The Plot in Us

In recent years, I have walked through some intensely emotional seasons. Somewhere along the way — helped by the purchase of a proper Bluetooth speaker — I stumbled into modern metalcore and embraced a well-proven form of relief that only heavy music can offer.

For the first time in two decades, I found myself attending a concert, headlined by The Plot In You — the Ohio act that has steadily become my favourite band in this season of life.

Three support bands took the stage before them, none of which I knew. This unfamiliarity promised much adventure to the night. I brought Oliver with me for what would be a loud, wild ride.

Entering the Enmore

After a lengthy day of work, Oliver and I caught an Uber to Newtown, arriving at the Enmore Theatre around 6:40PM. At the door, a mix-up delayed our entry: staff assumed our tickets were for the floor instead of the lounge, so I handed over my bag for storage, only to reclaim it minutes later.

Once inside, we were met with a staggering line trailing up the stairs. I asked a guy what it was for, and he told me people were queuing to buy merchandise. His answer prompted me to take a closer look at the demographics present at this show…

While there was a roughly even split between male and female attendees and a decent age range, the crowd was overwhelmingly white. Many sported raw, elaborate tattoos and wore dark clothing, leaning stylistically toward casual emo/goth rather than glamorous. Oliver, who dressed in the outfit he had worn to a Lady Gaga concert last year, stood out as a touch more flamboyant.

Among a dash of brighter colours, however, I encountered several ladies with full heads of red hair. Considering that’s usually the shade of my mane these days, I felt a quiet sense of rapport.

At long last, we made it to the upper circle, overlooking the stage and the semi-populated floor area. As we searched for our seats, the lights began to dim. Suddenly, a band appeared out of nowhere, ambushing us and immediately charging the venue with pulsing energy.

Act 1: BANKS ARCADE

Before caring about who these guys were or what they were playing, I was struck by the surreal realisation of truly being at a live metal concert. The sheer volume alone was awe-inspiring.

A few songs in, I snapped out of my trance and began to take stock. The sound was quite bass-heavy, and to my surprise, there wasn’t actually a guitarist on stage. A quick Google search confirmed that Banks Arcade is a New Zealand-born metalcore outfit that leans into electronic and nu-metal tones, explaining the low-end heft in their delivery that sent deep vibrations through our seats.

Being the initial performers of the night, this “heavy metal boyband” (their own words) drew in just over half the venue. Although their songs didn’t fully resonate with me, I appreciated the indie-like passion they mustered, along with the hunger of a younger band.

At the end of their set, they humbly thanked everyone for giving them a chance.

Act 2: BOUNDARIES

American bands dominated the rest of the evening, beginning with Boundaries, a Connecticut force defined by blunt, unyielding fury. With a guitarist on stage, the textural edge noticeably sharpened. The added grit and structure reinvigorated me, at least for a while.

As part of their frenetic expression, the vocalist paired his screams with flailing limbs and sweeping body movements. Down in the pit, the audience — now swelling in number — began crowd surfing. Before long, I came to appreciate the awkward logistics of keeping big white blokes aloft.

Halfway through the set, however, I hit a wall. Lacking melody, their songs inevitably blurred into one indistinguishable mass. Oliver agreed, calling them the lowlight of the show.

The strangest thing was that when they did sing, the lines were pre-recorded, leaving the vocalist standing around aimlessly, waiting for the right cue to dive back into screaming. Come to think of it, this was unlike anything I had ever seen.

Nonetheless, one thing gave me a good chuckle: it was none other than the bassist, who looked like Jack Black had an enraged baby with the bloated JD Vance meme.

A picture is worth a thousand words, so just check it out for yourself…

Act 3: FIT FOR A KING

The final support band soon emerged. Speaking with a level of clarity that I hadn’t heard all night, frontman Ryan Kirby introduced them as Fit for a King, a group of Christian Texans widely regarded as torchbearers of modern metalcore. These heavyweights packed the theatre to the brim.

Whether it was their seasoned experience or faith-fuelled conviction, I got the unmistakable sense that the “adults” had arrived on set. They opened with “Begin the Sacrifice”, delivered flawlessly without blemish: no missing instruments, no pre-recorded vocals — an offering truly fit for a king.

The songs that followed balanced melody and aggression with practiced ease, as Ryan paced the stage with one hand behind his back, switching effortlessly between fry screams and clean singing. The band’s other Ryan (O’Leary) also drew attention for windmilling his bass like a madman.

Meanwhile, the denizens of the pit grew increasingly physical. They formed a circle as they moshed, and the excitement made me realise how bizarre it was for us in the lounge section to remain seated at a rock concert, save for a lone balcony headbanger who seemed entirely unfazed.

It still has to be said that the live mixing left much to be desired. Despite the clear talent on display, the venue’s engineer had a most rotten knack for letting the vocals get swallowed up by the music, which itself lacked clarity. Even during a softer interlude, the emotional tune reverberated through the space like a low-bitrate MP3, stripped of all nuance. Either the technical equipment at Enmore requires a serious overhaul, or someone really needs to be fired.

All in all, I tried to enjoy this set as best as I could. Fit for a King showcased a broader musical range, honed over their longer history and deeper inspiration. As such, I decided to add a few of their tracks on Spotify to my “Rugged Worship” playlist — a collection largely filled with Christian metalcore.

Intermission

Between acts, brief intermissions allowed the local staff some time to set up for the upcoming band. This also gave all of us the opportunity to grab a drink, visit the restroom, and rest our precious ears.

The concert was long, and I had begun to feel the fatigue of such intense volume, made all the more taxing when confronted with unfamiliar songs. Normally, when hearing a new track, I would attempt to follow its motifs and make sense of its structure. But with the live music being so deafening and poorly mixed, that effort became a real struggle.

On that note, however, there was this particular song played over the speakers during intermission — one that everyone and their mum recognised instantly: “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion.

As it reached the chorus, the entire audience started belting out line after line — goths and tattooed metalheads alike — singing their hearts out like dramatic divas. Oliver and I traded a glance, amused. The moment was absolutely glorious, perhaps even worth the price of admission.

It was the calm before the storm.

Act 4: THE PLOT IN YOU

Finally, after almost three full hours and three opening acts, we were more than primed to witness the grand payoff of the night: The Plot in You.

Amid a mysterious, brooding intro, frontman Landon Tewers blazed onto the stage with one of their most aggressive bangers, “Don’t Look Away”. For this headliner, the venue unleashed the full weight of its production — lighting, fog, confetti — as a unified crowd locked into the spectacle.

Indeed, not one of us looked away… until this Asian guy sitting next to me totally missed the timing on the climactic “FUCK!” near the song’s end. He alone screamed into the void, distracting everyone around while I did my darndest not to burst out laughing!

Despite the unexpected mishap, I found myself engrossed in the set as it moved fluidly through their stellar catalogue, sliding between metalcore, alternative rock, and electronic touches with intention rather than excess, reflecting a sensibility that has well outgrown genre clichés.

The live mixing, on the other hand, remained a thorn in my ears. This was especially egregious during “The One You Loved”, when the vocal melody all but disappeared, as though an instrumental version were being performed. That Landon’s distinct, powerful voice could be so buried was truly baffling, and I couldn’t help but think that the sound engineer really lost the plot — pun wholly intended.

Around the midpoint of the show, they dished out a couple of my favourites. From Dispose (2018), “Not Just Breathing” was a song I had to witness live. But in this rendition, the tempo felt lethargic, primarily due to differences from the studio recording, leaving the delivery a little bare and exposed. Yet this only created an immersive effect, one that lured me into a slow, hypnotic flow.

Then came “Forgotten”, a veritable slapper from their recent work, which was actually my very first introduction to the band. Before the song kicked off, Landon issued this challenge to the audience: “Sydney, I will see the worst version of every person in this room. DO YOU HEAR ME?!”

And we heard him, alright.

The crowd erupted as jagged guitar riffs sliced through the violent beat, further amplified by Landon tearing into his vocal cords. Concussed headbangers pushed the limits of their necks, while others collided recklessly in a free-for-all mosh royale, and an ever-flowing stream of twisted bodies surged toward the stage like a boiling River Styx…

Pure, perfect pandemonium.

From the heights of relentless chaos emerged a sudden, surprising unity — the music dropped out, as every single soul gathered in that time and space cried out as one:

I have spent my life chasing things
That have only brought me pain
In the end, when I’m dead
Hope it was for something

For as long as I live, those ten wondrous seconds shall never be forgotten.

The rest of the set eased into feel-good numbers like “Closure” and “Left Behind”, before a grand finale with their gold-certified fan anthem, “Feel Nothing”, which was just how we felt by the end, thoroughly drained from a metalcore marathon.

Deep down, Oliver and I reignited our courage to venture into the night’s embrace, toward the ripe uncertainty of tomorrow. Life’s inexorable plot may compel us to chase after much pain and sorrow, and yet we cling to the hope that every purpose be revealed — even beyond our final breath.

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SETLIST

1. Don’t Look Away
2. Divide
3. Pretend
4. Paradigm
5. The One You Loved
6. Face Me
7. Not Just Breathing
8. Been Here Before
9. Silence
10. Forgotten
11. Spare Me
12. Closure
13. Time Changes Everything
14. Left Behind
15. Feel Nothing