The “It Calls Me By Name Tour” made a loud and memorable stop at First Avenue. When this tour was first announced, I snagged a handful of tickets right away because Wage War has become one of my family’s all-time favorite bands. My wife, three sons, and I couldn’t have asked for a better night.
The stage was set up with fake grass and cattails all over, reminiscent of a Florida swamp. Then the red lights came on, and the band emerged on stage. They really killed it with a long and diverse setlist. They opened the night with “4×4,” an amazing track from their new EP that has become one of my favorites. Then the stage went green, and they played “Alive” and “Nail5,” which had everyone singing along.
Speaking of singing, Cody Quistad is one of the best. I go to a lot of shows, and very rarely can a vocalist maintain consistent pitch while singing live. I’m not exaggerating when I say I never heard Cody miss a clean vocal part on songs like “Blur” or “Don’t Let Me Fade Away.” The entire band was incredible. Seth Blake, Chris Gaylord, and Stephen Kluesener played flawlessly, while frontman Briton Bond paced the stage like a caged tiger, unleashing unclean vocals with relentless ferocity.
The middle of their set featured crushers like “Tombstone,” “Low,” and “Death Roll.” The band also had fun letting the crowd choose between “Relapse” and “Who I Am.” When both songs got nearly equal responses, Briton picked one lucky fan to cast the deciding vote, which ended up being “Relapse.” Seth and Cody also played a stripped-down version of “Gravity” while the rest of the band took a short break. After that, they returned with “Circle the Drain” and “Purify,” which has an absolutely brutal vocal ending.
When they played “Magnetic,” Jeremy Michael of Nevertel joined them on stage. They closed the set with “Stitch” and “Manic,” and the crowd went bananas. Besides the crazy, sweaty fans, there was actually a dude in a banana suit tearing it up in the circle pit. It was an awesome show.
As the band left the stage, the Minnesota crowd still wasn’t satisfied and demanded more. They came back out for an encore with “Blindfold” and “Song of the Swamp.” I’ve seen Wage War quite a few times before, and they’re always great, but this was hands down the best show I’ve seen them perform. If you still have a chance to catch them on this tour, do it!
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