Pierce the Veil rocks Syracuse

Deafening screams and blinding flashlights greeted me as I entered The Oncenter War Memorial at the Upstate Medical University Arena in Syracuse on Sunday evening. This was the last show of legendary rock band Pierce the Veil’s 2024 tour. The fans’ energy rocked the floor before the concert even began, and that is how I knew I was walking into the experience of a lifetime. 

The band is made up of Vic Fuentes, lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist, Tony Perry, lead guitarist, and Jaime Preciado, bass guitarist. Loniel Robinson, a former member of the rock band letlive., accompanied Pierce The Veil on this tour as their drummer.

Texan rock band, late night drive home, consisting of lead singer Andre Portillo, guitarist Juan ‘Ockz’ Vargas, bassist Freddy Baca and drummer Brian Dolan, was one of two supporting acts at the Syracuse show. The band hyped up the arena with performances of their hit songs like “Drug Asphyxiation,” “Perfect Strangers,” and Portillo’s “favorite song to perform” “Over The Garden” among others. 

Photo by Jack Henry

Jack Kayes finishes his set before Pierce the Veil on Sunday night at the Upstate Medical University Arena.

Jack Kays, the second supporting act, is an indie-rock and hip-hop singer-songwriter from Cincinnati, Ohio. He got the audience’s blood pumping with his energetic stage presence, performing hits like “Plan B,” “Caffeine,” and “SLEEP WHEN I’M DEAD” among others.

When Pierce the Veil finally made their entrance, the arena acquired a different atmosphere altogether. What I thought was peak crowd energy was in fact, just the beginning. Fuentes, Perry, and Preciado promised Syracuse “the night of [our] lives” – and followed through with the show of a lifetime. 

Molly Grant, who works at a restaurant in Stanford, New York, attended her first Pierce the Veil concert around seven years ago. Since then, Grant has seen the band “a handful of times.”

“They always put on such a good show. The energy they bring, their theatrics, it’s fantastic,” she said. “This is the first time I’ve seen them with fireworks; they outdid themselves, completely outdid themselves.”

Photo by Jack Henry

A sold out crowd jumps to Pierce the Veil’s “Hell Above.”

Pierce the Veil performed hits like “Caraphernelia,” “A Match Into Water,” and “Emergency Contact,” but also treated the audience to songs like “Even When I’m Not With You,” which Fuentes said was not one of their usual choices for live concerts. 

Gabriella Gogos, 24, has been a fan of the band for over a decade now. She and her friends traveled from Buffalo for this concert. It was her fifth time seeing them live; she has previously traveled to places like Ohio and Pennsylvania for their concerts. She credited the band and the audience’s energy for making each show better than the last.

“I even have a tattoo in honor of them,” she laughed, pointing to the bold, cursive ‘Pierce The Veil’ tattoo on her lower back. “Yeah, I’m dedicated!”

Photo by Jack Henry

Lead guitarist Tony Perry thrashes his head to “Caraphernelia” as he plays during Sunday night’s concert.

While I do not have a Pierce The Veil tattoo, I have been a fan of the band since I was 14 years old – almost as long as Gogos. Listening to them yell “Goodbye Syracuse” and singing along as they performed the heart-wrenching “Hold on Till May” was nothing short of cathartic. 

As Fuentes sang ‘Been in a touring band for going on ten years / “Big deal,” she said, “I guess you’re official”,’ I could only agree – Pierce The Veil now has more than ten years of touring under their belt, and I, like many fans at The Oncenter, ended the night on a grateful high that the band found their way to Syracuse.