FEVER 333 LIVE!! | KNOTT FEST IN RALEIGH
We covered the band Fever 333 in Raleigh during their Knott Fest tour stop. I honestly can’t describe their performance because it was, for lack of a better word, strange. Lead singer Jason Aalon Butler was all over the place and ran around the stage like an energized bunny on overcharge, which is not bad but what followed took away from their music and turned their performance into an absurd mess. At one point Jason (lead singer) even picked up a rolling stage riser and put it on his back. See the picture below.
He also took two of the monitors from the front of the stage and placed one on top of the other so he could stand on them and scream. If that was not enough he had his tour photographer sit in-between two of the stage risers he balanced on speakers so he could run up them and jump over his head. I honestly almost turned away in anticipation of a serious disaster happening but luckily nothing bad happened, but in all honesty this stunt showed lack of brain power because the risers could of fallen and crushed the photographer. Did Jason even think about the photographers safety or how bad that could of turned out? Guitarist Stephen Harrison was just as intense and energized as he ran around the stage swinging his guitar around his neck while also throwing it up in the air and catching it. The absolute craziness of there stage performance took away from their music and I could see music fans tilting their heads in disbelief wondering to themselves, “what the hell are they doing”. It was ridiculous, overdone and boring, whatever they were trying to do with this over exaggerated mess of a stage performance took away from the great music that they make. Jason sounded bad and out of breath the entire show because he was to busy running around the entire stage picking up speakers instead of actually trying to sing and perform. A lot of people pay good money to see these bands perform. With sparing and limited moments of actual clarity their overall performance was a huge disappointment. It was sad to see a band as established and talented as Fever 333 attempt to cover up a bad performance by tossing speakers and microphones around thinking that is entertaining. Fever 333 is a great band with songs that really speak to people and give people a voice. The band needs to focus more on delivering a great energetic performances but without all the circus style attention seeking stage antics. This was one of the worst shows of the year.
Side note, I do want to mention I saw them at the Blue Ridge Rock Festival and during that show they sounded great. They were energized, engaging and fun to watch. So I know they can put on a great performance while still singing and sounding great. Lets hope that this Raleigh show was just a fluke for them and does not become a regular occurrence on every tour stop.
~Lead editor and photographer Chris Sturk