Recent Obsessions: Sleeping With Sirens
UPDATE (10/8/2016 7:36 PM): Replaced broken links.
I’m never really surprised when I fall in love with a new artist or band or album; it happens a lot. So, it didn’t surprise me that I fell in love with the band Sleeping With Sirens. What did surprise me was just how far and how fast I found (and still find) myself falling for them.
I suppose the turning point at which I realized that my appreciation for their music was headed to full on obsession was when I first heard their song, “Who Are You Now” off their sophomore album, Let’s Cheers to This, a couple months ago. Prior to that song, my interest in them didn’t feel any different than the dozens of other bands I’ve discovered over the years. I swooned to their heartfelt acoustic EP, danced a routine fit for a strip club in my room as I blasted “Your Nickle Ain’t Worth My Dime,” felt on top of the world as I screamed along to “Do it Now, Remember it Later”; and after all that, I made the logical decision to listen to Let’s Cheers to This in its entirety. Everything felt normal until that third track of the album began and by the end of “Who Are You Now,” I knew that this band was more than just another band that made good music. The connection was personal now.
What truly did me in though was getting the chance to see them live at this year’s Vans Warped Tour. I had been jokingly making comments to my friend about how I was going to lose it when their set time finally came, but then it actually happened. We walked up to the Kia Forte Stage 20 minutes early and the second I saw the giant Sleeping With Sirens banner hanging behind the drum set, every coherent thought in my head was just gone. I couldn’t breathe for that entire time I stood waiting for them to come out. It was like I was holding a breath until they showed and, when they did, that breath came out as a disgustingly pathetic scream.
Everything about their set was perfect. Lead singer Kellin Quinn is a master at working a crowd and it was almost alarming just how easily swept away I was by his presence on stage. He came out to a tidal wave of screams and stayed silent as it faded away. Only when the cheers had died did he sing the first lines of the chorus of “If I’m James Dean, You’re Audrey Hepburn” a capella, before moving right into the “in your face” and energetic opening of the song. Listening to him and watching the crowd react was an incredible thing to witness. It was so simple, just Quinn and the mic, but it was so telling of just what was in store for the remaining 30 minute set because it showcased his ability to give an extremely emotional delivery of the lyrics he sings. It’s his signature. His voice has a way of making you really feel every SYLLABLE. It’s my favorite thing about him as a vocalist; his voice is expertly persuasive in its emotional quality. Because of that, he was able to whip the crowd into a complete frenzy of screams before the rest of the band even began to play. Once they finally did join in an explosive fashion, we were all just at a point of no return, hanging on every note. The energy and enchantment did not let up for a second over the course of the too short set. After dominating the stage with a brilliantly crafted set list, including an INCREDIBLE tag team with Matty Mullins of Memphis May Fire for “Congratulations” and a beautiful acoustic moment with “Roger Rabbit” that almost made me cry at just how expressive Quinn is behind the mic, they closed out the show on high energy adrenaline filled note with “Tally it Up, Settle the Score” and left me and other audience members wishing their set could last just a little bit longer.
Say what you want about this band, they might not be perfect. Quinn might have an ego. They might just be in it for the money, the attention, so on and so forth. There could be some truth to all of the talk, but that doesn’t change the fact that I saw five guys on that stage giving an amazing show to a fan base every bit as dedicated to their music as any other band on that tour and it definitely doesn’t change the fact that by the end of the set I was a blithering mess who couldn’t think straight for the entire ride back from the venue. At the end of the day, it’s about how the music affects you and you alone and I know that for myself and plenty others out there, Sleeping With Sirens makes music that touches lives just like any other touring act on the scene today.
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