I’ve never seen a crowd so seemingly disinterested in the music they paid to see as I did last week in Gary, Ind.
The first time I saw Lorna Shore live was in 2022 at Lollapalooza, of all places. Will Ramos and his merry band of deathcore companions packed The Grove Stage with a heavy, fast-paced performance that drew onlookers of all sorts into the shaded area of Grant Park. Metalheads and curious festival goers flocked in as the band played “Into The Hellfire” and other tunes, creating a buzz around Lolla. The crowd seemingly ate it up, whether as a novelty or serious intent.
Flashforward to Lorna Shore on May 14, 2026, at Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana in Gary, a headlining performance, and you’d think these concertgoers were forced to be there.
Which is sad, because these bands absolutely rip!
Signs Of The Swarm started the night off with a seven-song set that got this journalist’s blood pumping and prepared for the rest of the night ahead. These dudes from Pittsburgh came out heavy and didn’t let up throughout their 30-minute set. Vocalist David Simonich kept calling the crowd out with his deep, guttural voice saying “Gary” as he egged them into participating. A mosh pit or two did break out during their set, but this would become a recurring theme.
It became apparent during Paleface Swiss.
Vocalist Marc “Zelli” Zellweger was begging the crowd to participate in between every song it felt like. At one point, after I finished shooting photos, I heard Zelli say, “I’m beginning to think you don’t like us, Gary. That’s fine, sometimes, we don’t like us either!” To the crowd’s credit, near the end Zelli asked the crowd to get down low and jump when he said go, and the crowd listened. But he still said, “it’s not like you’ve been doing fucking anything else all night anyway!”
Imagine getting called out by the artists you paid to see? Woof.
I was excited to see these guys on the bill, because much like I was to Lorna Shore in 2022, I am new to their music. As a photographer, they gave me a special treat by playing my personal favorite “Hatred” while inside the barricade. To be able to see this band in a different setting would be excellent.
With the stage dark and the crowd finally making some noise, Lorna Shore took the stage and got into position as a hush fell over the room. No special entrance or anything. The band comes out, stands in the darkness and then BAM! They start playing fast and reckless.
Ramos adorned some type of overcoat with a high collar that obstructed the view of his face for the camera, but he quickly removed this after playing “Oblivion” to open the set and before jumping into “Unbreakable.”
At some point, Ramos asked for a wall of death from the crowd, but from where I was after leaving the pit, I could not see. But there was seemingly no pause in between most songs as they had a 12-song set that they blasted through.
Or, maybe it was 10?
“We’ve got one more song for you tonight,” Ramos said before adding, “but it’s a trilogy!” As you can imagine, they played “Pain Remains I-III” before doing the whole fake encore thing to end on “Into The Hellfire.”
Now, I’ve been crapping on the fans throughout this review, but it wasn’t as dead as it seemed at times. There were mosh pits and crowd surfers for each act, and they grew in size through the night. I know the fans at the barricade were going wild for each band. But it was sporadic and not continuous. And it’s a shame, because had I not been strapped with camera gear, I’d have sought those pits out or made my way up front to bang my head.
Because it took me a week to write this review (mostly because I didn’t want to turn it into a rage against Indiana fans — oops?), the tour is just about finished. Lorna Shore is in Brooklyn, NY tonight before wrapping up in New Jersey tomorrow.
But the next time any of these bands come to town, let’s maybe take them back into the city.
