Farewell The Chariot. Long live the Chariot. Two things on my mind today as I write this.

The legendary math rock/hardcore/chaos band TORE TO PIECES A&R Bar last night (as of this writing) in the last time they will ever perform as the Chariot in Columbus.

The band had a stellar supporting cast, beginning with Rebuker – a spirit-filled hardcore band along the lines of Being As An Ocean that opened the show with their unabashed passion-filled bellowing. The humility and rawness from the guys filled the room, setting the tone for the rest of the evening appropriately. It’s not hard to see why Chariot frontman Josh Scogin manages them.

Metalcore band To The Wind followed and I quickly caught on to why they are a buzz band in this scene. I hunkered down in my corner by the windows and stage while the occasional body ricocheted off my person or flipped over my head only to land on top of my neighbors. To The Wind, besides inspired a bunch of frenetic fans to go all out, are good musicians too. Intricate, bone-chilling guitar playing complimented steadily brutal and catchy tunes.

Birds In Row, a hardcore band loved by members of the emo/math rock scene in Columbus performed the middle portion of the set. The three-piece, backed by spotlights, performed a passionate set (though not quite as much as Rebuker) and may have had the most interesting sound of the night.

Glass Cloud, whose vocalist Jerry Roush had filled in for Vanna in Columbus just a few days before performed a set of metalcore/hardcore tunes that frankly didn’t really strike a chord for me. The band seems to be polarizing with their sound – people either love them or find them unremarkable. Props to them for having good stage presence, though.

The Chariot was without a doubt the main event everyone had been saving their energy for. Scarcely a note had been strummed from “Evan Perks” before the entire crowd began pulsating with crowd surfers. Chills ran down my spine as Josh Scogin screamed “THIS IS A CELEBRATION” whilst this sight unfolded before me. Beartooth’s Caleb Shomo was one of many that rushed the stage during “Teach,” although he took the mic and helped with vocals for a significant portion of the song. Members of other Columbus bands A F(r)iend in Me, Dream By Night, History’s History, Like Moths to Flames, SRVVLST, graves., OceanSpeak and I’m sure many more were present, speaking to the wide range of influence The Chariot has had over the years.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRhJk5zTb0c&h=297&w=450]

The set was by far one of the most memorable I’ve seen. As I said before, the crowd surfing and stage diving was nonstop. A few people tried to use the rafters as monkey-bars but the sound engineer threatened to cut the show short if people didn’t stop that activity. Highlights from the set included “Daggers” which had the Rebuker drummer onstage banging some floor toms while the whole room shouted “WAR! IT’S ONLY SKIN DEEP!” over and over as well as “And Shot Each Other” with it’s eerie choir outro. The gratitude from The Chariot was very much evident as Scogin took a moment to scrawl “I <3 U COLUMBUS” on the fogged up window by the stage with his finger. A sweat drenched Scogin kneeled comically with a towel draped over his face while in the midst of the chaos, at one point during which a stage diver casually tied his shoe on stage before flipping back into the pandemonium. The set ended with the drummer moving his kit into THE MIDDLE OF THE MOSH pit and finishing out the show there – a bold move considering the moshing was intense enough at times to send human projectiles hurtling into my person, satisfactorily perched at the periphery of the madness. Wow.

Long live the Chariot. Happily, Scogin plans to stay on the touring circuit with new music projects – which I wait anxiously for.