The Tamesis“This year my wife and I have been describing the way we have been describing – it’s just the highest high and the lowest low.” Vic FuentesPierce the Veil, host of San Diego’s post-hardcore group.
After two decades of honing highway work and live performances in dynamics, Fuentes’ band found itself headlined by Madison Square Garden in New York City, a major milestone in a straight road that has never been cut in the tourism industry. Fuentes explained that it was one of those highs, followed by very low lows – Fuente’s agent and longtime friend, Sound Talent Group’s Dave ShapiroAfter attending an MSG show, flew to San Diego in a plane crash. On board with Shapiro is another of another long-time friends of Fuentes Dominic DamianAnd musicians Daniel Williamsvoice talent group employees Emma Huke and Kendall Fortner And photographers Celina Kenyonthey also died in the crash.
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News of Shapiro’s death came as Pierce the Veil had only four shows in the 30s competition in North America. Shapiro has been the band’s agent for 20 years, playing a role from the twisted tour stage to the current arena running.
“We had the most successful, most amazing tours in our careers – breaking a lot of records,” Fuentes said. “And then I lost four best friends at once. That’s too much.”
Despite the shock, the band decided to continue. “That’s what Dave built for us,” Fuentes explained. “It feels like he took us to Madison Square Garden, the pinnacle of all the arenas and said, ‘I’ll bring you here – take it from here.’”
Pierce Veil dedicated the entire world tour to Shapiro and the victims of the crash. Live Nation provides instant support, with grief counselors at every stop. “They want to do everything they can to keep the tour alive and keep the band alive,” Fuentes said.
A few days after the crash, the band returned to the stage and pushed the world tour I couldn’t hear, including stopping at iconic North American venues such as the Redstone Amphitheater in Denver and the Kia Forum in Los Angeles. The first leg of their tour ended in June, providing the band with rest during their European tour in Dublin on September 20, including starting in Dublin, Ireland and at Ovo Arena Wembley in London, Afas in Amsterdam and Arenas and Bilgium in Germany, located in Ovo Arena wembley in London, Germany and Belgium-the band spent several years.
“In the UK, they’re all about stepping stones,” Fuentes said. “Playing one venue, selling it, moving to the next venue. It took 18 years to get here, but now we’re finally bringing our biggest production overseas.”
In preparation for the tour, Pierce the Veil opened for Blink-182 at the 2023 Reunion Tour, where the band performed a stadium including Fenway Park in Boston. “That was one of my favorite trips,” Fuentes said. “It was the perfect time – a blink of an energy revival, we had to play a stadium that most bands would never touch. It was incredible.”
“Catch your way from the dark place”
Most of the tours have been successful The chin of lifePierce the Veil’s 2023 album is on “Fearless Records”. This project is ranked first Billboard’S Top Hard Rock album rankings and delivered multiple singles with unexpected longevity.
“Emergency Contact” was an early prominent figure, and “forged so far” – Fuentes wrote a few years ago with a lifelong friend Curtis people – Virus was started in Tiktok in 2024.
“This song has gone through multiple versions,” Fuentes said. “I always knew it was special, but suddenly it exploded online. You just sat down and watched it happen.”
Viral traction echoes the endurance of “King’s Day” and the band’s 2012 single continues to resurface online with a new generation. “It’s beyond your control,” Fuentes said. “Fans get it new.”
The chin of life It also marks the evolution of style, leaning towards the influence of Alt-Rock and Grunge in the 90s, while still rooted in the back-heart energy that defined the band’s early years.
“We don’t know how the fans will react,” Fuentes admits. “But if we believe in our gut, it always works for us. We just want to create a good record that ultimately leads us further than we think.”
The title and concept of the album reflect the band’s toughness. “It’s about grabbing your own way out from a dark place and going to a better place,” Fuentes said. “It’s the subject of music, artwork, the whole cycle.”
For Fuentes, the headlines to reach the arena were the band’s lap on the Vans Warped Tour. Pierce’s Veil plays multiple summers of the festival, earning reputation in the punk and the back-heart-pole rear tour.
When Warped returned this year, Fuentes had a surprising acoustic performance—this time representing his nonprofit, the Living Dream Foundation. “Twisting is a stepping stone for us,” he said. “That’s how we build a band. I want to show respect and focus on the foundation.”
Fuentes now runs Living The Dream Foundation will attend concerts and festivals for VIP experiences with children and young people fighting life-threatening diseases. “They could meet bands, stand on the stage and have the best day ever,” Fuentes explained.
Pierce the Veil builds the foundation in their tour mode, with each ticket on the North American tour including a $1 donation. “It’s already a part of us,” Furtes said. “We’re going to keep our lives as much as possible.”
As Pierce the Veil prepares to step on the European legs of the tour, Fuentes acknowledges the weight of the past year. The loss of Shapiro and his friends is still fresh, but the band’s forward momentum is growing.
“It’s still surreal,” he said. “Sometimes it’s not even real. But the show, the fans, the music – they give us a reason to keep going.”
Although 2025 tested it in an unimaginable way, Fuentes sees the band’s future as one of resilience, purpose and growth.
“Music saved us,” he said. “Now, it’s still saving us.”
