After supporting several tours earlier this year, Like Moths to Flames come through Pomona, CA and absolutely tear up The Glass House Friday night on their headlining North American Fall Tour. Accompanied by metalcore crushers, Kingdom of Giants, Acres and Heavensgate, the killer lineup becomes a memorable night for the Southern Californian metalcore scene and hopefully likewise for the artists. Perhaps the heaviest of the night, Heavensgate rips through The Glass House like a storm leaving people stunned and ready for more. Every person I spoke to later in the night made a point to mention how impressed they were by this band and to keep an eye out for their next move.
Hailing from the UK, Acres comes on next and continues to crush, followed by California’s own Kingdom of Giants. Lead singer, Dana Willax, wastes no time in getting the crowd engaged and surfing. Even without security in the pit, Dana commands the crowd to waterfall up to the stage as he himself catches each person and sees through to everyone’s safety.
After a sturdy break between sets and a lovely crowd-sung rendition of “Barbie Girl,” Like Moths to Flames take the stage and the crowd is immediately spinning a pit and surfing over the barricade. The set opens with “Habitual Decline” from their 2020 album, No Eternity In Gold, then jumps into “Over The Garden Wall,” one of their most-played tracks from their most recent 2024 album, The Cycles of Trying to Cope.
Lights are flashing and strobing, jumping from flooded monochromes to kaleidoscopic arrays, with the use of on-stage light towers that act as high beams to the crowd, and stage lights dancing in different rhythms. The lighting changes just as quickly and effervescently as frontman, Chris Roetter, changes direction and motion on stage. Bringing forth so much energy, Chris travels to all far ends of the stage, is high on platforms, is jumping, is singing to the furthest person in the back of the crowd, is singing directly down to the front row. Guitarists Cody Cavanaugh and Zach Pishney throw down the riffs that absolutely decimate the pit and keep things spinning. Drummer, Roman Garcia, in the back crushing beats.
The set rolls through several tracks from their newest 2024 album including my personal favorites, “Angels Weep” and “What Do We See When We Leave This Place?” as well as their most recent 2025 single, “Salting the Earth” which came out just one week before the show. This track has garnered a lot of attention and rightfully so. Hearing Chris’ brutal screams at the breakdown was a true treat, and seeing the pit contort into full-blown chaos was delightful.
The set also included multiple songs from their 2017 and 2020 albums, such as “Nowhere Left to Sink,” “Even God Has a Hell,” “The Anatomy of Evil,” and “Burn in Water, Drown in Flame.” Like Moths to Flames has made sure to take it back to earlier times hailing us with some fan favorites from their 2015, 2013, and 2011 releases, including, “Bury Your Pain,” “I Solemnly Swear,” “My Own Personal Hell,” and came back with an absolutely diabolical encore of “You Won’t Be Missed.”
Chris told the crowd to pick one song for the encore and that he had to get back to tend to a kitten he found, and gave the crowd the choice between “GNF” and “You Won’t Be Missed.” The crowd sounded almost equally split between the two and Chris went with the latter. Always genuine, always human, Chris’ ability to get real with fans has always been a huge part of the draw to this band that has shifted with members over the years. This current configuration and sound is definitely something to be followed and praised and I can’t wait to see what comes next for the moths.
Their headlining tour continues throughout November so if you have a chance to check them out, make sure you do! They will be coming through the south, the east coast and Canada, hitting major cities such as Orlando, Atlanta, New York, Boston and Toronto. Don’t miss out.
GALLERY: Like Moths To Flames at The Glass House in Pomona, California (November 7, 2025)
