You can never have too much rock music in San Antonio. That’s why when Movements announced they’d be stopping in the Alamo City as part of their “RUCKUS! Tour,” I knew I had to be there at the Vibes Event Center to see it all go down.
I gotta say, I loved the decision to hold this on the venue’s outdoor stage. I had heard about this mysterious stage for years but never had the chance to see a show out here until this one.
Once arriving, it was great to see so much activity happening besides just the concert itself. The smell of delicious food hit me immediately with all the food trucks parked outside, as well as tents sent up around the space full of alcohol and merch that fans anticipatedly waited for in long lines.
Once the music did begin, it was clear the crowd was in for a fun night. The show started with Paerish, a band that I had no idea was from France until the lead singer, Mathias Court, dressed in a pink crop-top Barbie shirt, came out and introduced themselves.
“What’s up, San Antonio! We’re a band called Paerish, from France, let’s do this!”
I definitely did not expect to hear the accent that came out of his mouth. I also did not expect a band from France to rock as hard as they did. The Paris-based band had a great alternative rock sound that had everyone grooving, and every band member was having a blast on stage. It became more apparent as to why when they told the crowd this was their first time touring in the States.
“I’ll be honest, people in the U.S. are super nice with our music, so thank you guys so much,” Court told the crowd. “This is only our second gig in Texas ever; it’s amazing. I got some Bucee’s merch. I was debating between the Barbie top or the Bucee’s merch.”
I would have been curious to see what piece of Bucee’s merch he would have chosen for the occasion, but alas, it was a great set to start the night.
Coming out of somewhere closer to Texas but not quite as close was the Philadelphia-based band Webbed Wing. The band had a chill demeanor on stage compared to the band prior, but that doesn’t mean their set lacked any sort of enjoyment. The alternative three-piece, consisting of lead singer/guitarist Taylor Madison, drummer Jake Clarke, and bassist Mike Paulshock, started to tread in a slightly heavier direction, signaling a natural progression throughout the night to what the crowd would see with the last two acts.
There was one part of their show where Madison commended Paerish for having so much fun playing outside of their home country since Webbed Wing had such a miserable experience playing in Europe. He then went on to simply say, “Check this shit out,” and casually started shredding on his guitar, rocking out. It was a chill vibe that you only usually see from bands that play on local stages nowadays, and it felt very authentic.
When Tigers Jaw came out to perform next, you would’ve thought they were the headliner. I joined my friend Melody at the show and as excited as she was to see Movements, they weren’t the main reason she came out.
“The last time I saw Tigers Jaw live was 2019,” she told me. “So when I found out they were opening, I bought my ticket right away.”
I immediately understood her excitement for their return back to San Antonio. The instrumentation was so exciting, with my attention immediately gravitating towards Ben Walsh on lead guitar and Teddy Roberts on drums, even before a single lyric was sung.
When Walsh started singing, their set’s energy was a blast. There were even songs where keyboardist Brianna Collins joined in on vocals, bringing a new dynamic to the setlist. The best moment of their set was when the crowd showed out for “Planes vs Tank vs Submarine,” with lots of fans singing along to the emotionally driven yet energetic track. It was cool to see Walsh jump around throughout the song, looking as if he was deeply feeling every single note.
After three great openers, it was time for Movements to take the stage. All the fans were ready for this moment, as while many of them had seen Movements before, most fans in attendance, including my friend Sophia, were seeing them for the very first time.
“My coworker Justin told me about the show and they’ve been on my bucket list for a while!” she told me. When I asked her why the band had been on her bucket list for so long, she explained that it was “for sure their vibe, but overall their music and how personal their lyrics are. Some of their songs got me through a dark time of my life.”
The emotions I saw every fan around me go through during this set really showed me how personal and meaningful this band is to so many people. Throughout the heavier songs like “Lead Pipe” and “Fail You,” the crowd was so excited, moshing where there was space, jumping around where there wasn’t, and crowd surfing just for the hell of it. But especially throughout the emotional songs, the deeper themes of the lyrics rang true and touched every fan’s heart.
Patrick Miranda’s vocals were terrific, sounding identical to the studio recordings. His stage presence was also great from the get-go as he constantly encouraged fans as their setlist went on.
“Right now, I feel like you’re at a solid 65,” Miranda told the crowd. “I need you at 100 or above! Do you fucking hear me?!”
I will say that the overall pacing of the show could have been better. Most of this was not their fault; the band ran into technical difficulties at several points that didn’t provide for the smoothest transitions between songs. But at one point, Miranda took time to talk about a raffle that fans could enter to win lifetime passes to any Movements show; it’s a cool idea for diehard fans but I felt it took far too much time out of the setlist where they could have fit in another song or two.
The rest of the instrumentation from the California-based four-piece was great. Alongside Miranda was Ira George on lead guitar, Austin Cressey on bass guitar, and Spencer York on drums. After they all delivered banger after banger on the setlist, including songs like “Cherry Thrill” and “Third Degree,” the most special moment of the entire night, after Miranda delivered a scathing hot take that encores are dumb, which I entirely disagree with but for reasons I would need much more time to properly delve into, had to be the song that Movements chose to finish their set off with. Judging by Melody’s reaction, she definitely agreed with me.
“My favorite part of the show was when Movements performed ‘Daylily.’ The singer allowed the whole crowd to sing and end the song together. I love when bands do that.”
All 2,300 attendees had their phones up and ready to just cry everything out.
“It definitely made me tear up,” Sophia told me. “Hearing ‘Daylily’ was really moving, especially with everyone singing in the crowd.”
The singalong was powerful to witness. I had felt so many emotions listening to the song on my own at home but those were nothing compared to the experience of hearing every fan’s screaming voice. The band nailed the performance, even getting the crowd involved by pointing out the mic for them to shout out the chorus. It was an all-time live music moment for me for sure.
There aren’t many better ways to wrap up a nearly four-hour concert than that. If that doesn’t convince you to go out and see Movements on the rest of this tour, I don’t know what will.
Check out the rest of Movements’ “RUCKUS! Tour” dates at the link below.
