Connector Contributor
Founded in 1994 in Mesa, Ariz., Authority Zero delivers a unique mix of skate punk and reggae, with bits and pieces from their influences such as Bad Religion, Sublime and Pennywise.
After the release of their initial EP, Authority Zero’s first album, “A Passage in Time” was debuted in 2002. The band’s popularity only continued to grow as they released more albums and played more shows, such as Vans Warped Tour.
The band went through many lineup changes over the years, but today Authority Zero is made up of lead singer Jason DeVore, Brandon Landelius on guitar, bassist Mike Spero, and Sean Sellers on drums.
After the release of their most recent album “The Tipping Point” last year, Authority Zero embarked on a North American Tour with The Ataris, Drag the River and Gasoline Heart and I was lucky to catch them on their Massachusetts date at the Brighton Music Hall in Boston. The venue had a very small area where the stage was and offered a very intimate setting.
Opening their set with the fast and catchy song, “No Other Place” off of their newest album, the band showed that they were a force to be reckoned with. DeVore’s stage presence was impressive, and he interacted with the crowd throughout the show by giving up high fives to happy fans and holding out the microphone into the crowd.
The band as a whole was very energetic and flowed together perfectly. The lead guitar and bass guitar complemented each other, Sellers’ drumming came naturally and DeVore’s vocals tied every song together fluidly.
The venue’s atmosphere went from high energy to mellow when DeVore brought out his acoustic guitar and played slower and more reggae songs such as “Struggle” and “Courage”, such showcased the band’s versatility.
The closing song, “Lift One Up” was the band’s best performance of the night. DeVore divided the crowd into two sections and had each section try to outdo each other by seeing which group could scream out the lyrics the loudest. Needless to say, my throat was feeling a bit raw afterwards.
Although I was not familiar with the band prior to going to the show, the amount of passion and energy that the band put into their performance convinced me to give them another listen after the show.
