Before the first song even struck a chord, I was already on my knees. And when I say on my knees, I mean it literally. The crowd was thick and heavy with people trying to push to the front of the stage, because Every Time I Die had arrived back home.

The band started in Upstate New York eight years ago in the city of Buffalo. Four albums later, Every Time I Die is one of the region’s most beloved hardcore bands and sold out their recent headlining tour.

‘We haven’t been in Syracuse in a year,’ said guitarist Andrew Williams. ‘We went to the Carrousel Mall before the show, because of the H&M. There’s no H&M in Buffalo. We went to H&M to stock up on jeans. I came home trying to find my friends, but now I think some of my friends don’t even exist anymore.’

The band was obviously a big deal for a Monday night in Syracuse, since the place was packed and every spot in the parking lot occupied. Every Time I Die’s homecoming was packed with fans eager to hear songs from the past and off of their recent album release.

‘They were one of my first hardcore shows. I saw them with Sick of It All and some other bands in Buffalo,’ said Andy Testo, a forestry and management resource major in the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

Even though Every Time I Die has toured all over the world and back, they are still friendly to their roots. The lead singer, Keith Buckley, spent time talking to the audience and sharing stories about how great it is to see a full crowd. All of the touring Williams has done helped him mature through the years, he said.

‘The first two years was when I was really being a kid in awe over the world,’ Buckley said. ‘You begin to appreciate everything so much more when you travel. You see more than if you would have just stayed in your hometown, otherwise it would just be the same thing every day.’

Hardcore music has never been for the faint of heart, since many are left with sore eardrums even hours after the show, or worse – such as the occasional broken rib.

‘Hardcore is still the underdog, because so many bands we know like Atreyu will put out albums and spend so much money on them,’ Williams said, ‘but MTV will say there’s too much screaming. It’s always going to be like this, even if Ashlee Simpson wore a Throwdown shirt, people wouldn’t know of the band; they would assume she’s in some underground fight scene.’

With every album release, Every Time I Die becomes a hotter prospect to have on the roster of a label. Before releasing the newest album, the band had been approached by many labels, but stayed with their longtime label Ferret Records.

After all these years, members of Every Time I Die say they are still incredibly happy.

‘As clich as it sounds, we got to do what we wanted,’ Williams said. ‘We’re so happy because of it; there are lots of other people who wish they could be doing what we are doing. It’s the fact that we can do what we want, without being told that we sold out is just perfect from it. I’ll be okay if I’m 40-something years old eating just bread, because I did what I wanted to do.’

From the beginning to the end, Every Time I Die’s mission is to never let the audience be bored. The crowd accepts the offer of raw music with screaming along to the lyrics, crowd surfing and dancing. Every Time I Die is nothing but unfiltered raw music, playing songs filled with poetry that are sung in screaming desperation.

‘It’s fun to dance. It’s a good time to see everyone. I just wish there was something more in walking distance,’ said Colin Ferguson, a freshman film major.

The performance is a spectacle of poses and good humor, and one can see the genuine eagerness of the band to perform. The security guards are on active duty to help the crowd surfers as their legs dangerously kick across the sea of heads and save the stragglers who become victims of the mosh pit.

‘The song from the new album everyone seems to like is ‘Bored Stiff,” Williams said, ‘because it has a buildup and a huge end with lots of words to sing along to. The reaction has been awesome.’

Every Time I Die performed nothing less than exceptionally even after so many years. At this point, with a band this good, you could watch their performance mute and still be amused. The band could now have everything right where they want it, but the ultimate fact is they are just a bunch of genuine New York boys.

‘Everything is more accessible. Things just got bigger all around us – not just us, but even the music business,’ Williams said.

Published on January 23, 2006 at 12:00 pm