GREAT AMERICAN GHOST AT VOLTAGE LOUNGE IN PHILADELPHIA

This past Thursday probably the most wild Thursday night I’ve ever experienced. Bodysnatcher, a heavy hardcore/metal band from Florida, is out on tour right now and brought along Great American Ghost as support. Great American Ghost are a hardcore band from Boston, and while they were certainly a good drive away from home, Philadelphia’s Voltage Lounge welcomed them the only way they know how: by smashing into each other and showing their support.

The band recently released their latest record Power Through Terror back on Valentine’s Day after recently being signed to Entertainment One. The bulk of their setlist were tracks off of the album, but they did mix in a couple of older tracks as well. They opened up with “Rat King” and played songs such as “Socialized Animals”, “New England Misery”, and “Ann Arbor”. Even with what felt like such a short amount of time, they really gave it their all for Philadelphia.

At first, attendees were docile, which was a huge contrast to the pitting I saw for the two previous bands. Both were Jersey bands from right over the bridge, so it was natural I guess for Philadelphia to go hard in support of bands who were more local to the area. Great American Ghost not being from the immediate area had people complacently watching at first, but front man Ethan Harrison did a phenomenal job of pumping them up to start pitting. If the band didn’t see the crowd reacting the way they wanted, they went even harder to get them to move. By the end there was certainly a couple pits that had happened during breakdowns, and everyone seemed to have a great time. Peter Rono of the hardcore Philly band, Kaonashi, was even in the pit showing support. Great American Ghost’s breakdowns were heavy, and in the best way possible. It was that way that gives you the feeling in the pit of your stomach that shi*t’s about to go down.

If you’ve ever been to Voltage Lounge, you know how intimate of a setting it is not only for patrons, but for the band as well. There’s not much room to move on the stage, but it was incredible to see the way Great American Ghost utilized it. The way they rotated taking turns to jump or kick and move around showed that they had such awareness for each other. When life gives you lemons (and a small stage), you make lemonade (and stand on top of monitors off to the side). Again, Ethan Harrison did a fantastic job of adapting to the setting of the show and he spent time up standing on the monitors that were on the floor next to the stage, which allowed the other members to move around and gave the audience a more interesting, varied look at the band.

Overall, even though Great American Ghost was support for this tour, I think they were definitely a band you wouldn’t want to miss. I can’t wait to see them on a full headliner with a full set list. They’re definitely a heavy band you’ll want to keep an eye out on.