PRESIDENT | Philadelphia

by madden levin

The band PRESIDENT has taken the world by storm since their mysterious introduction to the world last year. The name PRESIDENT was seen announced to perform at Download Festival 2025, which sparked intense speculation about their unreleased music and their unknown identities. With an EP and now a studio album under their belt, PRESIDENT has been bringing fans in like a moth to a flame. Not only is their entire presence something you can’t look away from, but their releases over the past year have acted as the music that fans have been missing.

The North American Campaign was announced a few months ago, with the band immediately selling out shows across the nation with force. Those who have seen PRESIDENT perform either as an opening act or a festival performance needed to relive that experience and the fan base was only growing stronger and stronger. We were honored to get the chance to review the Philadelphia rally as this was the show to not miss.

If you have seen a PRESIDENT show before, you know that the introduction to their set is always an ominous chant-like recording welcoming on the President to those who have gathered for his rally. As Heist (guitarist), Protest (bassist), and Vice (drummer) all join the stage, fans take a deep breath to await the first chords of one of the strongest songs of their discography: “Fearless.” Opening the show with this song allows for total crowd participation as the President showcases his strong vocals mixed with the complete domination of talent from Heist, Protest, and Vice.

The show continued with a mix of songs from the EP, King of Terrors, and their newly released album, Blood Of Your Empire. In a completely biased perspective, “Rage” is a song performed live that elicits a strong reaction. This song — especially live — is beauty in the truest sense: a melodic mix of meaning, addicting instrumentals, and a seamless progression as the song intensifies. As someone lucky enough to catch PRESIDENT performing alongside Bad Omens earlier this year, I can vouch for the fact that “Rage” will go down as one of PRESIDENT’s most iconic live performances.

As the show carried along, more songs from the newly released debut album were performed. Though the album was released less than two weeks prior to the show, fans were quick to participate in passionately screaming the lyrics alongside their President. Though it took the majority of the show for crowd surfers to come out of the woodworks — assuming due to the oversold nature of the crowd — “Mercy” brought on countless fans into the air. The transition from the song prior — “Conclave” — to the addicting intensity of “Mercy” allowed fans to reach pure adrenaline, not resisting the pull to find themselves floating towards the stage.

As the show concluded with the iconic “In The Name of the Father,” fans found themselves grieving the loss of a truly incredible and life-changing show. As someone who adores when artists interact with the audience during their shows, there was transparently a doubt about PRESIDENT’s ability to captivate an audience without that imperative factor in play. I can speak so sincerely to acknowledge that the carefully planned recordings of speeches and meaningful expressions allowed the show to remain seamless and engaging. If you didn’t get a chance this campaign, you aren’t going to want to miss PRESIDENT’s next go around!