The crowd at Sleeping with Sirens’ Atlanta stop on their U.S. tour “Gossip” left the concert rejuvenated by the band’s dynamic, energetic performance at the Masquerade Sept. 24.
When Sleeping with Sirens’ first album, “With Ears to See and Eyes to Hear,” came out in 2010, it debuted at No. 7 on Billboard’s Top Heatseekers chart. The band rose to popularity that year with its hit song “If I’m James Dean, Then You’re Audrey Hepburn.” Their new song “Legend” from the album “Gossip” has been a recent hit as the U.S. Olympic team’s song for the 2018 Winter Olympics. Most recently, the band released its latest and fifth album “Gossip” last September.
Palaye Royale, a fashion-art rock band based from Las Vegas, and White Noise, an American punk rock band from Dallas, Texas, opened for Sleeping with Sirens. The openers, like Sleeping with Sirens, interacted with the audience. Palaye Royale’s frontman Remington Leith even offered an audience member a hug. At one point, White Noise turned all the stage lights off and then played to the light of everyone’s phones, creating a magical moment. The lead singers from each band made good use of the stage, coming close to the audience and even climbing to the audience members standing on the balcony.
When Sleeping with Sirens took the stage, the audience roared. More people whipped their phones out, and with every word or phrase lead vocalist Kellin Quinn spoke or sang, the crowd reacted with cheers, and the band’s enthusiasm had the whole audience in a trance.
Quinn’s voice is melodic and unusual with a high pitch, which allows it to blend well with the wide variety of music the band performs. Sleeping with Sirens has released both upbeat rock and soft acoustic music, both of which have had their own appeal, and they played both kinds in the concert.
The band played a solid live mix, with the instruments and the playback music complemented each other perfectly. Quinn’s voice soared majestically over the music. The crowd roared and jumped to the rock music, like “Empire to Ashes,” and sang along serenely to the acoustic tracks like “With Ears to See and Eyes to Hear.” The lights constantly changed colors, adding to the serenity and enlivening the performance.
Sleeping with Sirens opened with “Tally It Up, Settle the Score” an upbeat song from their album “Let’s Cheers to This,” that got the crowd cheering to the music immediately. Quinn consistently thanked the crowd and the opening bands for being “Fantastic”. Sleeping with Sirens also introduced songs from their new album “Gossip” playing mellow, acoustic songs like “Roger Rabbit” and “Scene One: James Dean and Audrey Hepburn.” The transition to that peaceful vibe from the fast, upbeat songs was smooth, and the crowd swayed along to the music.
The studio version of each song is great — after all, these tracks got the band to where they are now. Yet, during the concert, the live versions seemed more genuine and natural than the recorded tracks. Perhaps this was because the audience was singing along passionately or because I could feel the energy in the hall throughout the concert, but either way, the performance was memorable.
Sleeping with Sirens ended with “Legends,” a song reminding youth that they have the power to change the world. “We could be legends after all,” the band sang. “Do you remember being young, the world in your hands, your heart in a song?”
The concert was a success. Each performer put in his or her best to please the crowd, doing their best to connect with everyone in the room. The bands created an electric atmosphere, putting on a mesmerizing, dynamic performance.
