The AP Tour- Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows [Review]

Tuesday night, Alternative Press's AP Tour took place at Northern Lights in Clifton Park. Five bands took the stage: Conditions, Versa Emerge, I See Stars and Black Veil Brides, who were the headliners. The co-headliners and other performance was by one of my new favorite bands (who I've written several blogs on already), D.R.U.G.S, or Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows, who were so completely amazing that I cried, no lie.

Alternative Press music magazine has been around for just over 25 years now, and in that time it has grown from a single-owner, single-page paper to a national, multiple employee, multiple page magazine. The AP Tour has been around since 2007, and has featured numerous bands from the magazine over the years.

This was my first AP Tour, as previous years I didn't like the bands that were performing, but I used to get AP every  month for about five years or so in order to always keep up with the music world. It's a great magazine and I highly recommend it.

I was going to arrive to the show late, since all I was interested in seeing was D.R.U.G.S, but I decided not to in case I like the other bands. It's a good thing I got there on time, because as I walked in the door I heard "If you want to meet D.R.U.G.S get in line!" My eyes widened and my head turned to the sound of the awesome announcement. I got in the line, not knowing if there was a catch or not, but it wouldn't have mattered if there was. I had a feeling they might do a meet and greet since they're a new band, despite Craig Owens (ex-frontman of Chiodos) being the frontman. So I got a huge, amazing poster, got it signed, and got a hug (no pictures were allowed though, boo) from Craig all for free! I told him how much I loved him and the band, and that I worked for the local radio station and had done a number of blogs on them since they formed. I told him how much he inspired me and how I loved him in Chiodos, and now even more in D.R.U.G.S. He smiled and told me thank you for all the support. I said no thank you you're amazing! That made my day and set my mood for the rest of the night, which was more or less hyper, ecstatic and eager for them to go on!

Conditions, Versa Emerge and I See Stars all performed before D.R.U.G.S. It was torturous to wait hours for them to

 come on, but it was worth it. I especially loved Conditions and I See Stars, who had six members and two vocalists. I See Stars had amazing energy and sound, and their riffs and breakdowns, along with all of the voices and occasional screaming are what won me over.

Frontman Devin Oliver made a small speech too which also won me over. He wanted to send the crowd a message pertaining to the music industry and how far downhill it has gone in the past few years due to illegal downloading. He was interested in the number of fans who actually owned a real copy of their CD's, and he just preached to the audience how important it is to still buy albums in order to support bands so that they can make tours happen. Touring the country and the world is expensive, and bands need all the help they can get. He challenged everyone and said he wanted each and every person to go to a record store (yes they still exist) and buy an album of a band they had never heard before, just to help boost the industry, as well as giving the fan something new and different to listen to. If at least 100 people at each show do this, it will greatly help. So please take his words to heart and help out the music world. If you're a fan and are passionate about music, there's no excuse not to purchase CD's. Even if it's not your passion, there's still no excuse. I composed a blog about this very subject a few months ago, so it's a very important subject to me and should be to you too, so go out there and buy some albums!

After I See Stars, D.R.U.G.S finally came on, and the crowd went nuts, as did I. I had no idea that many people knew them and their music, especially since they formed just last year. Craig Owens said it was their second time there, which I didn't know, but that helped as well.

As soon as they arrived on stage they exploded with energy, vibe and musical excellence. They all just went insane on the tiny stage, and it was amazing. Everything together was so overwhelmingly awesome and it brought tears to my eyes, which has never happened to me. When you love a band and their music that much, sometimes it's even too much for you when they're three feet away and performing their hearts out. It's such an honor to witness, it truly is.

D.R.U.G.S only has their debut, self-titled album out so far, so I had the pleasure of hearing and seeing almost the whole album performed live. They sang the following songs: "If you think this song is about you, it probably is," "The only thing you talk about," "Graveyard Dancing," "Mr. owl ate my metal worm," "Sex life," "Laminated E.T. animal," "Stop reading, start doing push-ups" and "My swagger has a first name."

One of my favorite moments was during one song when Craig went to the ground. He laid on his back with his legs in sort of a backward indian style position and just sang his heart, lungs and guts out. His screaming lifted him up a bit too, which was just such an amazing thing to see. His music literally and figuratively lifted him from off the ground, and the music and passion just poured from every inch of his body and soul. He's truly amazing, awe-inspiring and one of my idols, next to Bert McCracken of course.

All band members, who all came from well-known bands, did a great job of working the stage so that no matter where

 you were standing, you got a chance to watch everybody. At one point, lead guitarist Matt Good, who used to be a member of From First to Last with frontman Sonny Moore when they were still good, reached his hand out and I reached mine and we interlocked hands. It was so amazing! I was glowing even more after that, especially since I was a huge fan of FFTL! At the end of their set, bassist Adam Russell jumped out onto the crowd, and rhythm guitarist Nick Martin reached out his guitar for the fans to touch and strum the strings. Luckily it was on the right side, so I got to do it! It was like I got a piece of each member to remember them by, until I see them again that is!

I left before headliners Black Veil Brides took the stage, and unfortunately for them, so did a lot of other people. I'm sure it didn't matter though, as there were a swarm of little BVB fans who pretty much bathed in eyeliner and black hair dye, so I'm sure they were more than enough crowd for the Brides.

This was one of the best performances I've seen by far, and if you haven't yet heard of or listened to D.R.U.G.S, I highly highly recommend you check them out. Your mind will be blown with multiple, musical orgasms and you'll be left with a sore neck from head-banging, ringing ears from you turning the volume all the way up and a warm, fuzzy feeling in your heart for the band that is D.R.U.G.S.