DAYSEEKER - THE PALE MOONLIGHT TOUR (Photoless Review)

By: Kat Gullage

This twenty-one date tour was over eighty-five percent sold out. Box office ticket prices were a bit higher than usual for the venue. I just had to see what the buzz was all about. I was expecting some quality production, like a scaled down A7X light show, and some premium musicianship. An acquaintance in the parking lot went on and on about how the singer’s voice was the draw. I had high expectations.

I didn’t know much about Dayseeker going in. Saw a lot of fans clad in Dayseeker and Motionless In White gear. The sold out crowd was crammed into the space and a viewing platform took up a portion of it. For an extra fee, patrons could stand on the temporary elevated framework. Chatted with a coupla diehards that drove all the way from Maine for the Connecticut gig. One of them mentioned that she didn’t expect a pit to break out or anything at this particular concert.

Dayseeker formed in 2012 in Orange County, California. Frontman and lead singer Rory Rodriguez is the only remaining original member. The group parted ways with founding member and rhythm guitarist Gino Sgambelluri a mere six months before this gig. They rebounded quickly by adding lead guitarist Mitch Stark to their touring roster. Ramone Valerio, bassist since 2017, was credited on the new album, Creature In The Black Night, but Devin Chance took over the position for the live performances on this run. Drummer Zac Mayfield has handled the percussion duties since 2022. Dayseeker has six studio albums and pulled from their three most recent ones for their robust sixteen song set. Plus a cover. Y’all know, not a fan of covers overall as they rarely surpass the original.

Three minutes before the show was supposed to start there was an issue in the pit and someone had to be assisted out of there. Stage techs, security and first responders reacted immediately and quickly had it under control. The lead in song was “Sweet Dreams” by The Eurythmics and the audience belted it out word for word. Dayseeker finally appeared to a room full of devoted fans and kicked off the first of eight from Creature In The Black Night with the tour namesake “Pale Moonlight”. They had barely started “Shapeshift” when they had to stop due to yet another issue in the pit. The house lights snapped on and the situation was, once again, promptly remedied. Dayseeker took it from the top to ensure we got the song, one of the ones I was most familiar with, in its entirety. They dipped into Dark Sun for “Dreamstate” and invited members of the opening band, Silent Planet, to join em on stage, which triggered multiple crowd surfers to go up. Rory encouraged the audience to sing along to the next song, “Burial Plot” (Sleeptalk), and the response was staggering. These fans knew every word to every song and sang em loud and proud. All. Night. Long. Dayseeker recently earned their first Billboard Number One charting song and that track, “Crawl Back To My Coffin”, came next. Rory asked everyone to hold up their cell phone lights and they lit the place up like daylight. He then introduced “Homesick” (Dark Sun) and explained he “Wrote this after my dad passed away from a long illness”. There was a long ass break after that song but then Rory appeared, seated at the keys, to cover My Chemical Romance’s “The Ghost Of You” and perform “Forgotten Ghost”. He remerged to his frontman position, in front of a propped up coffin that did nothing but occasionally light up, and they continued rolling with “Bloodlust”. Rory shouted out “If you came here tonight to sing with Dayseeker, this next song is that fuckin song! You ready?! This next song is called “Without Me” which was followed by “Crying While You’re Dancing”. The singer proclaimed that we were only the second audience ever to hear the next track “Nocturnal Remedy” performed live! The singer hopped back on the keys and stated “We’re gunna do a slow one for you guys. This song is called “The Living
Dead” and yep, it was definitely an unhurried tune. The pace and the pit picked back up for title track “Creature In The Black Night” and the singer shared recollections with us. “We have been a band for fourteen fuckin years now. Our very first tour we traveled across the US for three weeks. We played for five people to eighty people, on a good night, and in our own hometown we used to struggle to sell to two hundred people. I remember there were a lot of feelings of giving up on this band of giving up on our dreams and quitting and I hafta tell ya, to be here tonight to experience this moment…We know that right now you guys could be anywhere in the world. We wanna tell ya thank you for being here and standing with us.” The adoring loyals cheered with deafening approval. “This is our last song. This is called “Sleeptalk”. Let’s have some fun!” They exited quickly on the final note only to return momentarily. “Ya still with us?!? Thank you for tonight! This is called “Neon Grave” motherfuckers!”

I would describe Dayseeker’s sound as emo-pop metalcore, leaning heavier on the pop. There were no theatrics. The only props were the stationary center coffin and Hobby Lobby looking columns wrapped in ivy that flanked each side of the stage. No big production, decent light show and the images flashed on the giant screen behind them were pulled from their videos, mostly cycles of CGI dark fantasy stuff and lyrics. I had heard “it’s all about the singer”, and he was good, providing intimate yet intense moments and loved his natural ability to switch from the keys to heavier stuff. His voice was slightly buried beneath the instrumental mix though. Ya wanna know what the Dayseeker buzz is all about? It’s their FANS. When I said they sang every word to every song, all night long, I mean they sounded like you’d hear in a crowded church or a fan filled stadium singing their team's fight song in unison. Impressive. Are you curious about Dayseeker? Check out their socials cuz they have a #1 song out. I’d say go see em live but the tour is Sold Out so maybe next time!