Drain brings hardcore energy to Syracuse throwbackshow

Syracuse’s hardcore scene was alive and well Wednesday as Drain’s Warped Tour and Beyond run made its highly anticipated stop at The Song & Dance.

Sweat dripping, fists flying and feet two-stepping, the intimate venue pulsed with excitement as the crowd braced for a shared night of extreme catharsis. Special guests included Koyo, One Step Closer, Magnitude and X-Threat — each bringing their own explosive energy to the stage. 

From the beginning, X-Threat and Magnitude had turned the room into a moving, sweating and chaotic mass. Fans clambered onto the stage, ready to launch themselves back into the crowd as One Step Closer took the stage. The floor turned into a blur of circle pits and crowd surfers. 

The mic cords didn’t stand a chance as Koyo and Drain took the stage. The microphone kept disappearing into a melee of stage divers as the cord wrapped around their flailing legs. This didn’t stop the fun as Koyo vocalist Joey Chiaramonte grabbed the nearest mic from his guitarist, while Drain’s Sammy Ciaramitaro powered through his verses with sheer vocal force. 

“This is a privilege,” Chiaramonte told the crowd as the band encouraged the crowd to stage dive into the eager arms of fans below.

Not a single stage diver was dropped as friends and strangers rushed in to make sure everyone landed somewhat on their feet. The stage was so often overrun with fans that the band members were lost in the hardcore frenzy.

Despite this, the band moved around the chaos with ease. It was clear that this was familiar territory as Chiaramonte side-stepped stage divers, not missing a single verse.  

This was Drain’s and Koyo’s first time performing in Syracuse, and it sure won’t be a show fans will be forgetting anytime soon. The bands didn’t let the sentiment pass without shouting out the Syracuse hardcore scene. Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, hardcore band One Step Closer reminisced about playing at Westcott Community Center in their early days. 

Drain live-debuted their new song “Nights Like These,” which Ciaramitaro said had been released “48 hours ago,” urging the crowd to move even if they didn’t know the words. This didn’t stop the fans from going crazy with bodies flying and fists in the air.

With their shows at the 30th Anniversary of Warped Tour in Washington D.C. up next, Drain and Koyo left Syracuse hardcore fans with sore throats, bruises and a whole lot of sweat.