In The ‘Absence’ Of Holding Absence, Casey, Capstan, & Acres Take Baltimore To Another Realm
Photography By: John Campise
Holding Absence is currently wrapping up their The Noble Art Of Self Destruction North American tour. With multiple sold out and almost sold out shows, you would think for their first ever North American headlining tour it would go perfect for the Welsh-based quartet. Unfortunately the tour hit a massive snag by the time it came around to the Soundstage in Baltimore, Maryland on February 13th, 2024. The night before the show, lead vocalist Lucas Woodland came down with the flu and as a result, Holding Absence had to unfortunately drop off the show. However supporting acts Casey, Capstan and Acres continued on without them and they all did an insanely great job filling the massive shoes Holding Absence left.
First up was Acres. Acres is a post-hardcore band from Portsmouth, England. Its members are made up of Ben Lumber (vocals), Alex Freeman (guitar), Jack Rogers (bass), and Konnor Bracher-Walsh (drums). Acres is known for their mix of textural ambience, soaring melodies, and raw emotion. With 183.9k monthly listeners, their most streamed song to date is “My Everything” off their second release Burning Throne with over 940,000 streams.
This tour hasn’t been the smoothest for the English outfit. Due to visa issues, the band wasn’t able to make it until about halfway through the tour with their first stop being in Tampa, Florida on February 2nd. Despite this setback, Acres has been able to give it their all every night. Acres kicked the night off with “Burning Throne” and what a way to start the night off. The song has so much atmosphere to it and in a live setting, I felt I was sent to another world. Lumber showed power and emotion in his vocal performance, and let out a scream during the song's breakdown. Next up, they played “Into Flames” and it continued the pace “Burning Throne” started. Freeman played a spacious guitar solo during the bridge that caught the crowd’s attention. For this tour, they debuted a new song called “A Different Shade Of Misery” which currently sits at #1 on Spotify with over 190,000 streams. “A Different Shade Of Misery” was, hands down, the heaviest song of the set, if not the night. Lumber’s screams were incredibly powerful and the band was delivering explosive chords and hard hitting drums.
The last two songs they played were “Nothing” and the old school song “Lonely World”. Lumber told the crowd to make some noise for Holding Absence and reflected on how this tour hasn’t been the easiest for themselves but that seeing the crowd give their all everyday has made it worth it. “Nothing” is off Burning Throne and features Garrett Russell from Silent Planet and it was another heavy banger. Lumber commanded the pit to open up nice and wide and they obliged instantly. As soon as the breakdown dropped, the room was in absolute chaos. I saw a mix of hardcore dancing and pushing and it looked like a war zone because of it. Lumber let all his feelings out in “Lonely World”. You could sense the despair and sorrow in his voice and the band’s performance amplified that to the point where the whole room was feeling it.
It’s disheartening when a band has to miss a good chunk of a tour for something completely out of their control but I’m glad Acres was able to make it for the rest of the tour. I can tell from watching them that they refused to let this massive setback derail them. I pray that their next time touring here goes way more smoothly.
ACRES: Website | Facebook | Instagram | X | TikTok | YouTube | Spotify
Next up was Capstan. Capstan is a post-hardcore band from Orlando, Florida and its members consist of Anthony DeMario (vocals), Harrison Bormann (guitar), Joseph Mabry (guitar), Andrew Bozymowski (bass/vocals), and Scott Fisher (drums). Capstan is a band that has created their own unique sound with a high energy mix of post hardcore, prog rock, and metalcore. The band has released a series of new songs that are gonna be featured on their upcoming album The Mosaic which is due for release on May 24th.
Capstan opened with “Bete Noire” which is one of the newer songs that will be on the upcoming new release. DeMario serenaded the crowd while the band played a groovy beat. Bozymowski belted out a loud second verse which then followed into DeMario throwing some harsh vocals. Throughout the song, Mabry played some insane guitar solos and prolonged them a bit more than compared to the studio version. Its good to see some bands that still incorporate guitar solos in their performances despite it not being as common as it used to be in the 70’s and 80’s. The show took a quick turn when the song reached its bridge and the band delivered the most devastating breakdown of the night. Chaos broke loose before anyone even knew what was going on. Mosh pits broke out, and Mabry let out the most demonic growl he could let out. To see Capstan turn the show from a post-hardcore show to a borderline slamming deathcore show, even if it was just for a moment, was indescribable. The next song they played was “shades of us” which is off their 2021 album SEPARATE. Fans kept singing along to the words and another mosh pit broke out when the band played another crushing breakdown to close the song out with.
Capstan then decided to switch up the vibe with “take my breath away // noose” which is also off SEPARATE. Mabry dedicated the song to everyone who was in a toxic relationship. Some members of the audience shouted back “HELL YEAH” in response. The song had a more mellower sound compared to the last two which was a nice change of pace. Bozymowski played a super groovy bass line that backed up DeMario’s vocals. Mabry played some more guitar solos throughout the song and DeMario was even dancing around while singing. It was funny seeing this side of Capstan as just a few minutes ago they were having everyone lose their minds.
Before they continued, something beautiful happened at the show. Bozymowski stopped the show to help a fan propose to his girlfriend. Earlier before the show started, a fan mentioned to the band at their merch table that he wanted to propose to his girlfriend during their set and asked for their help. In the middle of the pit the fan got down on one knee and asked her to marry him to which she immediately said yes. The whole room cheered for the newly wedded couple and Capstan dedicated the next song, “Heart To Heart” to them. The song was very catchy and everyone was jumping up and down and dancing to the song. Bozymowski was having a blast dancing around on stage and pointing his bass towards the crowd as well.
Getting ready to wrap up the set, Capstan played an older song called “Wax Poetic” which is off their 2016 EP Cultural Divide. This is the band’s most popular song and it sits at #1 on Spotify with over 8 million streams!!! DeMario let out all his emotion and pain in his singing and even got up to the barricade to be closer to the fans.
Throughout this tour, Capstan was closing with “Wax Poetic”. However, because Holding Absence wasn’t able to play, the band had time to add one more song to their set. Bozymowski played a guessing game with the crowd to see if they knew what it was. There were a lot of people throwing out song guesses and surprisingly, most of them were older songs dating back to the first EP. Bozymowski pointed out how there were a lot of good guesses and confirmed it was indeed an old song. The song was an acoustic song called “Can't.Lie.Around.Remembering.Everything” which is off their second EP Seasonal Depression which was released back in 2014. All but DeMario and Mabry cleared the stage and DeMario dedicated the song to all the OG fans that have been with them since day one. For a good portion of the song, DeMario went back up to the barricade to sing in all the fan’s faces again and all the old school fans in attendance were in awe hearing a song live that the band almost never plays live and singing along to every single word.
I had a great time watching Capstan’s set. They were fun, energetic and knew how to put on a great show. Their way of mixing post hardcore and metalcore helped them create a unique sound combined with emotional and melodic lyrics with groovy, progressive like instrumentals and crushing breakdowns. This made Capstan stand out and kept everyone on edge. I can't wait to catch them again and see what they will pull off next.
CAPSTAN: Website | Facebook | Instagram | X | YouTube | Spotify
The last band to perform was Casey. Casey is a post-hardcore band from South Wales, UK. The members consist of Tom Weaver (vocals), Liam Torrance (guitar), Toby Evans (guitar/vocals), Adam Smith (bass) and Max Nicolai (drums). Due to personal reasons, Nicolai did not join the band on this tour and instead, Adam Cichocki from Gatherers filled in on drums. Casey is a band that have quickly won fans over by creating a place of emotion and melancholic feelings with their haunting vocals, emotional guitars, thought-provoking lyrics, and overall emotional and dynamic style. Casey just released their latest album How To Disappear on January 12th and have been touring in support of it.
Before starting, Weaver introduced themselves as ‘A Band Called Casey’ and got right into it with “Atone”. “Atone” is one of the two standalone singles the band released in 2023 when they announced their reunion. “Atone” is a hard hitting song that got the crowd going. Weaver had been out for almost a week due to a vocal injury so seeing him recover from that and be able to still scream the words out was insanely impressive. The next song they played was “Puncture Wounds To Heaven” which is off the new album, the song couples emotive clean and aggressive vocals with melodic post-hardcore guitars, and the crowd was singing along to it word by word. Casey played a few more songs off the new album including “I Was Happy When You Died” the title track “How To Disappear”. The crowd responded positively to these new songs and continued to sing along to them. The band was in the zone while playing with Weaver throwing punches in the air while Evans and Smith were kicking their legs as they jumped in the air.
After “How To Disappear” the rest of the set was just older songs and the first two they played were “Bruise” and“Fluorescents” which are off their second album, Where I Go When I Am Sleeping. Torrance and Evans' subtle guitar playing during “Bruise” carried the song all the way through while Weaver gave a very haunting and emotional vocal performance. Casey’s lyrics largely reflect on Weaver’s personal life and health problems he has dealt with all his life. The lyrics on Where I Go When I Am Sleeping pay specific mind to topics such as his bipolar, ulcerative colitis, and his car accident and heart attack. Even now after all these years you can still see that pain on his face when he performs and presents it in his singing and screaming. For the song “Fluorescents”, everyone sang along with Weaver and Evans in unison. “Fluorescents” is a fan favorite and one that's played at almost every Casey show. Fans were jumping up and down and a mosh pit even formed during the song. Those that weren't doing either were standing there and watching in awe at their performance and getting in touch with emotions and feelings that they wouldn't express anywhere else.
The night was coming to an end and Casey had two more songs left. These last two songs were deep cuts dating back to the first EP and first album. Before they played though, Weaver took the time to thank the crowd for coming out and supporting them despite the circumstances. Weaver reflected on how he went through what Lucas Woodland is going through right now. After their show in Denver, Colorado on January 26th, Weaver had to be rushed to the hospital after coming down with a high fever and kidney issues. As a result, he was in the hospital for six days and had to miss the next four shows with Evans taking over vocal duties. He expressed how important it is for a vocalist to take care of their bodies so they can perform at their best every night and told the crowd to make some noise for Holding Absence as well as Capstan and Acres to which the crowd did instantly.
The first song was “Hell” which is off their debut EP Fade. Weaver dedicated the song to all of the old school Casey fans in attendance and the fans responded by opening a pit during the song. They concluded their set with “Little Bird” which is off their first album Love Is Not Enough and the mosh pit that formed during “Hell” did not stop. As soon as the first notes hit, the crowd went wild and fans continued singing along to the point where Weaver even stopped and let the crowd take over for a few lines. As the song came to a close Weaver screamed out the last few lines in the outro before letting the crowd finish the song for him and everyone screamed out the ending of the song as if they were talking straight to their exes. After they finished everyone rushed to their merch table to pick something up and the line got so long so fast. It's a good thing I bought my How To Disappearhoodie earlier in the day. For something so last minute, Casey deserves a lot of credit for taking over the show in Holding Absence’s place. They had to expand their set and add a few more songs to make up for the extra time they had and the fans had a great time. I especially want to give credit to Weaver for being able to make an incredible comeback from being in the hospital for almost a week. He and the rest of the band were on fire and didn't miss a beat.
CASEY: LinkBio | Facebook | Instagram | X | TikTok | YouTube | Spotify
Holding Absences’ ‘absence’ was very noticeable at the show. However all the bands that played made up for it and everyone had a great time despite this hiccup. With everything these bands have been through; between Acres having to miss half the tour due to visa issues, Casey playing with only 2 members on stage due to Weaver’s health issues as well Nicolai not being present for the tour, and the main band having to drop out of their own show because of Woodlands health, it's amazing to see them carry on and continue to give the fans an amazing show that they will remember. As the saying goes; ‘the show must go on.’ They could have easily canceled this show but all the bands decided to continue the show and they all excelled at filling the void that Holding Absence left. I can only hope that Holding Absence’s next tour here will go way better.
