Catch Your Breath, Archers, The Funeral Portrait, If Not For Me

Beer City Music Hall, Oklahoma City, OK

February 14, 2025

Review and Gallery by: Ally Arens

Texas-based hard rockers Catch Your Breath are only continuing the momentous rise in popularity kick-started by their 2022 viral single “Dial Tone”, embarking on their first ever headlining tour across the United States. Dubbed the Broken Souls tour, this run is seeing the rockers playing new and re-visited cities alike across the United States, accompanied by their Thriller Records label-mates If Not For Me, fellow breakout artist The Funeral Portrait, and melodic hardcore heavyweights Archers on all dates. The Encore Nights had the absolute pleasure of spending our Valentine’s Day witnessing a room full of love and devotion as the tour passed through Oklahoma City’s Beer City Music Hall for a sold-out night of hard rock.

First to take the stage were If Not For Me, hailing from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Though this was the band’s first time performing in OKC, they got the crowd adequately hyped up with such catchy bangers as “Say It To My Face”, “Demons”, and “Feel Me Now”, with headbanging and crowd-surfing a-plenty, setting the scene for a raucous night to come.

Next up was another band that has been seeing a meteoric rise in the rock world due to the likes of Sirius XM Octane and social media – Atlanta gothic rockers The Funeral Portrait. Fronted by the ever-so-charismatic, lime green-haired Lee Jennings, the band blends theatricality with meaningful lyrics that hit especially hard to those who’ve ever struggled with their mental health (see – “Dark Thoughts”). They kept the crowd hyped up as they played through their 9-song set of selections from their latest album Greetings From Suffocate City, opening with “Generation Psycho”, before going into tracks such as “Blood Mother” and “Hearse for Two” – the latter of which was recently released as a duet with Lilith Czar. Before we knew it, their time was over as they closed with their hit “Suffocate City.” All three openers were phenomenal, with TFP getting my vote as “most likely to be the next ones headlining this room in the future”.

The final opener of the night was Archers, a Wisconsin-based rock band founded by guitarist Ben Koehler and vocalist Nathanael Pulley that effortlessly blends gut-punching lyrics and soaring vocals with heavy riffs. Though they were the band I was the least familiar with upon the tour’s announcement back in November, they’ve quickly finessed their way into my frequent listens with tracks such as “Perfect Strangers”, “Say This Sober”, “Bitter”, and “Never Enough”, the latter of whom has recently seen airplay on Octane as well. Like the evening’s predecessors, Archers had a kickass stage presence and are not to be missed.

Just before Catch Your Breath would take the stage around 9 p.m., the packed venue engaged in a vibrant sing-along to Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5”; as the song concluded, the crowd roared as vocalist Josh Mowery took the stage, followed by guitarists Teddy Herrera and Cianan Madigan and drummer Onell Hernandez, launching into “Ghost Inside the Shell”. Though the band is based in Texas, this show was extra special for the band, as Josh grew up in Oklahoma, making it an honorary hometown show – complete with many extended family members in attendance. The energy was immaculate from start to finish, both on stage and in the crowd- not an easy feat considering Teddy suffered a hand injury right before the tour started a week prior, Cianan injured his shoulder a couple of nights prior, and Josh had missed the previous show in Arizona due to illness. The show must go on, though, and not only did it go on – it WENT OFF! Standout songs in the setlist included throwback single “Criminal”, “21 Gun Salute”, “Good in Goodbye”, “Dial Tone”, and encore “Y.S.K.W. (You Should Know Why)”. I’d had the pleasure of seeing Catch Your Breath live once before as they opened up a local radio festival back in 2023, not long after “Dial Tone” began gaining traction, but there’s nothing quite like a packed club on a Friday night to feel the pure energy this band exudes. 

The Broken Souls tour continues on February 17 in Houston, TX before continuing to the East coast, heading up to Canada, and looping back West to conclude on March 8 in Salt Lake City, UT. Multiple dates have been selling out or are close, so head over to their website to grab tickets to a show near you sooner rather than later.