by Hayley Knight | October 4th, 2024

All images are from Architects - North American Tour in Dallas, TX on 10/4/24.

Last Friday night, the UK metalcore band Architects brought their North American tour to The Factory in Dallas, with support from fellow rock bands such as We Came As Romans and Brutus. It was very apparent how anticipated this event was for fans, as many stood in a line that wrapped around two blocks of the Deep Ellum neighborhood, waiting for doors to open. However, the long wait in the hot Texas sun would definitely be worth it.

The night started off with an opening performance by Belgium rock band Brutus. I admit, I went into this set a little blind. I had never heard of the band before, but as the three-piece strutted out onto the stage, I would soon find out just how talented they were. Especially their drummer, Stefanie Mannaerts, who not only killed it on the drums but also doubled as the band's sole vocalist. The band’s sound actually reminded me a little bit of Paramore’s early work with hard-hitting vocals, melodic choruses, and emotionally charged lyrics. Brutus’ songs definitely held a much heavier and grittier sound to them, though, which I along with most of the audience members really enjoyed. While not the most energetic band on stage, their music was more than enough to get the crowd captivated during the performance. I definitely look forward to catching another one of their shows in the future.

After the intimate set by Brutus, metalcore band We Came As Romans took the stage. WCAR has been a well-known band in the metalcore scene for close to two decades, with a passionate and dedicated fanbase. Needless to say, when the first breakdown of their opening song “Darkbloom” started playing, fans went absolutely insane! There were even a couple times when one fan in the front row almost tipped over the barricade because he was head banging so hard.

The band members themselves showed just as much energy and excitement. Every single member was constantly moving along to the music, whether that meant jumping off stage risers, stomping along with the beat of the song, or in the bassist’s case, spinning in fast circles over and over. I’m not entirely sure how this man didn’t fall over from dizziness after all of that, but you could tell he was having the time of his life, which is always awesome to see.

The band’s set consisted of many of their most recent singles along with a handful of tracks from their 2017 album “Cold Like War.” Regardless of what era the tracks came from, every single one was a banger. The set ended on a heavy note as the intro to the lively and aggressive “Daggers” started playing. Soon all hell broke loose. Fans screamed along to the lyrics, hoards of people were crowd surfing, and by the final breakdown, a massive wall of death split down the floor of The Factory. In the song’s final moments, lead singer Dave Stephens jumped up over the barricade and into the sea of fans, closing out the set and thanking everyone for coming to the show.

Finally, for the main event. Between We Came As Romans thrilling set and the soon-to-be Architects performance, I watched as the band’s roadies started setting up a massive staircase and platform, along with massive LED light panels. This was about to be a show! As soon as the house lights went down and the LED panels started glowing a bright red, fans knew which song we had in store. As the drums, guitar, and vocals from frontman Sam Carter kicked in, you could feel the anticipation quickly building amongst the crowd. The excitement then erupted in a loud group chant to the lyrics, “We only ever love you when you’re seeing red!” As a huge Architects fan, you just can’t go wrong with having the powerful “Seeing Red” as your opening track. As hard as fans went for We Came As Romans, they doubled that already high enthusiasm as Architects continued to play through their setlist.

The tracklist itself was very diverse, spanning over multiple albums and singles the band has released over the years, showing off the band's extensive discography. Before playing the 2021 release “Meteor,” Carter took an emotional moment to thank all of the fans for coming out and dedicated the song to a fallen friend of the bands. The performance of this song in particular was exceptionally moving. This moment was followed up with fan favorites such as “Doomsday” and “when we were young,” which had fans jumping up and down and crowd surfing to the front barricade in droves. The band ended up closing out the night with their sing-along worthy hit “Animals,” which was just the cherry on top of a great night of music for everyone who came out that night.

Overall, this was one of the most high-powered, fiery concerts that I have attended in a long time. Each band that played that night gave a hard-hitting performance that fans both new and old couldn’t get enough of. I know that I am already looking forward to the next tour.