Ronnie becomes a Leader of the Pavilion (Falling in Reverse’s Popular Monster tour)

Falling in Reverse has a special place in my heart as I grew up listening to them. I wasn’t as dedicated as my friends in school were. But I was obsessed with Ronnie Radke’s mischievous looking grin and IDGAF attitude.

2011 was an intrical time of my life as I became a freshman. The same year was the release of Falling in Reverse’s sophomore album, The Drug in Me is You. An album that took a hold on our lunch table of weebs, nerds, and different alternative subcultures. Me and my trip-pants brigade had faithfully learned the title song by heart.

My inner teenager was screaming as I purchased these tickets with the money I made. This time taking a bus to Boston, as I am no longer fucking driving in Boston. Not even Malden or Sommerville. AND I LIVED IN KEENE, NH with rotaries up the ass.

It was a nice, sunny day, with a crisp breeze. So I decided to walk to Leader Bank Pavillon from the train station.

As per ADHD, I’m either super late to concerts or on time. This time I showed up at 1 pm. I had time to kill, so I decided to walk up and down the wharf. It was scenic, as I’m a fan of oceans. Shout out to the motherfucking ocean.

The Venue:

I entered The Leader Bank Pavillon. and I was impressed by the food variety. I picked up a pepsi and pretzel, and. I accidentally poured myself an obscene amount of honey mustard. Its pretzel was ok, it was bland with the quality of a high school cafeteria. it tasted like it was whole wheat or some shit. I kicked myself in the ass for not grabbing water as it was a COMPLETELY cashless/card-only, and I knew this ahead of time as it was on an email.

The Pavilion had cash to card machines, you put in cash in exchange for a vanilla VISA card. With fees of course, and the fact you had to put either an even amount or divisible by 5. My intent with this info is to inform, not meaning to bitch, as I knew ahead of time when I could’ve gone to my own bank ahead of time.

I prioritized a BVB shirt over my health and I just want people to know what a dumb bitch I am, and the lengths I will go to for the sake of special interests. Do what I say and not as I do.

The staff was very kind and had a cheery attitude. The bathrooms were well taken care of. They had Liquid Death (please sponsor me) and pepsi products as well as usual venue/bar food.

Seating:

I was in row FF * right next to the mixing station. I didn’t mind as I wore ear plugs anyways, I find that you don’t get that tin-y sound. I have sensory issues and deserve to have fun like everyone else.

The view was pretty good, especially considering that I was right underneath the tarp-thing. I could still feel the warmth from the sick pyrotechnics.

I was able to record my clips without having to navigate around people’s heads or block the view of people behind me.

I wore my new Demonias as I am short as fuck, enhancing my expierence. I was also able to get some good footage (which I will be posting on Tiktok).

*Not my exact seat or my submission.

Jeris Johnson’s DRAGONBORN:

I was mighty impressed by the theatrics and sheer meme-ry before me. Their small set was a mighty conduit for a show deep in lore that would make Todd Howard quake.

Dragonborn started off strong with a narrated intro accompanied by medieval ambiance. The lead singer striding out with a ‘fit’ that would make King Jarl jealous of his commanding presence. That man on his kingly shit? His name is Jeris Johnson.

I dabble in the occasional King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, which their music gave me that feel. Of course with a mixture of Skyrim battle music.

He also brought out a motherfucking SWORD, my ass was high off my dab cart from occasionally hitting it. I was losing my fucking shit.

And then, Homie ended strong with a hair-raising performance of Kiss from a Rose by Seal.

Black Veil Brides:

Their concerts are so nice, I had to see them thrice. Albeit, they performed a mini-sampler of the set from their Bleeders tour. I wish they had some deviations, similar to VV’s co-headlong tour with them. They really stuck to the classic albums aside from performing their recent hit, Bleeders (a certified bop IMHO).

I can’t talk shit as I love Knives and Pens, but In the End I have heard three times now.

They did a kickass performance of Rebel Yell, which is my favorite Billy Idol song of all time. I am a very grateful Goblin, so I once again, can’t complain.

Dance Gavin Dance:

I was vaguely familiar with Dance Gavin Dance, as I have seen references to them. I also have learned that they’ve been through a plethora of member changes; their vocalist parting with the band post-hiatus following allegations of being a sex pest. However, they recently lost their bassist, Tim Ferrick, after passing away in 2022.

I really liked their unique stylistic change in each of their songs, I’m a big fan of experimental bands like Gorillaz. Almost as much as I enjoyed watching this cool funky dude in the red jacket. Jamming like he’s in his own world, but I can respect that. His name is Sergio Medina, their touring bassist with the wicked nice red jacket.

We Own the Night had to be my favorite, as the vocal progression from. The opening was quite melodic for me, as the screams were perfectly interwoven.

On a side note: The new clean singer, Andrew Wells, also had some sweet digs on, very Sacramento of him with his curly-mullet. I mean, shit, I never been to Sacramento but I can only imagine that’s what the dudes look like.

Tech N9ne:

I consider Tech N9ne as a legacy act. I haven’t really delved into his discography, aside from Face Off (which he did a baller performance of).

His set made me have sincere remorse for not getting into him sooner. I am a fan of rap and metal/rock combined, Collision Course by Linkin Park and Jay-Z being my childhood staple.

My favorite song from the set has to be Straight out the Gate as a tiny Serj Tankian “performed” through the LED screen below the drum set.

The use of LED screens was creative as it was clips from the music video, perfectly edited with what was going on stage on the larger screens.

I think Tech N9ne had the best technical use in their shows. Such a blasphemous thing to say, especially since it’s Falling In Reverse’s show, but I’ll explain later. As a former theater kid, I can appreciate the effort that goes into lighting and pyro.

Tech N9ne’s cadence and flow still remains strong, never missing a beat. His ability to rap fast with clever double-meanings to his lyrics are phenomenal. With lyrics that were definitely resonating with today’s world. His band was spectacular, helping embody that energetic atmosphere.

He returned onstage for Falling in Reverse for their song RONALD. (Certified Banger in my eyes).

Falling In Reverse:

I was ecstatic to see the intro of Ronnie walking through the venue, just like how comedians open their specials. I am a big fan of stand up, my longtime fave used to be Ralphie May, so I was hyped for that. It felt more personal, even if it was pre-recorded. Ronnie had a lot of the little cutaways on the big screen.

There was a good mix of Popular Monster songs, and other newer Falling songs, with the classic. Admittedly, seeing clips of music videos from The Drug In Me Is You album made me feel old as shit. Even Ronnie poked fun at his old hairstyle.

Ronnie Radke’s vocal prowess has become more refined with intense power behind it. I was so proud of his growth from singing Hot Topic anthems of the late 2000s to successfully switching between two types of screaming techniques mid-lyric. Even performing it live was a sight to see.

One of my newfound friends theorized that Jellyroll was going to make an appearance for their collab on All My Life, as he had shown up for previous shows. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it to this show, as Ronnie rapped over his part.

Pausing mid-show, he gave a heartfelt speech about the ability to learn from past mistakes. I do agree that Ronnie has put in a shit ton of work into becoming a better person with therapy and rehab. Referring to his speech, I resonated with his message of being able to cringe at your past self shows growth. He also addressed depression, by offering a message of hope. I didn’t record, I wanted to listen to his message as I have been dealing with burnout and depression recently. So I treated his speech like Mass.

Falling In Reverse did an amazing job at NOT trying to cash in on the nostalgia factor. I felt genuine appreciation for being a fan, as Ronnie put an emphasis on healing by looking forward. The ability to laugh at yourself (or your past hairdo that is now dated) is a true sign of growth.

Here’s my own two cents: It’s great to think about how epic the fashion and culture was back then, but looking too far can make you depressed to be honest. You tend to fall in love with the feeling of being young, and being a child again, just to be slapped in the face by inflation. Thus “waking you up”.

I digress, I thoroughly enjoyed Falling’s set. My only, but personal problem, was the amount of times where they just fired off everything in terms of lights, pyro, and the LED screens. It was triggering my sensory issues, but I was able to remedy it. myself without *hopefully* drawing too much attention to myself. I’ve been to two KISS shows, so I should’ve just brought sunglasses. It’s not the fault of anyone but my own, especially since they were selling the old Kanye West glasses.

If you are epileptic, have visual sensitivities, or have a tic disorder: I would definitely keep this in mind.

I didn’t really write these in order of when they appeared on stage. The artist rotation does change with each show. Boston’s order was: DragonBorn, Tech N9ne, Black Veil Brides, Dance Gavin Dance, and then Falling in Reverse. The show wrapped up at 10 — 10:30.