Power Up
Killswitch Engage take the stage to a mellow intro and a rapturous crowd reaction, vocalist Howard sports a wide grin as he surveys the crowd and the band waste no time in giving the crowd what they came for.
Although reduced to a four piece (due to Adam's persisting back trouble) KSE lose none of their power, they blend raw aggression with melody and it all works exceedingly well. An instant circle pit ensues amongst the crowd and Howard encourages them as he careers and bounces across the stage throughout. There is an almighty roar from the crowd as Bert of The Used joins them on stage for the second song, the energy was already there but the arrival of Bert threatens to tip it over the edge. KSE have an awesome destructive power live, it's akin to a tank ploughing through a crowd of civilians at breakneck speed! At times it's brutal as Joel delivers a barrage of metal riffs and hooks but this is tempered by Howard's injection of melody in the choruses.
Before their final song Howard calls for more crowd movement and he isn't disappointed as the pit goes crazy and a succession of crowd surfers launch themselves over the security barrier. They finish with a blistering intensity, which culminates in Howard flinging his mic stand across the stage. A solid and impressive performance from KSE, they've taken elements of classic metal, speeded it all up and thrown in some new ingredients for good measure and it works! Good stuff.