Concert Review: Sunami at Subterranean

On the night of October 14th, I set out to Subterranean, one of my favorite Chicago venues, to see Sunami, a hardcore band hailing all the way from San Jose, California. The band had played the night before, and I had already heard some stories from friends. They told me that I was “going to get annihilated,” advised me to “take my piercings out,” and told me that the pit would get super violent, and this was an understatement. After hearing all of this from several people, I decided to watch the show from the balcony above in comfort and safety.

The show kicked off with four different openers, all hailing from different parts of the country. Sector, from here in Chicago, performed first. I really enjoyed their set, and especially loved their breakdowns. The pit started off a bit spotty, but with some encouragement from the band, it quickly intensified, with a few wrestling moves thrown in as well.

Enervate, a smaller band from Milwaukee, played next and definitely did not disappoint with their stage presence. Their performance energized the crowd, who headbanged along in a very active pit. They had great crowd involvement as well, frequently sharing the microphone with fans.

The third opener, Torena, came all the way from Oxnard, California, and delivered a great set accompanied with a lot of crowd killing. They hyped up the crowd with amazing breakdowns, shifting from fast-paced sections to slower and heavier riffs.

Hailing from Idaho, the final opener, Ingrown, was my favorite set out of all the openers, featuring echoing guitar riffs, some of the best I’ve heard in a while. They consistently kept the crowd’s energy up and even threw drumsticks into the audience mid songs.

After watching all of the opener’s set’s, I heavily anticipated Sunami’s set, and it did not let me down. The crowd was full of excitement, energy, and enthusiasm following the openers. I loved the vocals, instrumentals, and the energy surging through the venue. With my view from the balcony, I could see what looked like a full on fight in the pit, with plenty of crowd killing as well. Sunami’s performance was phenomenal. Their live set sounded even better than their recorded music, packed with more energy. They brought beautiful riffs, amazing vocals, and powerful drumming to the stage. Loud cheers came from the crowd after each song, bringing even more energy into the pit. 

A standout moment of the show was when they played their most popular song “Weak Die First”. You could really feel the energy in the venue as they kicked off the song with the intro. I loved their performance of this song live with amazing vocals and instrumentation, especially with the growl at the end.

Sunami, along with all of the openers, delivered outstanding performances that I highly recommend to any hardcore fans out there. Sunami is embarking on a six-week tour across the U.S. and, if you get the chance, I highly recommend seeing them live.