I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: May 19, 2025] Pierce the Veil

My son and I have seen Pierce the Veil twice in the last two years.  The first show at the Stone Pony Summer Stage during a pending hurricane.  We got soaked and the show was cut short.

The second show was in a fairly large arena and we were pretty far away from the stage.  It was good but unsatisfying.

But this one was at the Skyline Stage at the Mann, an outdoor venue that allows you to get close.  And this time my daughter wanted to come as well.  So I grabbed us three early tickets.

We had been put in the ADA section (my hip) and the kids were allowed to be there with me or they could leave if they wanted.  The ADA section is raised and is off to the side.  So, you get clear unblocked views of the stage (yea!) but at a weird angle (boo) with slightly distorted sound (boo).

I told the kids that I would not be offended if they wanted to go on  the lawn.  I would have if I was less held up.  So they looked at the setlist and decided that they’d like to be in  the lawn for the first part of the show and then maybe come back at the side for the hits at the end.

They enjoyed being on the lawn although they said it was hard to see the stage very well (it’s a very tall stage).  And then about half way through the show, my daughter came back to hang with my while my son made his way to the pit, where he slam danced for the next 45 minutes.  He had a blast and said it was the best show he had ever been to.

I enjoyed the show quite a lot as well.  Although, WOW was it cold.  I mean, mid-May, but the temps were in the 50s with a heavy wind.  And sitting on the side, there was no place for warmth.  Of course, I would feel much more into the show if I were in the mix with other people. But having said that, the band sounded great.  They were full of energy and seemed to be having a total blast.

We both agreed that this was the best of the three shows BY FAR!

This show had more songs than the others and we could hear them clearly, too.

They played a number of songs from their first album (which I don’t know well).  I had to laugh when he asked who has been here with us for the whole 18 years, because surely many many people there were close to 18 years old themselves.

The band is always depicted as a trio but there are four guys on stage: Vic Fuentes vocalist and rhythm guitarist, Tony Perry lead guitar, Jaime Preciado as bassist, and Lionel Robinson on drums (He’s been on drums for all three shows, but I guess he’s not in the band?)

They opened Floral & Fading with a verse of Pixies Where is My Mind.  Musically it sounded great (and the oooh ooohs were great).  Vic’s voice was a little muffled on this song although it may have been where I was sitting).

Like last time, they did an acoustic song Today I Saw the Whole World (in other shows they seemed to be doing two, for some reason we only got one and that’s cool–I’m here for the bangers).

After the acoustic song, the show picked up and wouldn’t stop.  Wonderless started quiet but then got really huge and then it was three killer blasts in a row.  May These Noises Startle You in Your Sleep Tonight and Hell Above from Collide with the Sky were followed by the early rager Caraphernelia.

I really like their slower, new song, Emergency Contact so I was pretty delighted that they played it.

After the encore break they blasted out with Disasterology and then slowed things down a bit with Hold on Till May.

And then they ended with King for a Day, and the place went bananas.  This was an especially fun version because Kellin Quinn from Sleeping with Sirens sang it with them.  And what’s especially fun about it is that Quinn sang the high parts on the original recording (which I didn’t realize until after the show).

The show ended around 10:20, which was great for getting home earlier (although we didn’t pull in the driveway until about 12:30 because the Mann is a nightmare for getting into and out of.  It did suck that the show started at 6:30 and we missed the openers.  But we really enjoyed PTV–especially that they had a merch van outside of the venue so we could buy stuff and bring it right back to the car–great thinking guys.

∉ The Jaws of Life (2023)
œ Misadventures (2016)
Ø Collide With the Sky (2012)
∇ Selfish Machines (2010)
♣ A Flair for the Dramatic (2007)