Asking Alexandria Brings All of their Friends to New York City on Second Installment of The All My Friends Tour

Asking Alexandria takes all of their friends on the road for the second time this year featuring Memphis May Fire, The Word Alive and Archers.

Kicking off the evening was American metalcore band Archers. Archers formed in Madison, Wisconsin in 2015 and currently consists of vocalist Nathaniel Pulley, guitarist Ben Koehler, bassist Oscar Porter and drummer Grayson Mesarosh. Archers has toured with smaller upcoming bands such as Savage Hands, Hollow Front and If not For me. Pulley serenades the crowd with his booming soulful voice as he sings about vulnerability in the darkest of times. The band entered the stage and the crowd was immediately greeted by Porter demanding the crowd to get moving. Porter specializes in screams and this was apparent when the band played “Made For Love” a single released on September 14th, 2024. As they approached the breakdown, Porter demanded for bodies to move and the pit to split open. Porter unleashed chilling screams and the fans moshed like crazy. After Porter said “People ask me what mosh pit looks like… i say it's just New York City”. The New York crowd adored the praise. Archers saved their heaviest for last. This song was “Blackmarketmonkeymagic” from their 2020 EP “New Normal”. The sing started with a heavy but bouncy riff from Koehler and dozens of fans were moshing and crowd surfing to the energetic guitar work. The breakdown came along and Pulley showed off his talented screams. Behind was Medarosh slamming on the snare drum and the sound of it was booming throughout the whole venue. The song finished and Archers gained a ton of new fans that day. Dozens of people rushed to their merch table for the opportunity to meet the band.

Next up was American metalcore band The Word Alive. The Word Alive have been mainstays in the scene since their formation in 2008. Forming in Phoenix, Arizona led by vocalist Telle Smith along with drummer Daniel Nelson, guitarist Jose DelRio and current touring guitarist Logan Abernethy. They have supported giant metal acts such as I Prevail, Parkway Drive and Killswitch Engage. The Word Alive kicked off their set with “Hard Reset” which is off their latest album of the same name that was released in 2023. The pit immediately opened up and formed a circle pit as Smith ripped off fast paced screams that was abruptly ended by technical difficulties. After a few minute delay Smith and the band walked back on stage and said “Split the pit open”. The same routine followed as the pit got even crazier. The band had to cut a song in order to play two of their most important songs. This one would be "Life Cycles" from their 2012 album of the same name. Smith said that this crowd has put every other crowd to shame. The crowd sang along to the lyrics and when Nelson dropped the beginning beat the whole crowd became a frenzy. Dozens of crowd surfers poured over the barricade giving security a workout. DelRio and Abernethy played the iconic riffs from the band's most memorable song for hardcore fans. Right on queue the band asked for a circle pit. The Word Alive ended their set with “One Of Us”. Smith asked for as many people as possible to crowd surf and the fans did just that to the final note. Fans gave an incredible cheer for the band as they stepped off stage.

Keep Up With The Word Alive Online: Instagram / Facebook / Website

Things were about to get rowdier as American metalcore band Memphis May Fire was set to take the stage. Memphis May Fire formed in Denton, Texas in 2006. The band now resides in Nashville, Tennessee and currently consist of vocalist Matty Mullins, guitarist Kellen Gregor, bassist Cory Edler and drummer Jake Garland. Memphis May Fire has been signed to Rise Records since 2011 and have toured with bands such as Parkway Drive, From Ashes To New and The Devil Wears Prada while also appearing on multiple Vans Warped Tour. Memphis May Fire is fresh off releasing a slew of singles called “Necessary Evil”, “Chaotic” and “Infection”. The band took the stage and an array of blue and red lights flashed as the band took the stage. Garland began smashing away on the cymbals and the opening riffs from Gregor had the whole room bouncing. Dozens of crowd surfers flew into the air early in a surprise attack on security. On top of playing new stuff, Memphis May Fire dug deep into their discography. They played fan favorite song “Vices” from their 2012 album “Challenger”. The song features gnarly screams from Mullins all throughout. These screams were complemented by his smooth clean vocals. After that final breakdown, all Mullins had to say was ‘WOW”. He was blown away by the response from the crowd. Memphis May Fire finished off their set with the hit song “Blood & Water” which was the lead single for their 2022 album “Remade In Misery”. He asked for everything the crowd had and they did not disappoint. Fans moshed harder than they have all night with even more crowd surfers, which led to me unfortunately getting kicked in the face, leaving me with a bloody nose. Two nasty breakdowns in this song pioneered the insanity from the crowd and after one last sing along the set was over. Mullins told the crowd they set the bar so high he's going to have a terrible time the rest of the tour. Mullins asked the crowd for a group photo and the crowd put their horns in the air as a final salute.

Keep Up With Memphis May Fire Online: Facebook / Website / Instagram

Our headliner was ready to take the stage. Asking Alexandria is an english metal band that formed in 2006 in Dubai, but is based in North Yorkshire, England. The band is currently signed to Better Noise Music and currently consist of lead vocalist Danny Worsnop, Cameron Liddell on rhythm guitar, bassist Sam Bettley, drummer James Cassells and current touring guitarist and backing vocalist Paul Bartolome. Asking Alexandria has released eight studio albums with their most recent being “Where Do We Go From Here” which was released on August 25th, 2023. Asking Alexandria has nearly 3 million monthly listeners on Spotify thanks to massive success songs such as “Alone In A Room” from their 2017 self-titled album. That song has accumulated just under 120 million streams on spotify. They have multiple other songs hitting over 50 million streams on the platform. The band has cited some notable artists such as Bring Me The Horizon, Bullet For My Valentine and The Offspring. On top of all of this the band has toured with massive acts such as A Day To Remember, Bullet For My Valentine and will be supporting Falling In Reverse very soon. This would be the second installment of this tour this year as the first tour featured the same lineup besides Archers. The first leg of the tour featured Nerv in Archers place. Asking Alexandria has changed their sound countless times over their careers. Beginning as metalcore for the early stages of the band's life. Later on they crossed over into more mainstream hard rock, but have begun to reach back into their old bag of tricks by bringing back some of their original metalcore sound and some of the new tracks.

A giant banner that said “AA” in massive white lettering dropped from backstage and the lights went out. Multiple light bars on stage alternated between red and blue lighting. The intro music to “Welcome” the intro song to 2011 album “Reckless and Relentless” played as cheered louder and louder. All members besides Worsnop entered the stage. The band hit the first note and the whole floor began moshing. Worsnop entered the stage as the song transitioned into “Dear Insanity” which is from the same album. Fans sang along to the choruses Worsnop led the charge. Fans were more than delighted to hear some of Asking Alexandria’s older songs. More surprised than delighted even because Asking Alexandria hasn’t played too many older songs as of late, but have recently incorporated more and more old heavy songs into the set. Worsnop told the crowd he was extremely sick and he was visiting a doctor before the show. The crowd agreed to help the band sing as much as possible. Later on in the set the lights went out and the band walked off stage. Worsnop was the only one to walk back out, but he had an acoustic guitar in hand. He began strumming to “Someone, Somewhere”. Fans used this opportunity to relax except for those in the pit. The people in the pit were rowing and chanting ‘ROW,ROW,ROW”. The fans finished off the last chorus for him and he gave them a heartfelt thank you.

As they neared the end of the set it was time to channel the old energy. Asking would play a few songs from fan favorite record “Stand Up and Scream” which was released in 2009. When the intro riff to “A Prophecy” began, fans ran up the pit and jumped on top of people to crowd surf. Touring guitarist Paul Bartolome was tremendous tonight as he handled most of the vocal duties. His screams were incredible as they hit them as high and low as possible. Fans raved about him all night. Next up was “The Final Episode (Let's Change The Channel)”. Cassells went berserk on the drums to kick off the song and Liddell began chugging the opening breakdown as the whole room screamed “OH.MY.GOD”. Fans were moshing as hard as they did all night with people swinging the arms around with no regard for anyone around them. The band then kicked off the encore with the aforementioned smash hit “Alone In A Room”. Danny wanted as many people as possible crowd surfing and for anyone who didn't, he wanted them bouncing. Security did not catch a break as it was person after person crowd surfing. The crowd sang the last line for the band and just like that the chaos was over.

Asking Alexandria brought their friends on tour once again and it was another smash hit without a doubt. The tour will journey across the rest of the USA until the beginning of November and Asking Alexandria will head back home to support Falling In Reverse on a massive tour package.