On April 16, Arch Enemy made their return to San Francisco in support of their newest album, Blood Dynasty.

As far as I can remember, they've played at the Regency Ballroom every time they've come to the city, at least, for as long as I've known them. I've seen a lot of shows at the Regency Ballroom; it's one of the mainstay venues in San Francisco for rock and metal alongside the Warfield. Shout out to Goldenvoice for constantly bringing great shows to town.  Formerly a masonic lodge built in 1909, it has also been a dance studio, movie theater, and now joins many of the other performance halls in the city that have been converted to concert venues.

My most memorable Arch Enemy concert was in fact in 2013, at this same venue, but mainly because my car got stolen. Not exactly related to the band, but I was parked a block away from the venue. Goodbye, 1992 Honda Accord. Anyway, I digress.

Arch Enemy was first created in 1995, so this marks the band's 30th anniversary. Still onboard are founding members Michael Amott and Daniel Erlandsson, along with bassist Sharlee D'Angelo, who joined in 1998. Vocalist Alissa White-Gluz made her Arch Enemy debut on 2014's War Eternal, succeeding Angela Gossow. Blood Dynasty marks her fourth album with the band in eleven years. Guitarist Joey Concepcion is the newest member of the band but not new to the other members, having been part of Christopher Amott's band Armageddon (Christopher Amott being another founding member of Arch Enemy, and brother of Michael).

Their most recent album, Blood Dynasty, was released just a few weeks ago, right before this tour began. It is the twelfth album for the group and follows 2022's Deceivers. The opening song, "Deceiver, Deceiver," was from that album.  The second  song (and oldest of the songs tonight) would be from Wages of Sin with the song "Ravenous." Wages of Sin was the first of Arch Enemy's albums featuring female vocals and set the band on its path to greatness.

You may have heard them on Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and many other games.  White-Gluz has also lent her voice to the game Metal Hellsinger for the song "Stygia" as well as Babymetal for the song "Distortion."  

From Blood Dynasty the band would play "Dream Stealer," "Blood Dynasty," "A Million Suns," and "Liars and Thieves." Both "Blood Dynasty" and "A Million Suns" make their live debuts on this tour.  Even though this tour is in support of the new album, the band played a lot of music from all across their catalog.  Heard during the set were songs like "War Eternal," "No Gods, No Masters," "My Apocalypse," and "Sunset Over the Empire."  A good variety of both old and new.  I would say that over time the band has leaned a little more into the melodic side and slowed down a bit

During the set, a large circle pit opened in the middle of the floor. I saw a few colorful characters like a girl in a banana suit and Mario (of the Mario Brothers), along with your usual assortment of men and women in the pit. Thankfully, the Regency Ballroom's floor is large enough so anyone who doesn't want to participate can stay out of the way (especially if you're like me and carrying camera equipment, albeit stashed away).

Two of my favorite Arch Enemy songs, "We Will Rise" and "Avalanche" bookended the main set and the encore. Honestly, there wasn't much of a break between the two songs so I personally wouldn't call it an encore but hey, that's what the set lists say.  Sadly, no "Revolution Begins," because that's my third favorite. 

There was a bit of an instrumental break in "Snowbound" before the final song, "Nemesis," which is another Arch Enemy classic.  For fun, a bunch of big balloons with the Arch Enemy logo on them were dropped from the second floor. Normally not something you see at a metal show but I think it ties together with the tongue-in-cheek baby blue "pure fucking metal" shirts with unicorns and rainbows on them available at the merch table.

As mentioned, it's been a good two decades since I first listened to Arch Enemy, and it probably won't be the last. As long as they keep playing and coming by, I'll keep seeing them.

And luckily, this time, my car remained parked where it was.  On the way back I passed by a doorman for a local club.  He noticed my Lamb of God shirt and proclaimed as much.  I told him I had just come from Arch Enemy and he yelled a hearty, "F you! Hope you enjoyed it!"  And that's metal for you: aggressive, brash, but deep down, we're all together.  

This is the beginning of the tour, so there's plenty of shows to go.  A list is as follows:

4/14 San Diego, CA - The Observatory North Park
4/15 Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern
4/16 San Francisco, CA - The Regency Ballroom
4/18 Portland, OR - Roseland Theater
4/19 Seattle, WA - Showbox
4/20 Vancouver, BC (CA) - The Pearl
4/22 Edmonton, AB (CA) - Union Hall
4/23 Calgary, AB (CA) - MacEwan Hall
4/25 Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot
4/26 Denver, CO - Summit
4/28 Minneapolis, MN - The Fillmore
4/29 Chicago, IL - The Vic Theatre
4/30 Detroit, MI - The Majestic Theatre
5/2 New York, NY - Palladium Times Square
5/3 Worcester, MA - The Palladium
5/5 Philadelphia, PA -Theatre of The Living Arts
5/6 Silver Spring, MD - The Fillmore
5/8 Montreal, QC (CA) - L'Olympia
5/9 Toronto, ON (CA) - Queen Elizabeth Theatre
5/10 Stroudsburg, PA - The Sherman Theater
5/11 Columbus, OH - Sonic Temple
5/13 Charlotte, NC - The Underground
5/15 Daytona Beach, FL - Welcome To Rockville
5/16 Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade
5/18 Milwaukee, WI -Milwaukee Metal Fest