Live Coverage

Some nights are built to escalate, and this one did exactly that. Four bands, each heavier than the last, all packed into the Coca-Cola Roxy on a Braves game night, which already had the area chaotic before doors even opened. Once inside though, it locked in quick. This wasn’t a casual crowd. People showed up early and stayed engaged the entire night, which says a lot when you’re starting this heavy right out of the gate.

The Heaven room at The Masquerade filled in quickly on April 11 as The Devil Wears Prada brought the Flowers Tour through Atlanta. The floor tightened up early, the crowd was engaged before the lights even dropped, and the energy carried from the first band all the way through the encore.

Tabernacle had that feeling the second you walked in on April 10. Not every show has it, but you know it when it’s there. There’s just something about that room too. The old church layout, the balcony wrapping around the floor, it always feels a little tighter and louder than it should. That works in a band’s favor, and it definitely did this night.

Just a few weeks following the release of Engines of Demolition, Black Label Society brought the tour to The Tabernacle on April 9 with a lineup that delivered from start to finish. With Zakk Wylde pulling double duty between Black Label Society and Zakk Sabbath, the night leaned fully into heavy riffs, extended guitar work, and moments that hit deeper than expected.

There are shows where you go for the music, and then there are Steel Panther shows where you go for the full spectacle. April 8 at Buckhead Theatre landed firmly in that second category. The crowd knew exactly what they were walking into, and the energy in the room reflected it before the band even hit the stage.

The Eastern took on a historic weight on April 4th as The Format, the Arizona indie-pop duo, Nate Ruess and Sam Means, finally made their triumphant return to Atlanta. This nearly-sold-out crowd had waited 20 years for this moment, so the energy was less about nostalgia and more about a long-overdue reunion with a band that defined indie music for a generation.

Buckhead Theatre felt different the second you walked in on March 31. There was a buzz in the room that you do not always get, even at metal shows. Maybe it was the lineup. Maybe it was the Thrash of the Titans Tour finally hitting Atlanta. Maybe it was the fact that Testament were stepping onto this stage for the first time instead of their usual stop at The Masquerade. Either way, the energy was already building before a single note was played, and by the time the lights dr

By the time Puscifer took the stage just after 9:00 p.m., the tone shifted again. A pre-show message made it clear that phones needed to be put away, setting the expectation that this was something meant to be experienced in the moment. Opening with “Thrust” from their latest album Normal Isn’t, the band immediately locked into a slow, hypnotic groove that carried through the entire night.