ARCHITECTS bring Terminal 5 to its knees on tour’s final stop
The final stop of Architects’ U.S. tour landed at Terminal 5 in New York City. With two balconies stacked above a jam-packed floor, the three-tiered venue felt less like a concert hall and more like a reunion for Manhattan’s metal crowd.
From the barricade to the swarm of crowdsurfers, familiar faces were everywhere—people I’d seen all year at The Plot In You, Memphis May Fire, and countless other shows. On August 22, it was as if everyone came back for one last gathering before the summer ended.
HOLYWTR
Holywatr came first as the city emptied into the West Side on a Friday night. People traded work clothes for black shirts and boots, and I did the same—button-down swapped for a tee and a hat. This was commanding opener and by the end of the set, the vocalist was being carried across the crowd to close out the set. This was definetly an early signal of how wild the night was going to get.
ERRA
The Alabama metalcore group, ERRA followed with an incredible set. It always strikes me how talented bands like ERRA produce a sound that is both heavy, yet sharp and precise. By the end of their set the venue was full and those familiar faces mentioned earlier were the same ones now being passed over the barricade.
After their set, I tried to reach a friend in the crowd but he was wedged so deep I couldn’t break through. My only option was to fight my way back to the photo pit.
ARCHITECTS
When Architects took the stage, whatever space was left in Terminal 5 disappeared. The pit stopped spinning, and instead bodies started flying—climbing up, jumping off, carried forward one after another over the crowd.
Architects played the kind of set that strips everything else away. You forget about work, about whatever’s waiting for you outside, even about your own body. You’re not separate anymore—you’re just part of the mass. Safe and unsafe in the same moment. Vulnerable and invincible all at once.
And that’s what makes Architects’ music—and the metal scene as a whole—so powerful. It’s a place where you can face the darkest feelings head-on, but never have to face them alone. In that room, surrounded by sweat, sound, and strangers who feel like family, you’re carried through it together. Lifted up, even at your lowest.
Crazy as it may seem, I left the show calm. Spent, but recharged. The kind of night that takes everything out of you and, and somehow you leave with more.
ARCHITECTS SET LIST
Elegy
Whiplash
When We Were Young
Black Lungs
Curse
Deep Fake
Impermanence
Brain Dead
Meteor
Everything Ends
Royal Beggars
Gone With the Wind (snippet)
Doomsday
Black Hole
Seeing Red (encore)
Animals (encore)
