American metalcore band Knocked Loose made a tour stop in San Antonio on Oct. 4, inviting with them multiple hardcore acts to open the show. With no barricade separating the audience from the stage, it was a night full of mosh pits and stage-diving at the Vibes Event Center.

One of the first opening bands of the evening was Creeping Death, a Denton, Texas-based death metal unit playing in San Antonio, returning to the city after three years. Led by vocalist Reese Alavi’s very low death growl, their 30-minute performance started the energy off very strong, with the pits already wide open and going crazy. Despite all of their harsh and intense-sounding songs, the band had the most chill energy about them, with Alavi casually sipping his beer and encouraging the crowd to have a great time. It was clear seeing the five guys with long hair headbanging on stage that they were having fun, and it made for one of the best sights of the night.

Bitter End, a hardcore band from San Antonio, was the final opening act of the night. The band has been together for almost 18 years and was clearly elated about the opportunity to perform for their hometown crowd for the first time in three years. The excitement picked up during this performance due to the band’s faster tempo; the only thing keeping vocalist Daniel Rosen from moving all about the stage was the wire attached to his microphone. ​​Even the guitarist for Knocked Loose, Isaac Hale, joined in on the madness as the stage-diving was ramped up with front flips into the audience. Encouraging the crowd to constantly kick it up a notch, the five-piece boosted the crowd’s energy, ending their set with a powerful breakdown before picking up the song to finish strong.

At this moment, the audience was more than ready for the night’s headliner, Knocked Loose, to take the stage, who were already back in San Antonio after just a year away. The band has been supporting tours for both $uicideboy$ and Bring Me the Horizon in larger venues, so to see their intensity fully erupt in a smaller venue was a sight to behold. It was a heavy performance, with Bryan Garris’ high-pitched screams perfectly complementing the band’s ferocious breakdowns. Hale himself had just as much energy as Garris, interjecting his own growls and inspiring the crowd to form mosh pits and dive off the stage. These started at the beginning and continued nonstop for the next 55 minutes, driving the audience utterly berserk for the pure aggression that played before them.

Promoting their new Extended Play (EP) released last October, “A Tear in the Fabric of Life,” the Kentucky-based band played a mix of those songs as well as material from their earlier studio albums. Breakdowns on tracks like “Trapped in the Grasp of a Memory” and “Forced to Stay” were some of the highlights of the night, with lighting furiously timed with them. The guitar sounds as they went through their discography were just as screeching and deeply piercing as Garris’ vocals. Another notable highlight was one of their earlier cuts, “Oblivions Peak,” is dedicated to the LGBTQIA+ community. Throughout the song, rainbow-colored lights flashed over the crowd jumping, creating a great celebration. 

Towards the end, the show had to briefly pause to attend to an injured fan. The band left the stage and did not come back on until they made sure the fan was okay. Garris then told the crowd how there is nothing in the world that compares to shows like this where everyone can let loose but they still keep each other safe. It very much spoke to how much the group cares about their fans and their safety.

Knocked Loose then ended on a high note with “Permanent” — one of their nastiest breakdowns of the set. As the band left the stage hearing rave cheers from the crowd, it was this closeness felt with their fans that made this feel like a memorable hardcore show.