Under The Gun sent Head of Photography Kellie Gannon to shoot the Thug In Me Is You Tour at House of Blues Cleveland on Wednesday, October 31, 2012. This review reflects the opinions of the author, not the entirety of Under The Gun Review’s staff.

Halloween night, I attended the Thug In Me Is You Tour at House of Blues Cleveland. Headlining the tour was Falling In Reverse, with support from far superior bands including Letlive, I See Stars, and Enter Shikari. To be completely honest, I initially did not want to review or even shoot FIR. I’ll get to those reasons in a minute. But because it was their headlining tour, I was going to swallow my personal convictions, focus on strictly professional reasons, and go ahead and shoot FIR. It took a lot of self-convincing to get to that point. The night of the show, I had a lot of anticipation for the first three bands. These bands are all insanely talented, energetic, charismatic, and have loyal fan bases that truly value good music. Letlive, from Los Angeles, has an incomparable spark. This was my third opportunity to shoot them, and knowing what to expect, it is always entertaining to look into the crowd at faces that have never witnessed Letlive live. By the last song, they seem to finally get it. They finally understand the emotion and driving force behind vocalist Jason Butler’s onstage antics and the manner in which it enhances the experience. Without Jason’s energy and raw passion, Letlive wouldn’t be Letlive. I See Stars was up next. ISS is another band who exudes their energy onstage and off. This group of guys even had me dancing and jumping around the photo pit, even after there was a super close call when one of their stage risers decided to dive into the photo pit missing my face by about ten inches. No harm no foul. Their set was relatively flawless besides that, their costumes made for an entertaining opening song, and the crowd was so high energy and wild, extra security flocked to the pit to handle the onslaught of crowd surfers. Third onstage was Enter Shikari. The night was running smoothly and every set was on time at this point. Enter Shikari took the stage in costumes made from plastic bags, which eventually made their way into the crowd, as did lead vocalist Rou Reynolds who took a running leap from the stage and continued the show from atop the arms of fans. They ended their set with “Sssnakepit” and left the crowd wanting more. And this is where things changed.

During the set change, it took a lot of self-debate to gather the strength to go ahead and shoot Falling In Reverse. To include a brief background, lead vocalist Ronnie Radke has had several brushes with the law and authority. In 2006, Radke was put on probation for a fight that resulted in the death of eighteen year old Michael Cook. In 2008, Radke violated this probation and served two years in jail. August 6, 2012 Radke was arrested in Glendale, CA for allegedly beating his girlfriend, Sally Watts back in May of 2012. He was charged with misdemeanor corporal injury (domestic assault) and false imprisonment.

Now here is where I stand on this – being a victim of domestic violence myself, it was extremely hard for me to convince myself that shooting FIR was okay. Because it was not okay. It went against everything I stand for to shoot FIR. The main reason I did so was because of my obligations to photo pass requirements. So I ended up shooting FIR, but not before having to side track a panic attack and convince myself that standing mere inches from a man who allegedly beats women would be somehow not be traumatic for me. Radke is a man who is infamously impulsive, has severe anger management issues (and owns up to it) and has a drug-riddled past. A man like this can and will explode at any moment. And for those who didn’t hear about his recent September 29, 2012 incident where Radke launched several mic stands into a crowd in New Jersey, which resulted in the injury of several fans, it’s needless to say that I didn’t feel safe. Coincidentally, Radke was the only one without a mic stand during their set.

I did end up shooting their set and went against what I believe in for the sake of maintaining professionalism. But due to the most recent incident from the Radke camp at the November 2, 2012 show in Michigan, during which Radke dumped I See Stars from the tour in their own hometown, FIR’s TM allegedly assaulted ISS’s TM, and Radke proceeded to kick out anyone from the venue that supported ISS or simply looked at him the wrong way, and you can perhaps take a wild guess at why I am standing up for what I believe is wrong here and I will not be posting any photos of FIR. I began shooting shows for the simple reason that I love the music, musicians, and passion in a room full of people who are all there for the same purpose. Falling In Reverse, and more specifically Radke, is the exact opposite of what music stands for. As a musician, it is in your power to give your fans someone to look up to, mutual respect, positivity, values, and quality music. While sex, drugs, and rock and roll has always been a famous mantra, there is something to be said about a band or musician that is respected simply because they work hard and deserve it, not because they get a mic in their hand, use scare tactics, and demand it. That is not what music should be about. Nor should it be about perpetuating a musician’s issues and downsizing them just because you are a fan. This show was the only show I’ve ever been at that felt like two separate shows in one, the first half being the very talented and deserving Letlive, I See Stars, and Enter Shikari and the second half being the Falling In Reverse/Ronnie Radke show. The show must go on, and unfortunately people like Radke do not change overnight. And what I’m hoping for is that situations like this are a wake up call for musicians and fans alike. Do not support an artist with issues like this. Stand up for what you believe in. Fight back against domestic violence. Fight back against drug abuse. Fight back and keep fighting until someone listens, and always listen to your gut instinct.

As I was writing this piece, I See Stars and Sumerian released a statement on the reason I See Stars was dropped from the Thug In Me Is You Tour abruptly on November 2. To be honest, none of this is shocking and brings yet more of Radke’s issues to light. I hope Radke finds the strength to stop his vicious cycle of violence and mistreatment of those around him before it’s too late.

Enjoy the photos below from Letlive, I See Stars, and Enter Shikari. These are the bands that deserve it.

LETLIVE

I SEE STARS

ENTER SHIKARI

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Jacob Tender

Jacob is a freelance writer who calls curbside.audio home. He is also the co-host of the Bantha Fodder podcast and helps UTG with technical and financial nonsense.

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