And so the (r)evolution continues. Mid-way through the set, Jason sits cross-legged on the floor, discussing the birth of his second son, openly reckoning with the dilemma of bringing a new life into a world he knows is broken. It’s a touching moment and one that slows the momentum of FEVER’s speeding bullet with Jason picking up the guitar for AM I HERE?. It’s a middle finger to all those who say the band is sloganeering without substance, although their war-cry of ‘You fucked with the wrong generation’ hits like a freight train. But it also runs deeper than words you can put on a T-shirt, connecting with the band’s young, active and angry fanbase on a level no politician can. Were this a ‘U.S. date’ on the tour, the band would undoubtedly be talking about the upcoming election, but tonight they paint with broad brushstrokes, ironically connecting through computers to a fanbase that knows the dangers and flaws of binary thinking.
As the final triple threat of Burn It, PRESENCE IS STRENGTH and Hunting Season ricochet around this LED cocoon, Jason screams with a thousand voices, “The fight is not over, there will be pain, there will be sacrifice, there will be discomfort. You will remain uncomfortable as long as you don’t speak.” And if FEVER 333 can accomplish anything – more than digital ticket sales, more than merch sales, more than streaming numbers – it’s to encourage, and urge a generation not to sit idly by and to speak up. The fever isn’t coming, it has arrived.
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