or the Eighteen Visions, Comeback Kid, The New Transit Direction, and Preacher Gone to Texas show @ The East Peoria Legion Hall

Peoria has had a glut of decent hardcore (or metalcore, depending on who you ask) shows in the past few months, thanks to the new blood the has stepped up and declared "WE ARE TIRED OF SEEING THE SAME THREE BANDS!" This is possibly the biggest tour to stop at the local venue in quite some time, which meant interest and attendance was particularly high. In typical Peoria fashion, the show started late and on a slightly sour note; a sign was posted at the front door that said Eighteen Visions might not play because the singer had lost his voice. Surprisingly enough, the patient crowd gave no audible reaction.

Preacher Gone to Texas (pictured) kicked off the show by announcing this would likely be their last in Peoria, because they were planning on breaking up. From there, there were only two ways the set could go: Either they could play their hardest -- warriors not going out without a fight, or like a defeated dog just going through the motions. Unfortunately for the audience, it often seemed like the latter was their choice -- sloppy drumming, fumbled guitar lines. They had also added a keyboardist (or at least since I had seen them last) which seemed to be a mistake. He contributed little other than rote backing (or rather fronting, as he was much louder than the guitars for the first half of the set) and tuneless vocals. The only member giving it their all was the singer, who growled with a mouth that could fit volleyballs inside. It was sad to watch this once electrifying band play with so little gusto.

The New Transit Direction was most likely a band that got stuck with 18V by their label, because they seemed as out of place at this show as could be. No amount of piercings or tats could help people get past NTD's bland heavy rock and excessive arena rock posturing. I felt kind of sorry for them -- Peoria just wasn't the place to be.

So Eighteen Visions, the famed metalcore turned alterna-mosh pretty boys ended up playing an abbreviated set, composed mostly of songs from their most recent record, Vanity. This meant lots of Stone Temple Pilots-ganking riffs and pained howling vocals -- less than a delight. Despite the lack of heavy (read: older) material, it seemed like their fans enjoyed them enough to appreciate the miniture set they got.

Tonight's headliners (thanks to 18V) were Comeback Kid, whose metal-tinged old school hardcore was a bit of a departure from the rest of the night's bill. Fast beats, a ton of 100-person crew vocals and an overall energetic performance. I would comment more, but the raging pit was what kept me occupied for most of CK's set. It got tiring quick to watch kids jump endlessly on top of each other for no reason other to "get some air." Note to self: either stop coming to hardcore shows bespectacled or buy stronger glasses.