While the weather wasn’t looking good outside and a bad storm was on the way to OKC, it didn’t stop us and the lucky crowd of fans from attending the Of Mice & Men concert at the Diamond Ballroom.
The evening started out with the first opening act Them Evils. I personally had seen them before and I was excited to get to see them again. I absolutely love their style of music and they put on a fantastic show tonight. The second band was Dead American and what made tonight special was the fact that this was the band’s first tour, Ever! How exciting is that?? The band was amazing and if they would not have announced that this was their first tour, nobody would have ever known. Now it was time for the third band Gideon to keep the juices flowing and get them ready for Of Mice & Men to take the stage and as expected they got everybody pumped up and ready for the main act.
Of Mice & Men is a great American metalcore band from Orange County, California. The band members are Aaron Pauley – vocals and bass, Alan Ashby – guitarist, Phil Manasala – guitarist and David Valentino “Tino” Arteaga – drums.
Aaron Pauley usually plays the bass while performing but due to the fact he had to undergo surgery and the doctors had told him he had to lay off playing for a few shows, we got to see him without his bass. Either way; Aaron put on a phenomenal show. Listening to the songs I noticed it sounds a lot like Beartooth during the heavy parts and also reminded me of Breaking Benjamin during some choruses.
The band is still maturing and trying out new styles which can really be noticed with their new album Defy, which was released in 2018 and they have been getting great reviews from it. In 2019 Of Mice & Men has released their new single “How To Survive”. If you like your music on the harder side of rock then you will love this single like I did.
All of the albums have their own different sound and their new album is a lot harder then their previous one.
With Of Mice & Men you get Old School Nu Metal Songs, Modern Metalcore, Alternative (Rock) and even a Bit of Classic Metal/Rock; tonight was no different. The house rocked from the moment the band made their appearance on stage and sang their first song “Warzone”. It was a mosh pit atmosphere and whoever loves to mosh was in the right place. The band performed many songs off their 2018 album Defy, like “Warzone”, “Defy”, “Instinct”, “Unbreakable” and “On The Inside”. It was a great choice of songs according to the audience’s response while the band was performing. This show was a true Metal Experience and the band far exceeded my expectations. We all came here for a fun night of music and the band delivered. Make sure you go and see them whenever they are in your area. You will not be disappointed.
Set list:
- Warzone
- Defy
- Would You Still
- How to Survive
- O.G. Loko
- Unbreakable
- On The Inside
- Mushroom Cloud
- Mones
- Instincts
- Pain
- Sick
- The Depths
You can find more about the band at the following links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ofmice
Twitter: https://twitter.com/OMandM
Of Mice & Men: https://www.ofmiceandmenofficial.com/
Of Mice & Men
Diamond Ballroom, Oklahoma City-OK, May18th 2018
Reviewed by RacerX / BackStage360
Images: Billy Esquibel / BackStage360
Email: Michelle@backstage360.com