Is it good for a scene to thrive completely on the back of nostalgia? Bands basing entire tours off of 10, 15, or 20+ year anniversaries of the albums that put them on the map. Maybe not, but it sure is a hell of a lot of fun to hear some of the scene’s foundational albums in full after all these years. From Silverstein to The Devil Wears Prada to August Burns Red and now Crown The Empire, it’s a tough realization that our favourite bands are reaching decades into their career, but it’s also inspiring the level of relevance these bands continue to hold in 2022. Anniversary tours aside, each of the bands mentioned are still delivering some of the best material of their careers, and that holds true for last night’s headliners in Crown The Empire. Celebrating the 10 year anniversary of their pinnacle album The Fallout, Crown The Empire lean on old and new hits alike to keep the fans in Toronto, ON off their feet and in the mosh pit.

Before getting into the nitty gritty of Crown The Empire’s stellar performance, we must acknowledge the triumphant performances from The Word Alive and D.R.U.G.S. who absolutely kicked the show off on the highest of notes. D.R.U.G.S. was particularly on their game last night, coming off the heels of the release of their second album Destroy Rebuild just last Friday. Despite having just dropped, the crowd in Toronto seemed to know every word, as they chanted along with the ever charismatic frontman that is Craig Owens. Splitting the set evenly between their first and second albums, we heard classics in “The Only Thing You Talk About” and “If You Think This Song Is About You, It Probably Is”, while also getting a taste for the new and improved D.R.U.G.S. in the form of “The Longest Road” and “DESTINY”, among others. Having grown up under the influence of Chiodos, but never having the opportunity to catch them on tour, it was surreal to finally hear Craig Owens’ magical voice in person.

Quick swapping of the stage setup, dropping of the lights, and our headliners Crown The Empire finally took the stage. Opening the set with the crushing trifecta that is “The Fallout”, “Two’s Too Many”, and “Menace”, we were transported back to 2012 in the blink of an eye. It was somewhat jarring at first to not hear the album in order, but over the course of the set, the band peppered in their new material to break up the constant onslaught of breakdowns you can expect on the majority of The Fallout. Transitioning into the 2021 hit single “In Another Life”, it was beyond exciting to hear this one live for the first time. While I was low key hoping to get another vocalist to feature on Courtney’s portion of the song, Andy Leo handled the section beautifully.

Continuing to make our way through the tracks on The Fallout, including “Memories Of A Broken Heart” and the devastatingly heavy “Graveyard Souls”, we come to another modern break in the set with hit singles from 2019’s Sudden Sky in “BLURRY (out of place)” and “what i am”. Toronto was eating out of the palm of Leo’s hand while singing the insanely catchy chorus of “BLURRY (out of place)”, reminding me just how versatile this band has become over the years.

Back into The Fallout, we heard “Children of Love” and “The One You Feed” back-to-back before getting an unexpected anthem in “Machines”. If the choice was mine, it would have been a toss up between “Machines” and “Initiation” for a representative track off of 2014’s The Resistance: Rise Of The Runaways, so I was pleased with that choice. Coming closer to the main set finale, we heard what I’ve deemed as the heaviest song in Crown The Empire’s discography in “Dancing With The Dead”, and I can’t even begin to describe how strong this track is. The band may have shown off their poppier side on 2019’s Sudden Sky, but they haven’t lost their aggressive edge in 2022, to say the least. “Makeshift Chemistry” brought our main set to an impressive conclusion, before Toronto was begging for more. And not just begging for “one more song”. No, they knew exactly what song they wanted to hear and they asked for it, chanting “Johnny! Johnny! Johnny!”

After an expectedly short break, Leo came slowly back to the stage to the tune of “Oh, Catastrophe” before jumping into the grand finale in “Johnny’s Revenge”. Toronto knew it was their last chance to move, so when Leo called for “blood, blood, blood”, no one stood still. All in all, I couldn’t have asked for a better set from Crown The Empire. They played arguably their best album in full, mixing in their biggest hits outside of The Fallout, and proved that they have what it takes to keep this genre of heavy music alive with their latest releases. We have to give a massive thank you to the team at Embrace for hooking us up with tickets and to The Opera House for hosting this monster tour. You can catch Crown The Empire on the remainder of The Fallout 10 Year Anniversary Tour, ending in San Antonio, TX on July 3rd.