To say that Light the Torch, Mark Morton and Moon Tooth put on an amazing show at Gramercy Theater would be one of the biggest understatements in rock/metal history. From the first minute music kicked in to the absolute last, attention was constantly drawn to the stage and the crowd was into it for every millisecond.

Up first we get one of New York’s own, Moon Tooth. Moon Tooth has been on an absolute role lately. Coming from Long Island (which I just consider the 6^th Borough) many of their own dedicated fans packed the venue early to get a good view for their set. With their new album, Crux, many people have gotten on board in the Moon Tooth Ship and expectations were definitely met. They had the perfect bridge between hardcore, metal, hard rock and more. With the way they move around on stage, they had the perfect formula of the crowd feeding off the band and the band feeding off the crowd. Playing with bands such as Killswitch Engage, Candiria, and Light the Torch, they are a perfect example of a band that can be on any show or tour and the crowd will always be amazed.

Up next, we get the one and only Mark Morton of Lamb of God. Many people were excited and interested to see how his first solo tour would go. Being that his solo album, Anesthetic, featured noticeable guests such as Myles Kennedy, Chester Bennington, Jacoby Shaddix and more, we were very curious to see how a live band would pull off the style and diversity that this album demonstrated. Mark’s live band featured Mark Morales of Sons of Texas on vocals, Doc Coyle of Bad Wolves, God Forbid and Vagus Nerve on guitars, Nick Villarreal of Sons of Texas on Bass and Art Cruz of Prong and Winds of Plague on drums. The vocals were the main thing I was focused on because I knew Mark Morton had the talent and stage presence to nail the album live note for note. As someone who loved Sons of Texas, seeing them open for All that Remains back in 2015, I had an idea of what Mark Morales’s vocal style is, and being that he was featured on Anesthetic to begin with, I knew that he would be able to nail the notes on that particular song, Blur, no problem. They played the entire album in its entirety and ne absolutely nailed it. Sure, his voice wasn’t exactly like the guests featured on the album, but once he took the stage, it was as if he was the main vocalist on the entirety of the record. He was perfectly on key, nailed every note and had a very entertaining stage presence as well. Doc, Nick and Art also performed all those songs with note for note and were able to add their own mix to the live presence that gave the songs extra charm and power. As if the performance itself wasn’t amazing enough, we had the honor of seeing Naeemah Z. Maddox perform her song, Reveal. We were able to get a taste of how good Anesthetic sounded on the record, and we were able to witness it being performed in a very unique way. They ended their set with Cross Off, which features Chester Bennington. When they began that song to end the set, all hell broke loose in the pit. Everyone jumped in the pit and everyone who wasn’t in the pit was either banging their head or had their horns up the entire time. That is how you honor a fallen hero.

Last but not least, we get Light the Torch headlining the show to end the set on a perfect note. First off and most importantly, being that Light the Torch had to cancel a view shows due to Howard Jones battling the flu, many fans were not to optimistic that Light the Torch was going to even be able to play. Howard just flew from Montreal about 3 or 4 hours before doors to attend the show (Huge props to Kenny of Strong Management for managing to drive Howard from JFK to the show on such short notice) Even with fans knowing he had the flu, most of his dedicated fans would have been perfectly understanding if Howard were to lighten up on the aggression on stage and may just sing and remain rather tame. Instead, he ran on that stage like a raging bull. Opening up with The Bitter End, Howard gave it his absolute all. Being that he was sick, bassist, Ryan Wombacher was fulfilling many of the duties and being the perfect right-hand man to assist his vocalist. In addition, with the dedicated fans Light the Torch has, the audience has no trouble remembering the lyrics and assisted the band as well. All while Howard was going all out with the stage presence, engaging the crowd and of course, having his usual funny commentary between songs. Any audience member that wasn’t singing was going absolutely nuts in the moshpit. Howard stated that he was so happy to be playing in New York, and you can tell the fans were very happy as well. Ryan, Mike and Francesco brought their A-Game playing every song perfectly note for note, beat for beat, and so on.

This show proved without a doubt, that music is the ultimate cure and source of strength and that metal has the most dedicated fans. From a great band that is on the horizon and has big things laying ahead to open the show, from the guitarist of one of the greatest modern metal bands introducing his new solo work and having the perfect live band to execute it live, to an amazing band who’s vocalist triumphed over the flu and created a show that was sicker than any one with the flu could have, this night goes to show that nothing can stop the world of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal.

Pictures by Jonathan Arevalo.