When it comes to big music festivals like Bamboozle, Ozzfest, Lollapalooza, Uproar and Warped, it’s easy for up-and-coming bands to get lost in the shuffle. Getting noticed can be a difficult task when an artist has to compete with multiple stages, major headliners, various vendors and a carnival-like atmosphere. Even with these seemingly insurmountable odds, some bands do push themselves into the limelight and make a huge impact with local audiences. As part of the upcoming Vans Warped Tour stop in St. Petersburg, San Diego’s Pierce The Veil seem poised to do just that.
Pierce The Veil [pictured right, (c) Adam Elmakias] has spent the past three years touring relentlessly, bringing their unique style of progressive post-hardcore rock to stages around the world. If anyone doubts the success of these efforts, just check out the band’s MySpace page. Pierce The Veil’s debut, 2007’s A Flair for the Dramatic, has been downloaded more than 14 million times, with their sophomore recording, Selfish Machines, racking up more than 700,000 downloads. This is even more impressive when you that Selfish Machines has only been out three weeks. Whatever Piece The Veil's been doing, it seems to be working.
This article appears in Jul 15-21, 2010.