Florida post-hardcore vets Poison The Well kicked off their commemorate 25th anniversary of the seminal 1999 release, The Opposite of December... A Season of Separation over the weekend. The run also marked the band's first official tour in more than 15 years - adding a very real significance to the tour stop at the Hollywood Palladium.
Despite the band's time away, their set list savvy displayed to begin the run underscored a keen sense of understanding the command of the crowd. Rather than running through the entirety of the album in sequence, Poison the Well broke it up into segments, sliding in essentials from their celebrated catalog that had to make the cut. "Ghostchant", "Botchla", "Letter Thing", "Crystal Lake" and even the live debut of "Trembling Level" - the first new single from the band in 15 years all proved wise selections with big payoffs in the pop from the floor.
While Poison the Well isn't the greatest hits type, if there were entries that met that criteria, post-hardcore anthems like "Artist Rendering of Me" and "My Mirror No Longer Reflects" were among the most raucous highlights of the night. The unmistakable guitar introductions on each from Ryan Primack, only served to rev up the fans - inciting chaos once the drums from Chris Hornbrook kicked in.
Punctuating the set with arguably one of the most definitive entries from the post-hardcore salad days, "Nerdy" was pure revelry. The crash cymbal countdown was a universal call to arms, coaxing even the OG fans in the room to get reacquainted with the pit. Building up to one of the most iconic breakdowns, frontman Jeffrey Moreira led the final charge as the floor of the Palladium took one last opportunity to go absolutely apeshit.
In addition to a rousing headlining set, the entirety of the tour proved to be one of the most cohesive, well-constructed bills of the season. With supporting sets from Glassjaw, Better Lovers and Teenage Wrist, the nuance of hardcore was on full display with a broad range of styles that all proved to compliment one another. There was never a dip in energy on a night that brought generations of fans intent on giving Poison the Well their long-deserved flowers.
Check the gallery of images below from Kevin Silva.
See the complete list of remaining dates and cities for The Opposite of December... A Season of Separation anniversary tour below. Tickets can be found - HERE
POISON THE WELL
GLASSJAW
BETTER LOVERS
WITH GLASSJAW, BETTER LOVERS & TEENAGE WRIST
4/4 — Los Angeles, CA — The Palladium
4/5 — San Francisco, CA — The Warfield
4/7 — Portland, OR — Roseland Theater*
4/9 — Seattle, WA — Showbox SoDo*
4/11 — Salt Lake City, UT — The Depot*
4/12 — Denver, CO — The Summit*
4/15 — Dallas, TX — The Factory
4/16 — Austin, TX — Stubb's Waller Creek Amphitheater
4/18 — Atlanta, GA — The Eastern
4/19 — Orlando, FL — The Beacham*
4/21 — Nashville, TN — Brooklyn Bowl*
4/22 — Chicago, IL — The Salt Shed
4/23 — Detroit, MI — Royal Oak Music Theatre
4/25 — Philadelphia, PA — Franklin Music Hall
4/26 — Boston, MA — Roadrunner
4/27 — Brooklyn, NY — Brooklyn Paramount
4/29 — Toronto, ON — Danforth Music Hall*+
*NO GLASSJAW
+NO TEENAGE WRIST
