Show Review: Better Lovers Unleash The Fury In Roseville
Better Lovers
w/ SeeYouSpaceCowboy, Foreign Hands, Greyhaven
Goldfield Roseville
Roseville, CA
April 29th, 2024
Review and Photos by Jared Stossel
In 2017, I was fortunate enough to see Every Time I Die. They performed at a now-defunct club in San Francisco called Slim’s. To this day, it is still the craziest show that I’ve ever witnessed, with at least three people airborne at all times during the band’s performance. It was disappointing to see the band dissolve due to internal strife a few years ago, but I’m happy to report that the result of that dissolution, Better Lovers, is a worthy successor.
The band - formed from the ashes of Every Time I Die by guitarist Jordan Buckley, bassist Steve Micciche, and drummer Clayton Holyoak - is somewhat of a “supergroup”, incorporating members of The Dillinger Escape Plan (vocalist Greg Puciato) and Fit For An Autopsy (guitarist Will Putney) into their lineup, with music and a live performance that matches the unbridled chaos that was evoked in each of their previous acts. This mayhem was fully displayed at the band’s packed show on Monday night at Roseville’s Goldfield Trading Post.
Monday’s show featured worthy opening performances from Greyhaven, who kicked off the evening’s festivities. The four-piece act has been making a name for themselves since 2013, and their heavy-hitting set made a great impression on me. With a new EP, Stereo Grief, under their belt, the band’s thirty-minute set proves that they’re poised to be a force in the world of heavy music. Metalcore quintet Foreign Hands kept things moving with a power-packed set that invoked the spirit of traditional hardcore with an energy entirely their own. The band is set to release their debut album, What’s Left Unsaid, this June, and I’m going to be sure to give it a listen once it’s unleashed upon the world. With both of these acts being produced by Better Lovers’ Will Putney, they were both a natural fit for this show.
SeeYouSpaceCowboy filled the main support slot and brought forth an incredible performance. They are a modern metalcore act, yet they embody the spirit and finesse of the “screamo” and metalcore acts that came out of the MySpace circuit in the early 2000s. Their aesthetic, unique breakdowns and excellent musicianship evoke this feeling, and they’re one of the more exciting bands to witness in the genre today. The five-piece is currently touring in support of their excellent third album, Coup de Grâce, and they did an outstanding job of raising the bar in terms of performance expectations for the night.
For a band with only a handful of singles and a four-song EP under their belt, Better Lovers made a lasting impression with just an hour-long set. Every member of this band has an unmatched level of experience when it comes to this brand of heavy music, and they know how to make a crowd lose their mind. Whether they were performing their new single “The Flowering”, a unique cover of a Soundgarden track (“Rusty Cage”), or any of the four songs from their God Made Me An Animal EP, the band sounded immaculate. The five-piece’s concluding song, “30 Under 13”, found several members joining the crowd, with guitarist Buckley and Puciato getting swallowed up by the storm of people as the frenetic chaos was unleashed. In less than an hour, Better Lovers proved why they’re a force to be reckoned with in metal, and they’ve cemented themselves as a must-see live act.
Better Lovers Set List
Become So Small
Sacrificial Participant
Edward
Two Alive Amongst The Dead
Croc
The Flowering
Slay
Rusty Cage (Soundgarden cover)
Hey Chef
God Made Me An Animal
30 Under 13
