Flora in Silence opened up the show - and what an opening. Before starting, Kōhai (the drummer for Flora in Silence and member of multiple other NCHC bands) urged us to come closer to the stage since they are “not a scary band.” In fact, they are a heartbreakingly beautiful and incredibly talented band, with (as promised) only one part that inspired moshing; the rest almost prompted tears, at least in my case. The two guitars and bass play beautiful emo riffs while the vocalist screams, with Kōhai laying down an expert beat and backup vocals. One guitarist delighted in dancing around barefoot on stage while playing, the other jumped up and down, and the vocalist ended up lying on the floor during a song or two: in other words, absolutely elite emo/screamo performance. The only complaint I could possibly have about their set is that it was too short: the five piece played tracks from their releases and a few new songs, ending with a selection from their new EP, Embers Trickle Up, released this year. The track ends with a solo from Kōhai which left the audience (or again, at the very least me) choked up. An absolutely beautiful performance. Morning Dew was the only band I wasn’t familiar with before the show, so I was intrigued and excited when they were setting up on stage. Morning Dew, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a screamo duo, with one member (who introduced themself as Six “like the number”) on guitar and vocals and the other (who was introduced as “Steve, like Minecraft”) on drums and vocals. They launched right away into an energetic and awesome screamo set, with Six alternating aggressive strumming with beautiful picked riffs and Steve laying down a solid beat on drums to compliment the screamed vocals. Many tracks included long instrumental interludes and live riffing, one of my favorite things a band like this can do live. Between each song, Six spoke to the audience, thanking us for welcoming them to Raleigh for the first time and then going deeper, urging us to check in on old friends because we can never know how much time we have left with the people we love before one song and and advocating for justice in Palestine and community action before another. Seeing bands use their platform on stage is one of my favorite parts of Hardcore and Punk, so I am a huge fan of Morning Dew for that as well as for their awesome music.Montclair was up next, visiting all the way from Connecticut. After two screamo/emo acts, the room was ready for more movement and Montclair provided a great soundtrack to start getting the pit warmed up. Their first track was a bit more metalcore influenced, with crooned vocal cleans over riffs never quite resolving into pit parts, but as their set went on they transitioned into their harder emo style tracks which prompted stage dives and two-stepping. I’ve seen Montclair play at Kings once before, and both times I have been impressed by their tightness and the cohesiveness of their set even as it spans a few genres. And, to close it out, the 919’s very own Fading Signal. Always one to stir up the crowd, vocalist Jordan Holland opened the set by asking us if we remembered when people used to do something called stagediving… and throughout the set I think we conclusively showed that we remember indeed. The five-piece played tracks from their newly released Split EP with Florida Hardcore band Miracle, as well as classics from their two 2021 EPs and some exciting new unheard songs. Fading Signal is a pure hard-hitting hardcore band, with every song (each clocking in at under two minutes) inspiring the finest of hardcore moshing, with spinkicks and elbows flying in the pit, pile-ons and grabs for the mic, and stagedives into those pile-ons. A Fading Signal set promises 15 minutes of sweaty, exhilarating, consensual violence, and they delivered as usual.