Chiodos @ The Trocadero.

Text and images by Rick Kauffman.

It was like 2005 all over again Saturday night at the Trocadero. A reunion of sorts, a new union in other regards, Chiodos made their triumphant return to Philadelphia to a packed house in Chinatown.

With a new lead guitarist in place, Thomas Erak, best known for his work leading the group The Fall of Troy, Chiodos has reformed with the return of lead singer Craig Owens and embarked on a full US and European tour in support of their newest album Devil.

For many in attendance, it was like a reformation of two of their favorite acts during the peak of the post-hardcore phase of the mid-2000s. In September 2005, Chiodos and The Fall of Troy had toured together and made a stop at the Newman Center in Drexel University. Now, nine years later, key leading members of those two acts now have a joint venture to call their own.

Erak and The Fall of Troy called it quits in 2010 after eight years as band, releasing four full-length albums and touring around the globe, including headlining acts at the New Jersey Bamboozle Festival and across the continental United States in the Warped Tour.

His interim band, Just Like Vinyl, consisting of a group of gentlemen from outside Seattle, Washington, released two albums and too toured the nation before Erak was invited to join Chiodos.

Chiodos themselves experience some turmoil after the success of their album All’s Well That End’s Well, releasing fan-favorite singer Craig Owens in 2009. With new singer Brandon Bolmer in place, Chiodos released their third album Illuminaudio in 2010, but by 2012 it was announced that Bolmer had departed and Owens had rejoined the group. Soon thereafter the band’s founding guitarist Jason Hale left the band and Erak was invited to join on tour and later on a full-time basis.

“I am so fucking happy to back in Philadelphia playing for you tonight,” Owens said to the crowd at the Troc. “We always expect the crowd to be crazy here in Philly, but you guys are taking it to another level.”

When Owens asked the crowd if any of them were fans of the band in their early days, he was responded to with great applause.

Chiodos played a number of songs spanning their discography, save for the Illuminaudio-era, and heavily focused on leading with the new tracks — like ‘Ole Fishlips is Dead Now’ — written by Erak and co., but livening up the crowd with old favorites from All’s Well.

Erak has been a busy man as of late, between hopping on tour with Chiodos and writing a new album, he also held a number of reunion shows with The Fall of Troy down in Austin earlier this year. After finishing the US tour and a European Tour with Chiodos, Erak said he plans to return to Seattle and sit down with the founding members Tim Ward and Andrew Forsman to started writing material for what should shape up to be their fifth full-length.

“It’s been a pretty crazy ride,” Erak said. “But I’m loving every second of it.”