Crown The Empire – Varsity Theater – Minneapolis MN – August 9th 2024

On Friday night at the Varsity Theater, metalcore act Crown The Empire brought their “Not Dead Yet” tour into Dinkytown, Minneapolis with a lineup of three openers that were set to satisfy the crowd before the guys in Crown The Empire were set to take the stage.  

First up on the bill was Oni, a progressive metal project created and fronted by Jake Oni, and backed by a talented touring band. They set the night’s tone early with heavy melodic riffs, mixed with Jake’s incredible soaring vocals, and warmed up the crowd for the bands that were to follow.

Next to the stage came Capstan, a post-hardcore 5-piece unit out of Orlando Florida. They continued to keep the energy inside the venue alive with their brand of melodic hardcore music, twinged with heartfelt emotional lyrics, specifically from their biggest track, “Wax Poetic”.

The last band to fill the time before Crown The Empire took center stage was Dark Divine, a metalcore group with a more theatrical approach to their stage presence. all the members were outfitted with different costumes; the guitarist in a neon pink skeleton suit, the bassist donning a dark hood, and the vocalist and drummer both sporting detailed makeup to match the horror theme of the music. 

Finally, the band the packed crowd had been waiting for several hours filed quickly onto the stage, filling their positions before beginning the searing vocals and shredding riffs of Crown The Empire’s headlining set. Andy Leo, the band’s energetic frontman paced back and forth across the stage, surveying the crowd surfers that began to come over the rails, chanting the lyrics back to him across the short gap between the stage and the barricade. The energy in the room was noticeably higher as their set went on, with the band transitioning between fast melodies and heavy breakdowns for the crowd to mosh along to.

Review and photos by Max Trelstad