This Fire Burns, Always: Killswitch Engage at Hard Rock Live in Orlando
As a Florida resident, you hear a lot of broad generalizations about what it’s like to live in the Sunshine State.
Do I frequently have to avoid retirees and alligators on my way to Publix to get myself a hurricane cake? Not often. Am I spending most of my salary on Disney Annual Passes? Not a chance. Have I walked through Universal Studios on my way to a Killswitch Engage concert? I have now.
Killswitch Engage brought their US & Canadian headlining tour to Hard Rock Live in Orlando on a sweltering (yet sporadically rainy) Tuesday evening, along with tourmates Havok, Iron Reagan, and Machine Head. The venue was absolutely packed front to back, along with the entire balcony filled with rambunctious concert-goers.
HAVOK
Opening the night was Denver’s own Havok. This was my first time hearing the band, and within the first 30 seconds, I was completely hooked. They’ve got that classic American thrash metal sound, and they absolutely ripped. They played the part of the opener amazingly, because they came, played a handful of songs, kicked some ass, and left without overstaying their welcome. The venue was pretty packed by the time they wrapped their set, and they got a huge reception from the crowd.
IRON REAGAN
Keeping the thrash energy alive was Iron Reagan, the supergroup made up of members from various legendary bands such as Municipal Waste, Cannibal Corpse, and Darkest Hour. These guys are recently back and touring again, just releasing their first new music since 2019 with their new EP “Demonitization”, out now on Relapse Records.
Their set started a little bumpy, with vocalist Tony Foresta’s mic having technical issues that didn’t get sorted out until most of the way through the first song. Once the technical bugs were settled, the guys played an absolutely killer set. Foresta was funny throughout the show, talking about how he almost got stranded at the Margaritaville in Universal CityWalk when it started to downpour before the show. Foresta was also the first to point out a handful of ‘banana guys’ in the pit and encouraged the crowd that everyone is welcome at an Iron Reagan show, referencing recent drama surrounding another band and their behavior regarding pit etiquette and ‘fitting in’. He was so encouraging that, in fact, he told those in the pit to go make some new friends and drag them into the pit with them, to which the crowd happily obliged.
The band played a great mix of classic tracks and peppered in some new material, eventually ending their set with “Miserable Failure”. They somehow managed to blast through 15 songs in around 30 minutes, which turns out to be pretty easy when most of your songs are under 2 minutes long. They were great and kept the crowd moving.
MACHINE HEAD
Next up was the juggernaut that is Machine Head. They’ve been crushing it since the early 90’s alongside other fellow new-wave American heavy metal bands like Biohazard and Pantera, seeing out an end to the popularity of grunge and making metal heavy again. With any band that’s been around this long, you expect a level of showmanship and production that can’t be matched, and they delivered on all accounts.
The band opened with “Imperium” from their 2003 album Through the Ashes of Empires to huge fanfare and kept that energy going with some newer material. It was clear from the start that Machine Head has a very passionate fanbase, because they showed up in force and were screaming along with every song. The crowd during the last two songs, “Is There Anybody Out There?” and “Davidian”, was so loud you could barely hear guitarist and vocalist Rob Flynn over the avalanche of noise.
Their set was great, but for those of us with flashing light sensitivities, just be aware that those strobes were indeed strobing. Kind of a small nitpick in an otherwise flawless set, but it did stand out because the rest of the lighting work, stage design, and video production were done really well.
KILLSWITCH ENGAGE
Almost immediately after the band launched into “In Due Time”, vocalist Jesse Leach found himself up and over the barrier and into the crowd. After a quick crowdsurf (and dropping and losing the microphone for a moment), both he and his microphone were reunited on stage to complete the song.
The band covered every square inch of stage real estate, and there was a lot of it, and brought an enormous amount of energy. The crowd gave it right back as they belted out the words to every song. When the band played the first few notes of “The End of Heartache”, the crowd pop was insane. I have, with zero hyperbole, never heard a crowd sing as loud as Orlando did as we all, myself included, belted out those first few lines of the song. It was really something to behold.
Drummer Justin Foley celebrated his 50th birthday on the day of the show, and the band celebrated with a toast on stage and a huge cheer from the crowd. Leach eventually left the stage again and ran side stage to interact with fans, friends, and family who all attended the show. He embraced several of them and gave out high fives to fans, all while singing perfectly in key (an impressive feat, no joke). Guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz played the final song, “My Last Serenade”, from the crowd, stopping to interact with fans and give high fives, all while wearing his “I’m With Stupid” t-shirt.
The show was just downright fun, even if you had never heard Killswitch Engage before, even if you’re not even a fan of metal. Shows like this are just an amazing display of musicianship, showmanship, and pure condensed fun. By the end of the show, there were half a dozen people in banana suits, all crowdsurfing and throwing themselves into the pit, reinforcing that music is truly for everyone and something that unites us all.
This tour is a truly incredible mix of bands that all have something unique to bring to the table, and the end result is an entertaining show that’ll have you headbanging, circle pitting, and screaming along at the top of your lungs the entire night.
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