Do You Feel Love? Bad Omens headlined on Wednesday, March 4, for a sold-out show at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois. The band has been around for a decade now, but within the last five or so years, the band launched a new atmosphere with their 2022 release Death Of Peace of Mind and the correlating singles for that album. One of them, titled “Just Pretend,” has over 30 million streams on Spotify alone. More recently, the band’s success with past albums and current batch of singles os being promoted with the “DO YOU FEEL LOVE?” tour across the country. Supporting this tour are Beartooth and U.K.-native President.

President UK seemed to appear out of nowhere earlier last year, first making waves with their debut single “In the Name of the Father.” The track quickly gained traction, and within weeks the band followed up with “Fearless” before releasing their “King of Terrors” EP. The release featured other tracks like “Dionysis” and “Conclave,” alongside their last single, “Destroy Me,” before the release of the full EP. President blends an alternative style of metalcore with heavy electronic elements and a touch of emo and pop influences layered throughout. What makes the band stand out outside of their sound is the anonymous identity each member brings to the stage through their masks and nicknames. “The President” on vocals, “Heist” on guitar, “Protest” on bass, and “Vice” behind the drumkit.

President opened the show to a full crowd, already locked in and singing along to every song. They carried themselves with confidence and had the most cinematic stage presence, making it hard to believe this was their first tour. The stage itself was massive, but The President stood behind his podium, pacing back in fourth like it was a true inauguration. This podium had their logo on it as well, a neon purple cross with two horizontal lines. It added a very dramatic focal point and helped set the tone for an already emotional and heavy performance.

There isn’t much more to be said about the consistency and work ethic Beartooth brings to the stage. Song after song, they had the crowd fully engaged, with fans shouting every lyric right back at the stage. That energy was especially noticeable during the band’s more recognizable anthems like “In Between” and “Riptide.” During those songs in particular, the crowd was louder than the band. It’s a testament to the connection Beartooth has built with its audience over the years. Moments like that show why Beartooth continues to connect with audiences at such a high level. Their songs balance such a heavy weight with melody in a way that makes their live show so much more impressive, and the songs are that much more immersive live. Even in the middle of a massive arena tour, the performance still carried the intensity and sincerity of a much smaller room.

Bad Omens headlined a sold-out show at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont: a band that has been steadily building for nearly a decade, but truly launched into another atmosphere with their 2022 release Death of Peace of Mind. The record, and especially the breakout single “Just Pretend,” introduced the band to an entirely new audience and helped push them onto a much larger stage. Four years later, with a live compilation and several new singles under their belt, the band continues to ride that momentum while proving their sound translates just as well in a live setting.

Before the band came out, the screens played a series of eerie visuals while a distorted voice spoke to the crowd. There were about five video montages throughout the set. The first one set such a dark and lonely tone before the band came on, perfectly introducing their first song, “Specter,” which the tour is named after. It was a simple moment, but it immediately pulled the crowd into the atmosphere Bad Omens has built around this era of the band. The setlist was an even mix of new and old, but with three albums and a handful of singles, it gets tricky to make sure all the old anthems are covered, and there’s still room for the new stuff. The production for their show was intense but tasteful; giant screens with great visuals, lasers, smoke, and pyro also added a great touch to the metalcore symbiote that is the entity of Bad Omens.

The “DO YOU FEEL LOVE?” tour proved to be a strong night of modern rock and metal, bringing together bands at very different stages of their careers but all delivering memorable sets. 20 shows across 34 days, hitting almost every major city in the U.S. and a few shows in Canada, delivering the same show to an equal level, but each being special in its own right! For fans in attendance, it was a night that highlighted just how strong this generation of heavy music continues to be, with each band bringing something different to the stage. This is a must-see show, and will probably be one of the best tours of the year in this particular genre of metal.