LIVE REVIEW: KINGDOM COLLAPSE at 89TH STREET - OKC in OKLAHOMA CITY, OK on JULY 10, 2022

Photos and Review by: Allyssa Arens

Lineup: Kingdom Collapse, Kirra, Waves

Date: July 10, 2022

Location: 89th Street – OKC, Oklahoma City, OK

For some people, Sundays are for church, relaxing, and/or spending time with family. For others, like me, we prefer the church of Rock and Roll, which Kingdom Collapse happily provided at their Oklahoma City show this past weekend, one of four shows on their way to opening for Attack! Attack! and The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus beginning this week in Chicago. All who attended were treated to a night of sweat, rock, and good vibes on this hot summer Sunday.

First to take the stage was Waves, hailing from New Braunfels, Texas. Fronted by Elysha Lemaster, the group of teens brought a lot of fun energy into the venue. They kicked off the show nicely with a mixture of original songs, both unreleased and from their recent EP Take It or Leave It, as well as covers of Audioslave’s “Show Me How to Live” and Velvet Revolver’s “Slither”. Having been unfamiliar with their music prior to the evening, their combination of rock and pop elements left a great impression, and I look forward to seeing what Waves have in store next.

Next was OKC’s own Kirra, offering some heavier fare. Their brand of rock is thrashy, gritty, and perfect for headbanging, with singer Gabriel providing vocals that have just the right amount of harshness without veering into guttural territory (not that there’s anything wrong with that if that’s what you’re into). Kirra’s set began with their latest single “Flesh Gives Way”, then continued with a mixture of older and newer material that also included covers of Sevendust and Portishead tracks. Though I had seen them once before several years ago, they were even better than I remembered, and I hope to see this band from my hometown grow to bigger things.

Finally, a little after 10 p.m., the stars of the show, Kingdom Collapse, came out to rock faces off, and boy, did they deliver. Fronted by Jonathan Norris, they delivered a set that was full of energy and aggression as they played through most of their Unbreakable EP of recent hits such as “Uprise”, “Suffer”, and “Payback”, as well as newer singles “Save Me From Myself” and last Friday’s new release “Break Free”. They closed with arguably their biggest hit so far, “Unbreakable”, which was also the song that introduced me to this lovely group from San Antonio after the song gained some traction on Sirius XM’s Octane and their “Big ‘Uns” countdown last year. Although their set seemed short, likely due to the time of night, they put on a fantastic and energetic show, and I highly recommend seeing them if you have a chance; though they are currently unsigned, I see big things in their future within the hard rock scene, and I can’t wait to watch them continue to grow.