The Re-Entry tour kicked off this fall and made a stop in Salt Lake City. On October 14th A Day to Remember, Asking Alexandria and Point North landed here at the Great Saltair to host a night of singing, jumping, and crowd surfing.
I got to the venue relatively early before the doors opened and there was already a hefty line waiting to get in. It was a very chilly night so there are some dedicated fans, some even without jackets out in the cold for over an hour so they could get the best viewing spot. Shortly after 6, security was ready to wand everyone and open the doors. People were rushing in, the majority of them going straight to the barricade to be front row. Within a half-hour the upstairs bar and the main floor was filled with bodies, anxiously waiting for the concert to start. 7 pm came around, and Point North comes on.
Unfortunately, the tour did not allow photographers in the pit for the first two bands. Lights were a cool blue and purple, one of their first few songs they played was “Never Coming Home” which is a big favorite of mine. The energy was just what I was hoping for. There were fans in the front row, singing along to all of their songs. “Gasoline”, and their cover of “Hammer” (originally by Nothing Nowhere) were crowd favorites. As they closed out their set, the crowd dispersed. Merch lines increased, people running upstairs to get a drink, and the ATM line was clear to the back of the room. Heads up, if you ever go to an event at The Saltair, make sure you have a handful of cash. For parking, drinks and concessions are usually always cash only.
There was constant murmuring going on, from talking about the next band, about what songs they are hoping are played. And obviously some chatter about how good the Saltair chicken tenders are. Soon enough, the music faded and lights went down. Fans rushing in from outside and downstairs. Asking Alexandra stepped foot on stage. The intro was starting, the crowd was in an uproar. They started with “Alone Again”. As the show went on, there was hardly ever a moment of a still crowd. There was always jumping with hands in the air, or a moment where the whole venue had their flashlights on their phones in the air.
The band took a second from the music to address the crowd. They thanked the crowd for letting them be a big part of their life. How if you were there and a song hit you and has impacted you, they gave a huge thank you for letting them be part of your journey. It was definitely a tender moment. They performed a hit song, “The Violence”. Which was insane! It was a huge hit. Every single body jumping up and down, even the crowd upstairs on the balcony had their hands up and were jumping around.
I was standing on the right side of the stage and a few songs before the end, it got a little rowdy in front of the barricade. Someone dropped a drink off the upper level, right onto the tour’s equipment. It spilled on their laptops and cords. Security did a great job at helping clean it up as quickly as possible and helping the tour management clean up. They ended up putting a tarp over their equipment.
Not even 5 minutes later someone threw up off the upper level down onto the tarp that was covering their things. Definitely not a pleasant moment of the night for anyone involved in the clean up, but hey. You’re at an incredible show, It’s not a surprise people were drinking till they were sick. Asking Alexandria finished up with “Alone in a Room”, which was another crowd favorite. When they started clearing off the stage, the crowd went into a chant of ‘One more song! One more song!’ Which unfortunately did not happen.
By this point of the night, there was absolutely no wiggle room, anywhere. Trying to get upstairs to the bar? You had to push and squeeze through bodies to get to the staircase. There were at least 4,000 people, from what some security was telling me, at this show. It was warm, everyone by now had taken their jackets off, that 50 degrees or below weather outside was no longer an issue. People were taking quick trips outside to cool down.
Finally, the time had come. A Day to Remember started their intro track, phones were being held up to record them coming on stage. Lights came on, and the band members made their way on. Jeremy (vocals) came out right behind the drummer, shouting to the crowd to greet them. They opened with “Right Back At it Again”, which sent the crowd into a frenzy. There were crowd surfers coming up left and right. People throwing open water bottles, making some puddles in front of the barricade as they spilled.
The band was so interactive with the crowd. Their setlist was incredible. They played all the favorites. My favorite of the night, mostly due to the crowd, was when ADTR played “Mindreader”. Before they started, Jeremy was telling the crowd how The Saltair is known for holding a record for crowd surfers. Specifically, crowd surfers surfing on a crowd surfer. The fans were not going to let down. As they started that song there were already a good handful of people on top of the crowd, including two crowd surfers surfing a crowd surfer. The whole song start to finish there was a constant stream of people crowd surfing to the front. The band gave a shoutout to security for not letting a body hit the ground and thanked them for catching everyone.
The night carried on, there were streamers coming down and they had big smoke cannons going off. There was a smile on everyone’s face. No one was disappointed. Everyone was singing to every song, moshing and dancing to every song. Nothing beats the whole crowd yelling “I hate this town, it’s so washed up. And all my friends, don’t give a f***”. It was like a big family gathered together. If you didn’t know the person next to you, by the end of the night they were swapping social media pages and became concert buddies. The band finished up with the iconic, “If It Means A lot To You”, but closed out with “Downfall of Us All”. It was the best ending to a night.
There was not a dull moment at this show. Only good vibes. As the night closed out and some were leaving the venue, some hanging around in hopes to come in contact with a band member, and the rest were in line to grab some tour merch. I was only hearing good things. So many of these fans have been waiting so long to see A Day to Remember and it finally happened. There were even some younger kids with their parents in the side of the crowd, having the time of their lives. Music saves lives, and many lives were touched tonight. I heard some people say, this was a night they will never forget. It was a positive night that will remain etched in the attendee’s mind for years to come.