I had never seen this band perform live, and honestly was not expecting much more than what we had seen so far in the night. However, I can confidently say that FATN had one of the best stage productions I’ve seen so far this year. From the second their set started, it was evident how much time and effort was put in to this tour. Huge risers paneled with led walls to display graphics for every song, some of the most explosive cryo I’ve ever seen, and absolutely phenomenal lighting design. It was almost as if they were taking us on an adventure with each song. As an audience member, i felt very involved and found it EXTREMELY hard to look away from the stage at any point! Kicking it off with ‘Armageddon’ from their recent full length album, FATN performed a diverse set, including a performance of ‘Nightmare’ in which they invited Ekoh out on stage to do with them. About mid-set there was an intermission during which vocalist, Matt, took a few minutes to openly address the crowd about his gratitude for all of the fans that have supported the band from the beginning. FATN closed out their explosive set with fan favorites like ‘Panic’ and ‘Through It All’.

I left this show a born again FATN fan. This was probably the most fun and entertaining show I’ve been to this year. Massive props to these guys for what they were able to pull off on this tour. If you missed them on this run, I highly recommend you see them this fall.

The guys finished off their ‘Blackout Pt. II’ tour with 4 more stops across the west coast after Vegas, and are set to hit the road again with Set It Off in late September.