If you’ve ever had your heart nearly burst from excitement and ecstasy as you heard your favorite band start their live set with one of your favorite songs, then you know how I felt as Breathe Carolina exploded all over the stage at The Space in Hamden, Connecticut.
The fantastic vocalist duo that is David Schmitt and Kyle Even started the band’s set with "Wooly", a song with the perfect balance of soulful singing, provided by David, and perfect, ear drum shattering screaming provided by Kyle. This incredible duo sang their lungs off straight into their next song, "Last Night (Vegas)". The song's message of partying was completely embraced by the crowd and in second severyone's feet were off the floor and hands were in the air, hitting the ceiling in the cases of tall guys such as myself.
With songs like "Last Night (Vegas)" and "Sweat It Out", which followed "Last Night", Breathe Carolina's electric energy went through the whole crowd and made me completely forget that, should I jump too high, I just might hit my head on the ceiling. Not only was the band's energy transferred through Eric Armenta's sick drum beats, Lou Bonet's sound mixing, and Josh Andrew's guitar and keyboard magic, but through David and Kyle's repeated praise of the audience assembled in The Space that night.
You can really feel the souls behind that band when Kyle Even is down in the audience thanking people for coming and, in my case,telling them "I fuckin love you man!". It's so great to see a band that hasn't lost touch with their fans and their beginnings. This was also seen in their incredible performance of the songs "Hello Fascination" and "I'm The Type of Person to Take It Personal" off their second album Hello Fascination, and the heart-pounding performance of one of their first songs, "Lovely".
The greatest moment of that night was when Kyle ended a speech thanking the fans by saying "I'm ready to black the fuck out!" At this point, I was positively drenched in sweat, I was thirsty as hell, and my back, calves, and throat hurt almost too much. But when Kyle said that one sentence and I saw all the lights on stage go out, I knew they were about to perform their latest single "Blackout" and my heart damn near exploded. My sore throat screamed the lyrics and my aching back and calves were forgotten as I jumped and danced like never before.
After that concert, as my friends and I stood outside inthe brisk night air literally steaming, I realized what a Breathe Carolina concert really was. It was the complete submission of your body mind and soul to some of the best lyric, beats, and melodies that you will ever hear. Breathe Carolina is one of the only bands around today that will leave you perfectly happy with blacking out after a concert. If I had the means, I would go see every single show on the EZ Bronze 2 Tour and you should too. You will never forget a night with Breathe Carolina.