[avatar =”James” size=”50″ align=”left” /]
year. I’ve got a soft spot for them, as I was quite a big fan of them when I was younger and as a result I normally try to watch them when play near me. When the date in Kilmarnock was announced, I almost thought it was an early April Fools joke. But alas, it was not a joke and so a trip to Kilmarnock was required…
Due to some last minute changes in my schedule, I sadly missed ¾ of As Lions set. Having seen them open for Wovenwar last year, I knew what I was expecting from them for the songs that I managed to watch. Grooving guitars and drums and the vocals of Austin Dickinson make for an interesting but enjoyable package. I’m just sad I missed most of their set as I quite enjoyed them last time. Here’s hoping that long-awaited EP lands soon and they play a couple of shows in of that. (8/10)
Up next on the rather high stage at the Grand Hall, were melodic metallers Savage Messiah. Having seen them open for Amon Amarth last year, I had high hopes for them as I rather enjoyed them then. I’m sad to say that I was not impressed with them. The set was rather lackluster with most of their thrashier songs swapped for more melodic outings to seemingly ‘appease’ the crowd. After about 4 songs, I had to leave the room as I was just so disappointed and the room was far too hot. Some advice to you guys, the Glasgow crowd was expecting your thrashier numbers and as a result you left a number of folk disappointed. Next time, just play your thrash stuff. (6/10)
It was then time for the headliners of the night to take to the stage. Having spoken with Corey before the show, I knew that the setlist was going to be a little different from normal as they were throwing in a few older tracks and also a track that had not been played at the other gigs. He, however, did not tell me which song it was that they slipped in so I was left guessing which one it was.
Coming on-stage to the now common “Snøfall” into “Silence in the Snow” the band exploded on stage to a thunderous roar from the now packed Grand Hall. Following suit with “Into the Mouth of Hell”, the band kept the energy going from song to song and got the crowd suitably fired up. There were crowd-surfers galore and multiple mosh-pits with Matt exclaiming at a few points: “Holy shit you guys are insane!”.
It was after one of the songs with lots of crowd-surfers that Matt noticed that two fans at the front had been slightly injured by the feet of the before-mentioned crwodsurfers. He then did something I’d never seen before at a show, he asked if they would like to watch from the side of the stage. Naturally, they said yes and spent the rest of the evening watching from the side of venue. And they couldn’t stop smiling. Nice one guys, you made their night by doing that.
Continuing on with classics from their earlier albums such as: “Rain” and “Anthem (We Are The Fire)”, the band continued on their mission to see if the crowd would be the best on the tour. Naturally of course, the Scottish crowd obliged by getting even louder and crazier. This was evidenced most when the aforementioned mystery track was revealed to be “Watch the World Burn”. This sadly replaced one of my favourite tracks, “Kirisute Gomen”, but it was nice to get to hear it live.
During ‘Until the World Goes Cold” (I think), Matt noticed that someone in the crowd was looking as though they might out. Signaling the band to stop, he then called out to the person to see if they were ok. Thankfully they were and as a result they continued on from exactly where they stopped. This is why Trivium are one of the best bands in the business. Not only do they deliver a good show, they also look out for their fans and make sure that they are ok. It’s for that reason that I can safely state that they are one of the new heavyweights of metal and are leading it along the right path.
Culminating the set with a guest appearance of Austin from As Lions doing vocals on “Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr” and “In Waves”, the band delivered a superb performance which seemed 300 times better than when I saw them at Bloodstock. Honestly, if Trivium are playing near you, you need to make the effort to go and see them. You will not be disappointed as they really do deliver the goods in their live shows. (20/10)
