Upon a Burning Body at New Brookland Tavern

Photos & Writing by Dillon Reesor

On April 24th Upon a Burning Body, The Browning, VCTMS, Hollow Front, and local death metal act Fleshgate played to a packed house at New Brookland Tavern. The venue witnessed a frenzy of activity as fans moshed, crowd surfed, and ran enough circle pits that I stopped trying to count. The bands fed off of the energy in the building and put on a phenomenal show.

Each act built on the intensity of the last and the crowd responded in kind, creating a truly electrifying atmosphere. And I need to shout out the few fans that were dead center in the pit for the entire show, fully leaning into the chaos unfolding around them. That isn’t an easy feat when the press of the crowd was enough that I found it quicker to leave the venue and walk around to the other door in order to move to the other side of the stage, and that was before I gave up on moving around altogether! Adding to the excitement of the night, the show featured a rotating cast of guest vocalists as members of the other bands took turns coming to the stage to belt out a few lines.

During a brief reprieve from the onslaught, VCTMS drummer Meredith Henderson took a moment to express gratitude to the fans for their unwavering support, and appreciation for the raw energy they brought to the show. In a humorous twist, somewhere around the end of VCTMS’ set or the start of The Browning’s, I felt a drop hit me. Enough condensation had built on the AC ducts that it was starting to drip into the crowd below, not enough to be a problem, but it was definitely funny to see the looks of confusion when a drop landed on someone unsuspecting. This show was a wild thing to behold, a truly incredible experience to share with the bands and the rest of the audience, and an absolute blast to photograph from start to finish.

Upon a Burning Body