Crown the Empire at The Orpheum in Tampa on July 9, 2023

Photos and Review by: Joanna Foster
Lineup: Nevertel, Left to Suffer, Crown the Empire
Venue: The Orpheum, Tampa, FL
Date: July 9, 2023

Crown the Empire played to a very full house of excited fans at The Orpheum in Tampa, Florida on July 9th, 2023. The band recently released a new album, Dogma and are spending July doing a headlining tour in the US.

The audience showed up excited and early with a line wrapped around the building and halfway down the main street almost an hour before doors opened. Nevertel and Left To Suffer opened the night, Left to Suffer replaced Varials for a few tour dates, but the crowd was fully invested in spite of the lineup change. Both opening bands kept the audience hyped up and moving throughout their sets, and there was an easy and magnetic stage presence from both lead singers.

By the time Crown the Empire took the stage, the venue was completely full, and the audience pushed up against the stage in anticipation. The band opened the night with the title track from their new album, and continued playing selections from Dogma as well as a few other tracks from their earlier catalog. Lead singer, Andrew Rockhold, was full of charisma, constantly engaging the audience and catching crowd surfers throughout the night. This is a hardcore show that brings hardcore fun for new or long-time fans, and I highly recommend catching them live before their summer tour ends! Tickets for shows through July 21st and Blue Ridge Rock Fest in September are available here.