A string of sold out shows is one hell of a way to start a tour.
Make Them Suffer brought their 2025 North American tour to Bottom Lounge in Chicago on Friday, February 21 — the second stop and a second sell out. From start to finish, this night of music had the crowd on its feet.
Windwaker kicked the night off, playing an opening set that set the tone as fans moshed, jumped and sang along with the Australian metalcore act. This act is a new one to me, but one I will definitely check out again. This can also be said of the next band on the bill, Aviana from Sweden. Most of the band performed in masks and dark clothing, while vocalist Joel Holmqvist dressed in all white without a mask of his own. During their set is when I believe we saw our first crowd surfers of the night as Aviana showcased their talents.
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Vocalist Chris Roetter and Like Moths To Flames joins Make Them Suffer during their 2025 North American Tour. (Damien Dennis/TPM)
Like Moths To Flames played a 10-song set, featuring four tracks off last years The Cycles of Trying to Cope release: “Over The Garden Wall,” “Angels Weep,” “What Do We See When We Leave This Place?” and “Kintsugi.”
During their set, vocalist Chris Roetter mentioned how they were the only American band on the tour, which led to the crowd chanting “USA!” Roetter responded, saying that he appreciated the patriotism, but convinced the crowd to chant “LMTF” instead. The crowd surfing picked up during Like Moths To Flames, with a fellow photographer going for a ride. Needless to say, their set was fun and the crowd ate it up.
Before getting into the headliner, we have to talk about Bottom Lounge. After nearly a decade of living in the Chicago area and covering music events here, surprisingly this was my first time visiting this venue. It was somehow both exactly what I envisioned and totally different. The bar and restaurant in the front was cool and the venue itself was small and intimate with its own unique atmosphere. Only gripe would be the support pillars and speakers that can block a concertgoer’s view, as they did mine near the entry to the photo pit. But this small space made the crowd energy feel like those at larger venues.
And this stayed true when Make Them Suffer took the stage. The metalcore band from Perth, Australia opened their 14-song set with “Epitaph” off their November 2024 self-titled release before jumping into a trio of older tunes. In the middle of their set, they played four songs off the Make Them Suffer record: “Mana God,” “Ghost of Me,” “Oscillator” and “Weaponized.” In total, they played six songs off that record, ending their pre-encore set with “Doomswitch.”
Make Them Suffer was all over the stage during their performance as vocalist Sean Harmanis gave attention to all sides of the venue. Keyboardist and vocalist Alex Reade jammed out off to the side while the rest of the band did their parts. Those large speakers I spoke of blocking sightlines? Reade was completely behind them from my spot in the crowd.
The stage was small and allowed for very little movement, but the energy made it feel like a large festival stage. Make Them Suffer ended their set with “Widower” from 2012’s Neverbloom.
The tour began on Thursday, February 20 in Minneapolis in front of a sold out crowd with Chicago serving as the second night. Saturday, the tour made its way to St. Andrews in Detroit for another sold out performance and Sunday’s performance in Lakewood, Ohio also sold out by time of this review going up.
This tour runs through March 30, so if you’re able, make sure you catch Make Them Suffer when they visit a city near you!
Photos from the Bottom Lounge can be seen below.