One Step Closer’s Bottleneck gig eviscerated a post-graduation lull with a wall of hardcore tone

May 23, 2025

Nick Spacek,

One Step Closer. // photo by Nick Spacek

One Step Closer
with Bleed, Ends of Sanity, and Footballhead
The Bottleneck
Wednesday, May 21

The best part of this whole music journalist gig is getting emails and deciding that, since your Wednesday evening is free, you’ll check out a quadruple bill of bands with which you’re mostly unfamiliar because it sounds like a fun time. If your email uses phrasing like “gauzy distortion balancing tension and atmosphere” to describe a band, and I’m out the door and headed downtown to see what’s up.

Graduation having taken place just a few days prior, and the attendant exodus which concurrently occurs might’ve made this mid-week show a little more lightly attended than had it happened a couple weeks before—to say nothing of there being something like half a dozen other great shows happening the same night. A choice between this and Laura Jane Grace just a few blocks away likely split the crowd a bit, but those in attendance at the Bottleneck were hyped.

One Step Closer. // photo by Nick Spacek

Pennsylvania melodic hardcore band One Step Closer were the headliner for Wednesday’s show and took to the stage after what felt like a lengthy period of set up which saw much of the audience split. Following Bleed’s performance before them left the band with a tough act to follow, but despite the reduced audience, One Step Closer came out swinging. Their energy levels were off the charts, and the five-piece played like the Bottleneck was packed to the gills. Focusing in on last year’s Run for Cover release, All You Embrace, One Step Closer melded melodicism with punk punch, yielding a set which got the crowd moving and sweating.

Bleed. // photo by Nick Spacek

Dallas’ Bleed’s self-titled debut album had dropped just weeks prior to their stop in Lawrence, and their mix of hardcore and shoegaze was one of the things which got me off the couch and out to Wednesday’s show. I was beyond curious as to which way the band’s live set would lean, and I was delighted to discover Bleed’s live show was like the first time I ever heard Snapcase or Deftones. Just big ol’ riffs and melodic vocals with a hint of bounce behind everything. You can absolutely nod your head to every song from this band, and the crowd certainly did so at every given opportunity.

While Ryan Hughes’ voice might be a trifle more nasal in live performance than on record (although he admittedly had a bit of a head cold), it helped to cut through the hefty wall of he and his bandmates conjured on stage and, frankly, I could live in their guitar tone for weeks, so that’s saying something.

Ends of Sanity. // photo by Nick Spacek

Ends of Sanity frontman James Aloisio referred to the band as “EOS 2.0,” thanks to a completely rearranged lineup which led to the band playing maybe 20 minutes, thanks to a guitarist having to head home and a drummer switching instruments. Their breakdown-heavy hardcore was energetic despite lasting less time than the duration of your average sitcom and the various fill-in folks made it seem as though nothing was awry. Had it not been mentioned, I likely never would’ve noticed, but the acknowledgement of things being a little off was appreciated.

Footballhead. // photo by Nick Spacek

Chicago’s Footballhead opened the show at 7pm sharp and while the crowd was smallish, they received the band’s blend of pop punk, post-hardcore, and ’90s alt-rock positively. While every band on the bill sounded like my youthful listening put into a blender and set on nostalgia frappe, Footballhead did an admirable job of playing a set of tunes which hewed to the three-minute rule for pop songs, always leaving you wanting just a little more from their dual-vocaled, three guitar attack. Their “Before I Die” is definitely finding its way onto a playlist or two.

All photos by Nick Spacek

One Step Closer