PERIPHERY AT HOUSE OF BLUES DALLAS

As excited as I was to photograph this show I was more excited to get to witness Periphery’s live performance. I’ve always just missed them when they were in town. I hadn’t heard of Arch Echo or Plini before the show but I was about to be dumbfounded.

Opening the show was the progressive fusion band Arch Echo. I didn’t realize they were a solely instrumental band and I’m very picky when it comes to listening to instrumental but right off the bat they reminded me of Intervals. With their intricate licks and melodic tones and riffs the venue was both moshing and at the same time jamming to their groovy sounds.

Plini was the next on stage and honestly, I didn’t know what to expect. When they came out you could tell their intention was to get the crowd moving! It was crazy to watch their lax vibes on stage but to hear the energy in their playing - akin to watching a sort of ventriloquism. I was in awe and loved every second of it. It’s hard to put into words but their performance had a different sort of feel to it that I’m not used to experiencing and it left me wishing their set had been longer.

After Plini I was restless to get to finally see Periphery for the first time. Periphery inspires so much of my artistic work both musically and otherwise. If I told you they didn’t disappoint it would be the understatement of the year. Periphery opened the show with a 15-minute song, setting the tone for the night from the jump. The band kept that energy going throughout the entire set, getting higher and higher with each song bringing forth another wave of pure bliss. To top everything off they brought out some of the Plini guys to play a song with them and the crowd erupted.

I’ve been to a lot of shows before but Periphery takes the cake as one of my top ten performances. If you weren’t there to see it this review can’t even begin to scratch the surface of how incredible of a show this was! If you have a chance, don’t miss one of the remaining dates on the Hail Stan tour.