For the first time in more than 16 years, Poison The Well has dropped a new record.
Announced in January and dropping on March 20, Peace in Place (via SharpTone) is the first full album release since 2009’s The Tropic Rot. The first single, “Thoroughbreds,” dropped in January as well.
So what usually comes with a new record drop? Why, a tour, of course!
Poison The Well came through Chicago on Friday, April 3 in support of Peace in Place alongside support from Converge, Spy and Balmora for a night of heavy music at Concord Music Hall. The Chicago stop was the second on the first leg of the spring tour following a Thursday performance in Cleveland, with the third date on Saturday at the Crofoot in Detroit.
Balmora and Spy each played short sets, but brought the energy early to much anticipation from the Chicago crowd, as pits opened for both bands.
But the crowd saved much of their energy for Converge and, ultimately, Poison The Well. When Converge took the stage at 8:35, this photographer was dodging crowd surfers in the tight areas between the barricade and the stage.
Poison The Well took the stage at 9:50 p.m. and played a 15-song, hour-long set. The crowd moshed and surfed and sang along seemingly to every song, which spanned the long careers of Poison The Well.
In fact, the band’s first three songs of the set came from their first three records: “Botchla” off 2002’s Tear From The Red, “Zombies Are Good for Your Health” from 2003’s You Come Before You and “Slice Paper Wrists” from their 1999 debut The Opposite of December… A Season of Separation.
That debut record from Poison The Well is often labeled as one of the metalcore albums of all time, by the way.
The fourth song of the set was the aforementioned “Thoroughbreds” off the new record. Poison The Well played just three songs from Peace in Place, including “Everything Hurts” roughly midway through and “Wax Mask” among the final three. The night ended with “Nerdy” from the debut record, which they played four songs from while a third of their set (five songs) was from their sophomore release.
Thankfully, there was no fake encore to this set by Poison The Well. Once “Nerdy” came to a close, fans began pouring out of Concord Music Hall and into the cold, rainy Chicago night.
It’s surprising to say this was my first time seeing Poison The Well (and the rest), but they left an impression (I’ve been jamming to the catalogue as I write this).
This first leg of the tour runs until April 12 at Nevermore Hall in Baltimore. The second leg begins in Las Vegas on April 25, with The Armed and The Barbarians of California replacing Spy and Balmora.
You can check out photos from the Chicago performance below.
