On October 25, 2024, Miss May I performed at the Music Farm in Charleston, SC, performing Apologies Are For The Weak, celebrating 15 years of this album with special guests In Hearts Wake, Traitors, and Bloom. I knew the second I walked into the venue that night that I would end up crying at least five times before the night was over. I have never been so excited to photograph a show like this. I left the show with a bruise on my forehead, a sore neck, and back aches. That’s how I knew I highly enjoyed the show!

Opening the night was the band Bloom. I have never personally listened to them before, but I’ve heard some of their content on TikTok at times and didn’t realize it was this band that was touring with Miss May I. My friend who was attended the show was head banging, shaking the whole barricade, and screaming along to every song throughout their whole performance! Even the vocalist pointed her out several times during their set because of the energy that she had! At times, I really thought she was going to smash her head into the barricade, but she didn’t.

Bloom is from Australia, and, like I stated more into the article, Australian bands are top tier. Bloom had explosive energy from beginning to end other than playing one softer song during their set. I have no idea what songs they played because, like I said, I had never listened to them. Their set was pretty dark which made it difficult to take photos, but I was taking in how much vibrancy and passion this band had on stage. Shows need to have openers like this because it sets the tone for the rest of the show. If the opening band is not getting the crowd pumped for the rest of the bands, what’s the point in having them? Bloom did just that!

Bloom: Website /Spotify

Next up was Traitors. The last time I saw this band was when they were touring with Born of Osiris, Attila and Not Enough Space in Virginia! Traitors was the main reason I started to listen to deathcore bands more in the last decade! If you are not a deathcore fan, I promise after you see Traitors live, your mind will change automatically.

Even though I am a fan of Traitors, it doesn’t mean I love the deathcore genre, but that genre tends to have the best performances. Plus, they sound way better live than they do on albums. Tyler is the true definition, in my opinion, of the best deathcore vocalist. Between the air swooshes and engaging with the crowd and photographers, he has become one of my favorite vocalists.

I knew Traitors erupted something in the crowd instantly because that’s when crowd surfers and constant mosh pits started. I ventured out to get some crowd shots and I spoke to my friend who was the bartender that night. He commented, “Damn, this band is good!” I felt, the whole time during their set, that the mosh pit was feeling blood thirsty for more and more to the point where people were becoming barbaric. I decided to stay away from the mosh pit and watched from a distance because I knew if I went anywhere near the pit, I would’ve gotten pulled into it. They performed two of my favorite songs, “Break” and “Bitter,” which made my whole night even better! At the end of their set, Tyler jumped down from the stage and gave everyone high fives and fist pounds from the beginning of the barricade to the end! He ended the set by telling everyone to meet him at the merch table!

In Hearts Wake was up next and direct support for Miss May I! I have never listened to this band before, but they did have one of the singers, I believe, from Bloom and the clean vocalist from Miss May I perform songs during their set! The band is from Australia and I will always say this; Swedish and Australian bands are a different breed and will always surpass any other bands, in my opinion. In Hearts Wake has been around since 2006. I’m really surprised that I had never heard of them honestly because I am a huge fan of the metalcore sound. In Hearts Wake released their newest album Incarnation this year with “The Flood” being the most popular song with almost 700,000 plays on Spotify!

In Hearts Wake: Website / Instagram /

It was finally time for Miss May I! I’ve been listening to this band since Apologies Are For The Weak was released in 2009. I saw this band several times at Vans Warped Tour during my teenage years, and I believe I haven’t seen them in like eight years. I was speaking to my business partner before this tour was announced and I told her, “If Miss May I announces a tour, I NEED to photograph them.” Two days after that conversation, Miss May I announced this tour! I need to start manifesting more tours!

“Relentless Chaos” has to be my top favorite song on the album Monument. I remember listening to this song live, and to this day, I still have a scar on my hand from grasping the barricade so tight from headbanging that I made it bleed during Warped Tour. I don’t think anyone understood how excited I was for this show.

Recently, I fell in a deep depression after losing my car, working 12-13 hour days at my healthcare job, and wanting to give up everything, but once my family was able to help me get a rental car just for this show, I knew something in the universe wanted me to enjoy the night.

The second I got to the show, I saw my friend Hailey and my photographer friend Bailey which automatically brightened up my whole mood. That’s the one thing about me; Whenever I photograph side by side with friends, it becomes my happy place in that photo pit. I love seeing my friends do their thing in the pit and having the time of their lives capturing the moments between the crowd and the band themselves. Now, when I tell you that photographing this band was very hard, I mean it, because the crowd surfers would NOT stop coming. It got to the point where there were so many crowd surfers that even the people at the barricade had to safely get people over.

Levi Benton (Vocalist) was giving everyone fist pounds every time they made it over the barricade and even stated that South Carolina had the most crowd surfers out of the whole tour so far. As I was photographing, I was screaming every single word and even Levi Benton gave me a thumbs up. I couldn’t hold back my excitement. I know as a photographer we have to be professional, but at the same time, when you recently went through hard times and this is your only outlet to push out that darkness, I didn’t care at the moment. I felt happiness and capturing one of my favorite bands helped me realize that photography is saving me from falling apart!

Miss May I: Website