Palladium, Cologne, Germany 26th October 2024
The Ghost Inside - “Searching For Solace” Tour 2024 - Special guests: Boundaries, Gideon
Armed with their recent release ‘Searching For Solace’, THE GHOST INSIDE announced their return to Europe with a comprehensive European tour in the company of two special guests, BOUNDARIES and GIDEON.
Boundaries
First up this evening was the 5-piece Metalcore band from Hartfort, Connecticut, comprising of frontman Matt McDougal, drummer Tim Sullivan, bassist Nathan Calcagno and Cody DelVecchio and Cory Emond both on guitars. They released their first full-length album ‘Your Receding Warmth’ in 2020, and their second full-length offering, ‘Burying Brightness’ in 2022. Recently, they have released their third album ‘Death is a Little More’. Check out https://boundariesct.com for more info.
Music & Performance
At 7:30 pm, BOUNDARIES entered the dark stage of the Palladium to an infernal wall of noise, to kick off their set. Their screamo-oriented Hardcore stirred up the crowd to some extent, although the security people did not get too much work in the form of incoming crowd surfers. The hoarse screaming of front man Matt, and the growling of bassist Nathan was a little monotonous, so the clean vocals of drummer Tim added a nice touch to the music. After the 30 minutes of playtime BOUNDARIES left the stage and received warm applause from the audience.
Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 7
Sound: 8
Light: 7
Total: 7 / 10
Gideon
Next up were Alabama-based GIDEON from Tuscaloosa. They formed back in 2008, and are on their fifth album, which is titled ‘More Power, More Pain.’, and was released in 2023. https://gideonal.com
Music & Performance
GIDEON entered the stage with a bang with the first riffs of their song ‘Bite Down’, and they hit the approximately 3,000 people inside the arena with the power of 10,000 hp steam engine locomotive. This much more grove-oriented style did not fail to stir up crowd, who was here to party, as the first circle pits and crowd surfers started to appear instantaneously. Front shouter Daniel McWhorter, wearing his signature white cowboy hat, and his band mates delivered an extremely energetic show, which made it clear they took their job very seriously. After that, the band put the pedal to the metal music-wise once again and gave the people in the mosh pit the heavy riffing they were waiting for. The fans thanked the band in the form of a giant wall of death, which underscored what an excellent addition GIDEON have been for this line-up.
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 8
Light: 7
Total: 8 / 10
The Ghost Inside
The band from El Segundo, California have formed back in 2004. They are on their sixth album ‘Searching For Solace’, which they promote on this tour. www.theghostinside.com
Music & Performance
Those who came to the party had no reason to be disappointed, as THE GHOST INSIDE came out firing on all cylinders with the opener ‘Death Grip’, which is also the first single of the new album. The crowd immediately responded by firing up the mosh pit, and THE GHOST INSIDE were more than up to the task to keep things going. The energy levels they unleashed in the crowd certainly did not fail to impress.
The people kept things crazy - but in a solid, responsible way. Crowd surfers were carried towards the stage, and security did its best to pluck all of them from the hands back to the ground. Circle pits were opened and people went wild, but at least no one’s nose got bit off from what I saw. Last but not least, the music live performance and song selection were epic. Time flew by as the band drew a best of-selection from their albums. While the new album made up the majority of the setlist, it was the older hits that got the crowd going. Hymns like ‘Dear Youth’, ‘Avalanche’, or ‘Pressure Point’ sent the crowd over the edge, and made everyone lose their shit in the circle pit. The end of the main set came a little early after only a good 80 minutes of playtime, but with the last song ‘Engine 45’ the crowd got a farewell, and afterwards hundreds of sweaty kids spilled into the cold October night with the blessed feeling of having witnessed an up close and personal show with their idols.
Setlist
01. Death Grip
02. Earn It
03. The Great Unknown
04. Move Me
05. Dear Youth (Day 52)
06. Split
07. Secret
08. Mercy
09. Dark Horse
10. Pressure Point
11. Out of Control
12. Wash It Away
13. Light Years
14. Faith or Forgiveness
15. Between the Lines
16. Avalanche
17. Aftermath
18. Engine 45
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 9
Sound: 8
Light: 8
Total: 8.5 / 10
All Pictures by Dietmar Seifer
Written by Christian Beyermann
