Emily Peria 2019-03-11 Emily Peria 2019-03-11

The Plot In You - North American Tour 2025

With only a few days remaining on their North American tour, The Plot In You, Acres, Boundaries, and Holding Absence gave fans many reasons to endure the cold before the sold-out show.

Danforth Music Hall

March 11, 2025

With Acres, Boundaries, and Holding Absence

The last freezing winds that the Toronto winter has to offer blew past the dark-attired crowd lined up around the corner of Broadview and Bloor, waiting to take shelter in The Danforth Music Hall. These low temperatures are no surprise to Ohio-based headliner band The Plot In You, composed of singer Landon Tewers, bassist Ethan Yoder, guitarist Josh Childress, and drummer Michael Cooper. With only a few days remaining on their North American tour, The Plot In You, Acres, Boundaries, and Holding Absence gave fans many reasons to endure the cold before the sold-out show.

Photos by Connor Watt

By the time Acres began, the Hall was nearly packed. Alex Freeman traded the traditional hardcore outfit sported by his bandmates for black overalls and an aquamarine guitar, while vocalist Ben Lumber wasted no time by summoning a circle pit. A beloved ritual that no metalcore crowd would ever deny a frontman. The English lads set the night's tone with a mixed dose of catchy hooks and heartfelt screams, creating the perfect atmosphere for what's to come.

Photos by Connor Watt

Connecticut-based band Boundaries follow with heavy-hitting double kicks and synchronized head-banging, leaving every blow to the crash cymbal punctuated with whips of long hair. Seldom were the band standing in one spot. “Why are you here?” goads bassist Nathan Calcagno. The crowd feeds off this enraging energy and produces the first crowd surfer of the night as tribute. One filthy breakdown and gutteral scream after another encourages a sea of hand horns from the stage to the balcony. A devilish vision my grandmother would be appalled to see.

Photos by Connor Watt

With an oversized ’80s denim jacket and a textured mullet that resembled Steve from Stranger Things, Lucas Woodland of Holding Absence possessed a swagger that was unlike that of the heated vocalists before him. The Welsh rock band gave the room a sonic palette cleanser of melodic guitar and clean, understandable vocals. Though the genre may have switched, the on-stage energy never wavered. Even during “Moon Song”, the soft ballad anomaly of the night, hand horns were substituted with phone lights, turning the venue into a starry sky. Near the end of their set, Lucas also mentioned that all of the Holding Absence t-shirts were printed in Canada to avoid any American tariffs. Something I wonder if more bands will adopt going forward.

I found Jesus at The Plot In You show, further proving that live music is church. He walked past me and into the middle of the horde, long white robe and red sash flowing, anticipating the arrival of the headliner. The stage was empty, save for metal pillars scattered along the perimeter, with hanging foliage and a large 1920s radio that would sporadically emit incoherent static noise. Eventually, the channel landed on John Denver’s chorus of Take Me Home before fizzling out into eerie pulses. The band slowly emerges, and Landon introduces the set with the rasping cry of “Don’t Look Away,” sending the crowd into a chaotic frenzy. His vocal range and capability are indistinguishable from the records, hitting every note and gut-wrenching howl without fail throughout the entire set.

Highlights for me included hearing my top song of 2023 “Divide” and joining in the agonizing isolated vocal chant of “Forgotten”. Even though the majority of the songs mask the emotionally charged lyrics with hard metal riffs, The Plot In You are not a one-trick pony. The band’s sound morphs from inciting angry mosh pits to “Wanna hear some emo shit?” Landon asks this rhetorically before ripping our bleeding hearts out with “All That I Can Give.”

I saw Jesus once more. This time, He is the first of a continuous wave of crowdsurfers. Their last chance to get in before the encore, “Feel Nothing”, a song that propelled the band into social media stardom. Not only did its virality generate millions of streams, but the track also received a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America on November 30, 2022. Every head in the room was bobbing and singing along, and I swear I heard someone say, “This is the song from TikTok!”

Whether you embrace the influence of the internet or not, the weight of its impact cannot be disregarded. But the real power will always reside in the music, and The Plot In You have proven that their prestige cannot be contained in a 15-second sound bite.

Photos by Connor Watt