After a long absence, Chevelle returned to Washington, DC Sunday night, making a stop on their 2025 summer tour at The Anthem. Touring to support their latest album, Bright as Blasphemy, they marked the official end of a long sweltering summer in the nation’s capital, bringing with them Dead Poet Society and Asking Alexandria.
While the DC Jazz Fest livened up the bright outdoor atmosphere of DC’s Wharf Sunday, LA’s Dead Poet Society kicked off the dark rock party indoors. Dead Poet Society (Jack Underkofler, Jack Collins, Dylan Brenner, and Will Goodroad) hyped up the still-gathering crowd with their powerful energy and an off-the-cuff style that has its roots in their early days, when they formed somewhat by accident back in Boston. The set was short but packed a punch. In thirty minutes, the quartet blasted the uninitiated in the crowd with its alt rock sound. Dead Poet Society’s latest album is 2024’s Fission, featuring the charting “Hurt.”
After a quick turnover on stage, Asking Alexandria continued the aural assault on the Anthem’s crowd. An English quartet, Asking Alexandria (the current lineup is James Cassells, Cameron Liddell, Sam Bettley, and Danny Warsnop) made a huge impression on the thickened crowd. The enthusiasm in the room built during the set and came to a head once vocalist Danny Worsnop started encouraging crowd surfing. From the back of The Anthem’s floor, I could watch crowd surfer after crowd surfer float to the stage. A circle pit then touched down like a joyful tornado—it felt like much needed catharsis.
The band then subdued the energy. While the others left the stage, Wornsop played “Someone, Somewhere” on an acoustic guitar as well as the beginning of “Moving On” before being rejoined by his bandmates. Asking Alexandria wrapped up with “The Final Episode (Let’s Change the Channel).” It was an excellent set from the metalcore outfit and succeeded in prepping the crowd for headliner Chevelle. Asking Alexandria’s latest album is 2023’s Where Do We Go from Here?
By the time headliner Chevelle took the stage at 9pm, The Anthem was packed. This was for sure a step up for the band, who last played in Washington, DC way back in 2011. Back then, the venue was a tiny club in NE DC that has since shut down. No matter, because Chevelle (vocalist/guitarist Pete Loeffler, drummer Sam Loeffler, and touring bassist Kemble Walters) wrapped up the night with a roaring set of riff heavy rock music lasting ninety minutes. An impressive showing, it was felt in the Anthem’s upper levels.
Keeping a no-frills stage set up and backed by divided video screens, the trio kicked off with “Family System” from 2002’s Wonder What’s Next. In 2025, Chevelle now has a catalog that spans over two decades; the band was able to treat the audience to a sampling of it all. Wonder What’s Next contributed the most to the set list Sunday night and those older songs did not seem out of place against newer material.
I’ll admit to being unfamiliar with Chevelle prior to covering Sunday night’s show. This is a bit embarrassing; I love riff heavy rock and roll so Chevelle is right up my alley. In any event, it felt good to experience a mature, skilled band like Chevelle live—these men make loud, heavy, cool sounding music with lyrics that tackle equally heavy topics like government and religion. “Jim Jones,” from the new album and in the set, is case in point.
Chevelle’s tour meanders through the US through September and wraps up at the Aftershock Festival in Sacramento, CA on October 4. If you’re an established fan or if Chevelle is new to you, check out a show when they come to your area. You may find yourself like me and adding their albums to your personal library.
ASKING ALEXANDRIA
DEAD POET SOCIETY
