Great, Non-Mainstream Live Bands to See After Pandemic – Pt. 3: Fever 333

Written by Zack Hargrove.

Genre: rapcore, hardcore punk.

Audience that will appreciate their show: jumpers, mosh-pitters, people who want the element of unpredictability at the concert.

If you are too much of a fan of heavy music and hyperactive performances, you won’t have to wait for too long to see Fever 333 when bands will start to play live again.

This group from Inglewood was formed in 2017 and started to get success and popularity right away. It consists of members of established hardcore bands, featuring vocalist Jason Aalon Butler (ex-letlive.), guitarist Stephen Harrison (ex-The Chariot) and Aric Improta (Night Verses).

They performed their debut on 4th of July at Randy’s Donuts in Inglewood, California. In almost 4 years of their bluster in the musical industry, fevers released 2 full-length albums and had almost 200 shows around the world. Yet, they are so excited to play live, that on May 16th they are going to play on the Minecraft festival inside of an online game (initially, the concert was scheduled for April 25, but due to server overload it was postponed).

In spite of not being a mainstream, Fever 333 remains one of the loudest representatives of a modern political rock. As for the political views of the vocalist, in his interview to Csindy magazine Jason described himself as “a more or less left-leaning person.” Thus, the level of the band’s expressionism and physical intensity perfectly fits into the subject matter of their songs. Which for the most part revolves around politics and social-cultural issues. And since every member is very dynamic, as a group they are going a lot further, louder and heavier than many of other great and non-statue standing bands.

Stephen Harrison plays wireless guitar. So, it makes him as mobile as pretty much anyone. He will run, climb and jump over the obstacles while playing at any day of the week. One of the details that makes Fever 333 different is the amount of distinct habits of their rhythm section musician. These are live routines of their unforgettable drummer Aric Improta:

· pull-ups
· backflips
· headstand
· standing on drum-throne
· playing while standing on drum kit
· jumping (probably the only jumping drummer out there)
· not losing tempo if someone crashes into his drums and cymbals
· even drummer can run away from his kit and starts doing weird shit

What makes it more difficult and even more unusual is the fact that he has a Baywatch lifeguard body type. And yet he performs each of the aforementioned stunts regularly and successfully (which is not common for someone who is built like Ryan Reynolds).

And of course, their lead-singer is also extremely active and restless. A lot of his tricks were performed when he played with Letlive. However, his project Fever 333 hasn’t slowed down his performing tempo significantly. These are the most notable actions in his live arsenal:

· wall flips
· front flips
· throwing trash cans
· walking through crowd
· crashing into the drum kit
· using speakers as springboards
· jumping with his back into the fence
· dragging drummers stand while he was playing
· carrying a crowd surfing fan in his arms to his stage
· letting his friend make a proposal during the intermission

The best thing about it – he doesn’t let these factors mess up his vocals. Which include singing, rapping, beat-boxing and screaming. And to those who may question whether he is sober, the answer is yes. When he was asked by Rock Sound about the worst hangover he had on festival, Jason simply replied “I never drank in my life.”

Things they do as a band regularly includes:

· Climbing
· Carpet tossing
· Crowd interacting
· Doing something unpredictable

Needless to say, they have a tremendous crew of roadies, who aside from providing them equipment settings, also help them out with little things like holding speakers (if someone uses them not on purpose), carrying a mic cord (if Jason is in or above the crowd) and whatever they may need. Fever do leave a big mess on stage where they perform, but they also will give you some unforgettable concert if you happen to see them live.

When you play like that every time you do a solo show or a festival, you are certainly going to be noticed and appreciated by other notable musical acts. In particular, Randy Blythe (the vocalist of Lamb of God) made some impressive remarks about their ability to deliver unusual, wild and great show. The veteran stated the following on his Instagram page:

…I watched one song and immediately got my camera. These dudes were straight WILDING OUT. Normally, you watch a dynamic live act, even the most energetic hardcore band, & you think “They have a lot of energy, & the front man is insane.” With Fever 333, all three of them were GOING THE FUCK OFF. The goddamn DRUMMER was jumping off shit in between songs. The stage carpet got ripped up, their singer dumped a huge trashcan over his head (there was garbage everywhere), the guitar player was going nuts jumping over shit, the drummer somehow found a giant piece of plastic sidestage and was flying through the air looking like he was in Dragon Ball Z or some shit- it was ILL. I had never heard a single note of their music before & I was getting so pumped up I literally had to restrain myself from running onstage & starting to fuck shit up with them, haha. For me, that’s the sign of a good band- they make me lose my mind from the start. Just incredible energy, & it made me pumped up to go play later myself. I had a really nice talk with them after the show-SUPER cool dudes..

A standup comedian Joey Diaz once made a great point about musical comparison of two legendary bands: “Guns’n’Roses was Aerosmith on steroids.” The same way it would be fair to compare Fever 333 to Rage Against The Machine. Because each of them is so spectacular that you literally have to make a conscious decision where to look (which in theory is exactly what a show should look like).

In spite the fact that for right now musically and historically Fever haven’t reached the same highs as R.A.T.M. they do have a very distinct feature that is not common for 95% of all modern artists – the element of thrilling unpredictability. Because even if you are aware of their reputation and even if you already experienced it at their show – you will always keep in mind that you can expect from them anything.

If you want to visit their concert this week – make sure to register at the official websites of minecraftfestival,com beforehand. These maniacs haven’t played for a long time, so the show most likely will be very intense.

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