This is a tour unlike any other. Paradise Fears never cease to amaze and bring it to a whole new level.
The Acoustic in the Round Tour features Paradise Fears with special guests Sunderland. I went to the second show at Webster Hall in NYC on February 15, 2014.
The name of the tour really says it all: this is an acoustic tour and instead of performing on the stage of the venue, they build their own round stage every night in the center of the venue so the fans can surround them. Has there ever been a tour like this before? Not that I’m aware of.
Sadly, I missed Sunderland’s set. The weather was bad and we got there late, so I can’t say anything about their set. I’m sure they were great and I regret missing them. They are really great guys and great musicians, so not being able to see them after having not seen them for over two years was upsetting.
Paradise Fears had a 90 minute set. Unlike most tours, Paradise Fears does not have a full set list on this tour that they repeat night after night. They have the audience at each show vote on some songs they want them to play before the show starts. They played many of their songs from the Battle Scars EP as well as older ones. They played three Taking Back Sunday covers as well as “Hallelujah”.
The “Hallelujah” cover was amazing. Sam, Cole, Michael, and even Jordan each had a verse to sing. It was hauntingly beautiful. They had the audience sing the chorus along with them.
During “Yours Truly”, Sam had a fan come up and sing with him. He also had a friend join him during “Lullaby”.
Paradise Fears is truly an amazing band who clearly puts their all into every show they perform. They respect and cherish their fans and show it when they are designing their tours.
With the way the stage was set up, as described earlier, the guys were sitting/standing in a circle facing in the circle. This way, they were able to see the majority of the audience as well as the other band members. At the beginning of the show, Sam said he was probably going to make eye contact with everyone in the audience, and I don’t doubt he did just that. I know I made eye contact with him as well as other members multiple times.
All in all, this was a truly amazing show.
(I may either edit and add more to this review later, or do a part two of the review because there is more I can say, I just don’t have the time.)
Check out videos from the show HERE
Pictures from the show HERE
Blog post about after the show and the weekend surrounding the show HERE
Endlessly Music 