MAY 10, 2025

Asking Alexandria (Headliner)
From Ashes to New (Direct Support)
Royale Lynn
What Lies Below

Venue: Capitol Theatre, Davenport, IA

#metal #concertreview #askingalexandria #whatliesbelow #royalelynn #fromashestonew #davenport  

Finally decided to attend a show and just enjoy for a change. 

We went down to Davenport, IA to the beautiful Capitol Theater. Seeing how this a show for enjoyment, we parked our old asses in some seats on the balcony level. Still a great vantage point though, as we near the front of the balcony next to the soundboard. With this being a historic Theater, it's absolutely beautiful with all of the columns and frescoes and is setup wonderfully.

They also have Statler & Waldorf propped up in their own balcony seats. 

I hadn't heard of What Lies Below prior to this show. That being said they were pretty solid for an opening act. They did their best to get the crowd involved and warmed up, there was one small pit that was a constant. They were well rehearsed and pretty tight sounding, I think these guys are going to have a pretty decent career ahead of them as their sound improves and evolves. Overall this group of guys showed their own brand of metalcore and I think probably won over a few new fans in the Quad City Area. 

Royale Lynn is the first "punktry" artist I've heard of. 

She's a tiny little thing, but she fills the room with her big voice and great stage presence. It's just her, her drummer, and her guitar player up there, but the three of them combined put out a huge sound. For those unaware of Royale Lynn yet, she started out more country, but began infusing her punk, rock, and metal influences into her country sound and songwriting. That's why she calls it "punktry". She's leaned even harder into her heavier influences with her most recent song 'Greed', and previously also, with her song 'Deathwish' which features Danny Worsnop from Asking Alexandria, as well. He joined her on stage to play the anthem dedicated to all the first responders in the house. 

I've been listening to Royale Lynn since I found her song 'Six Feet Deep' a couple of years ago. Her music is getting better and more polished with each subsequent release. She's in a place right now where the sky is the limit for her, and she is going to absolutely soar. Her star is glowing, and is being primed to go supernova. Check out Royale Lynn before she really blows up. 

I've been a casual fan of From Ashes to New since 'Through It All' first hit the internet. 

Since then I've just never been able to see them live, for one reason or another. 

They are the direct support for Asking Alexandria on this tour, even though they themselves are also headliners. They put on a headline worthy show tonight for sure. They've played the Quad Cities fairly regularly over the years and have earned a huge fanbase here. Even if they didn't have that, the show would've been just as high energy and fun. 

They've really honed their sound over the years and the setlist really accentuates the live show that they deliver. Danny and Matty have amazing control of the crowd, the musicians on stage are very active and putting on great performances as well, both musically and physically. Quite honestly the show could've ended here and l would've left happy. 

Sometimes you don't get to see the bands you enjoy listening to, live, and you just keep experiencing them through either satellite radio, or wherever you consume music. Having finally seen From Ashes to New live, I can unequivocally say that I have been missing out. Next time they come near me, I will hopefully be able to attend with my camera in hand, and get some amazing photos. 

Asking Alexandria has been around for sometime. So by this stage in their career, their show is pretty tight sounding and very well rehearsed. There probably isn't much I can say about their show that hasn't already been said by countless others. 

I will say though that I didn't hear many harsh vocals that are usually present in their songs, at least not live harsh vocals. They were definitely there, though they were alongside the orchestral backing tracks they have. Which is fine, backing vocal tracks are super common these days, it's just odd to not hear the harsh vocals done live. I understand though the concepts of vocal preservation, and maybe other members of the band just can’t pull them off effectively.

There was a point, about three-quarters through the show where everything came to a screeching halt due to a young woman who had some sort of medical issue while in the pit. She was removed from the pit by security very swiftly, hopefully she is okay. After that Danny and the rest of the band got the show back up to speed to end out the night. 

Overall Asking Alexandria put on a really great show, it was loud, the crowd had a great time, and everyone went home happy after they ended the night with 'Alone In a Room' for their encore. 

FINAL THOUGHTS:

From Ashes to New had the most fun set of the night, and I really enjoyed seeing Royale Lynn for the first time, and would love to see her in a smaller venue in a headline spot to really see what kind of show she can put on. The other bands were awesome as well. Head out and see any of them if you get the chance.

-Furious