Bringing the start of their newest lineup to Jacobs Pavilion, Killswitch Engage and Machine Head brought friends Rivers of Nihil and Judiciary with them to open up the show.
Judiciary started off the show right, with a high-energy set and explosive presence that made sure all eyes were on them. Judiciary really set the tone for what the night was going to look like. Unfortunately, I could not find the setlist for them on this tour.
Rivers of Nihil were up next, bringing new energy to the stage as a death metal band with a saxophone, which is a first for me. Performing five songs, the band mostly showcased songs off their newest, self-titled album. Starting out their set with “The Sub-Orbital Blues, before heading into the last single released for the latest album before its release, “American Dream.” Continuing through their set, the band played “Water&Time” and “House of Light” before closing out the set with “Where Owls Know My Name” from the album with the same name.
The legendary Machine Head came out next, playing through an eight-song set; the band really knew how to get the crowd amped up. Starting off with “Imperium,” “CHØKE ØN THE ASHES ØF YØUR HATE“, and “Slaughter The Martyr,” Machine Head certainly had grab ahold of the crowds attention. Keeping the pace going, the band ripped into songs like “Locust” and “Is There Anybody Out There” before ending the set with crowd favorite “Davidian.”
The time had finally arrived for the headlining act to take the stage. As the lights dimmed, the members of Killswitch Engage began rushing out onto the stage, taking to their spots, before letting the first few chords of “Fixation On The Darkness” ring out over the anticipating crowd. Giving no time to let the audience recover from the first song, the band immediately launched into “This Is Absolution” and “The End of Heartache.” Taking a second to talk to the crowd, Jesse Leach introduced the next song to be “Aftermath” and also dedicated it to Andy Williams of Every Time I Die, who recently passed. Heading further into the set for the night, the band played songs such as “In Due Time,” “Unleashed,” “The Signal Fire,” and “Daylight Dies,” just to name a few. To close out such a spectacular night, Killswitch Engage ended the night with “This Fire,” “My Curse,” and, of course, “My Last Serenade.”
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