The outdoor shows in Florida continue to get better and better with the fall season officially underway. The Orpheum in Tampa has hosted plenty of sold-out shows on its outdoor stage in the past, but none that have felt as suffocatingly claustrophobic as when PeelingFlesh came to town.
Along for the ride were Grounds for Assault, Two Piece, Final Resting Place, and Gridiron, a nice mix of hardcore, slam, and death metal. Regardless of who was on stage, the crowd came rearing to go, ready to cause some mayhem.
GROUNDS FOR ASSAULT
First up, with the sun still shining, was California beatdown three-piece Grounds for Assault. Two things stood out to me during their set: the first being the drummer handling vocal duties, which, for a hardcore band, felt pretty unique. The second thing I noticed was that even though a lot of people were not at the venue yet (or stuck in the ridiculously long merch line), the moshers still came out in full force.
These guys were a lot of fun. Their music was super heavy and brutal, but it had that little west coast, hip hop flair. A super fun band to kick things off and get the moshers warmed up.
TWO-PIECE
Next up were the homegrown Florida hardcore two-piece (performing as a four-piece), Two-Piece. These guys really got the crowd moving from side to side with their beatdown riffs straight from the depths of the Florida swamps. It was around this time that I realized the venue was extremely packed and full of people moshing. The crowd was having a blast, and Two-Piece were here to take it up another notch, representing their home state and riling up the Tampa crowd.
The only detraction from their set was that whatever amp the guitarist was playing out of was perhaps the worst-sounding guitar tone I’ve ever heard. The low-end coming out of the bass was so loud that it almost covered up the guitar entirely, which, to be fair, did not detract from the relentless moshing the entire set, but it was just one of those things that detracted from their otherwise solid performance.
FINAL RESTING PLACE
The middle card of the night went to the parachute pant-wearin’, brutal beatdown-slammin’, inhale-vocal spittin’ outfit known as Final Resting Place, a relatively new name in the scene, but one that is on the rise. They came out of the gate and just ripped for their entire set. The crowd had already proved that it was ready to tear the foundation of the building up, but they took it to another level.
Bodies were flying, hats went flying off, barricades were getting pushed around. Final Resting Place continued to bring the brutality throughout their set and kept the energy of the crowd up throughout.
GRIDIRON
The penultimate set belonged to none other than Gridiron, a band that seems just as at home in 2026 as they would be in 1999. They came out with the perfect mix of hip-hop flow and lyricism and old school hardcore attitude, which made for a perfect direct opener for the headliners. They kept the energy up and had the most interaction with the crowd, constantly calling for them to move up and crowd surf.
As someone who was a rebellious teen during the first wave of Ozzfest rap-infused nu-metal, it’s kind of incredible seeing it back under much different circumstances now 25 years later. Gridiron absolutely crushed, and judging by the crowd response, they’re destined to keep crushing for a long time to come.
PEELINGFLESH
Finally, OKC’s own PeelingFlesh came out to end the night. I saw them around this time last year during their viral ascent into the public eye, and even though they were opening for Lorna Shore, I was still most excited to see them play. From the crowd reception they got, it was clear there was absolutely no ceiling for these guys. Now, 12 months later, with a new album a month away, PeelingFlesh were here to prove they are just getting started.
From the very first sound clip, urging the crowd to ‘crash the fuck out’, the band did not take its foot off the gas for a single second. In fact, it was almost impossible to tell when the first three songs were over and when we were supposed to vacate the photo pit. It was just an absolute wall-to-wall cascade of sub-bass drops, snare bombs, and hysterical samples.
Eventually, I left the safety of the photo pit to venture out into the Thunderdome with the moshers and crowd killers. Seeing these guys perform from the safety of the barricade is one thing, but getting up close to the action is truly where this band is best experienced. They have been really leading the charge of getting slam back into the mainstream with their ridiculously heavy breakdowns, headbanging grooves, and hip-hop-infused samples. They have fully embraced that ‘low-IQ’ label that metal purists have thrown about when it comes to slam, and they couldn’t care less about what they have to say. They’re writing heavy-ass riffs that are fun to play and even more fun to bang your head to.
As slow and simplistic as the riffs sometimes are, it is really noteworthy how good and effortless drummer Joe Pelletier makes it all seem. He is absolutely robotic behind the kit, spinner rim kick drum and all, and makes sure not a single beat is out of place. Their live sound is also extremely good, with the sub-bass drops and occasional snare bombs that break through the noise and, if this weren’t an outdoor venue, would have blown that roof smoove off.
Vocalist Damonteal Harris had an infectious energy about him the entire set, where it’s impossible not to have fun watching a guy love what he does. You can just tell he’s having an absolute blast on stage the entire time.
The set flew by, with song after song unleashing more and more of the crowd into the pit. The band ended their set with crowd favorite ‘F.F.W.A.S’, the ‘singalong’ part seeing Harris jump onto the barricade with the crowd urging them to scream along. I got into the action for a bit before being absolutely dogpiled, and smartly took myself and my camera gear to safety. After their last song, guitarist Mychal Soto grabbed the mic to thank the fans and gave a long speech about sobriety, and urged fans to reach out regarding mental health if they were going through tough times. His speech hit home with a lot of fans cheering his message. He kept repeating that slam was never supposed to get this big, and his band (along with himself) never should have been here, and he doesn’t take any of this lightly. It’s really hard not to cheer for these guys, they really are just a group of guys playing by their own set of rules and absolutely killing it.
It’s really hard to predict what the future holds for PeelingFlesh. They have been selling out these huge rooms, have a new record about to drop, and are riding viral show clips into superstardom. The ceiling really seems to be nonexistent for these guys. Can slam really ride its way into the mainstream? If it can, PeelingFlesh will absolutely be the ones at the helm.