Dan Russell-Pinson – January 21, 2025
2025 marks Silverstein’s 25th year as a band and they brought the celebratory vibes to The Fillmore in Charlotte, NC last night for the 8th stop of their “25 Years of Noise” tour. Joining the party were opening acts Thursday, Arm’s Length and Split Chain.
Formed in 2000 in Ontario, Canada, Silverstein consists of vocalist Shane Told, guitarist Paul Marc Rousseau, guitarist Josh Bradford, bassist Billy Hamilton and drummer Paul Koehler.
Vocalist Shane Told performing at The Fillmore Charlotte (Photo by Dan Russell-Pinson)
Silverstein’s sound is painted from several musical palettes including emo, pop-punk, hardcore and heavy metal. During their long career they’ve released 11 studio albums and 7 EPs. They recently released a new single & video for the song “Don’t Let Me Get Too Low”, which will appear on their upcoming album Antibloom to be released on February, 21st. Antibloom will comprise the first part of a double album project – Antibloom / Pink Moon.
Before Silverstein hit the stage, the audience was presented with a 90 second video looking back on their 25 year career. Alongside 25 year old images of AOL commercials, CD burning and screenshots of Limewire software, the video told the story of 5 kids from Canada starting a band, making noise, playing “any place with four walls and a PA”, gaining fans who helped spread the word and ultimately leading up to the present moment. The video concludes with the words “This is Forever”.
Guitarist Paul Marc Rousseau performing at The Fillmore Charlotte (Photo by Dan Russell-Pinson)
Silverstein kicks off their performance hot and heavy with their recent song “Skin & Bones” setting a tone of high energy and excitement that will persist for the next 80 minutes. The setlist is designed to start with their most recent songs and end with the older ones. “I don’t know if you guys have noticed. We started with the new stuff and we’re going back in time with each song.”, explains singer Shane Told midway through the show.
As the band moves into crowd favorites “Infinite” and “Bad Habits”, the audience becomes a sea of fists raised in the air, non-stop crowd surfing and general mayhem. The celebratory mood extended to the band members themselves whose big smiles made it clear that there was no place they would rather be than on that stage performing for their fans. “Charlotte you are loud as fuck tonight!”, yelled Shane Told to the crowd.
Guitarist Josh Bradford performing at The Fillmore Charlotte (Photo by Dan Russell-Pinson)
After the fun and upbeat “The Afterglow” and an energetic peak reached during “Vices”, the audience were given a chance to catch their breath for a moment as Shane Told took the stage by himself to perform an acoustic version of the emotional “The Tide Raises Every Ship / The End”. Shane routinely pulled back from the mic to let the audience’s voices shine through as they sang every word of the chorus at the top of their lungs.
As the end of the show draws near, Silverstein treats the crowd by playing the very popular “Smile In Your Sleep” before moving into the first of 3 encores “My Heroine”. Starting out with only acoustic guitar and vocals, this was the most emotional and sentimental moment of the night again with Shane letting the audience sing most of the final chorus.
Silverstein ended their performance as they started it with high energy and excitement starting with their second encore, “Smashed Into Pieces”, which included a confetti drop and lot’s of crowd surfing. As the last bits of confetti were falling from above, Shane Told gave a heartfelt thanks to everybody involved in putting on the tour and the three opening bands before kicking off the night with the energetic “Bleeds No More”. “We’re going way back”, said Shane Told.
Vocalist Shane Told performing at The Fillmore Charlotte (Photo by Dan Russell-Pinson)
With guitars lifted in the air and loud screams from the crowd, the show was over. As band members waved to the audience and left the stage, Shane stayed behind for several minutes interacting with the crowd, giving out setlists and guitar picks and even throwing out bottles of water. No doubt he was reflecting on the incredible journey he and his bandmates have had over the last 25 years and acknowledging that none of it would have been possible without their fans.
“A lot of people say don’t dwell on the past. Keep moving forward at all costs. But sometimes it’s important to reflect. Because sometimes you don’t want to make those same mistakes again and again and again. At the end of the day, all we have are our memories.“, explains Shane.
The 25 Years of Noise Tour continues through May 16th and includes 12 stops in Europe before concluding in Daytona Beach, FL.
Setlist: January 19, 2025 – The Fillmore – Charlotte, NC
Skin & Bones
Confession
The Altar/Mary
Infinite
Bad Habits
The Afterglow
Aquamarine
A Midwestern State of Emergency
Massachusetts
One Last Dance
Sacrifice
Vices
The Tide Raises Every Ship
The End
My Disaster
Your Sword Versus My Dagger
Call It Karma
Smile in Your Sleep
Encore: My Heroine
Encore: Smashed Into Pieces
Encore: Bleeds No More
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