Myth in St. Paul, MN
October 22, 2018
This was a tour I’d been impatiently waiting for since it was announced. TRIVIUM coming back to the area in support of their fantastic record “The Sin and The Sentence”. AVATAR finally coming here in support of their stellar “Avatar Country”. LIGHT THE TORCH arrives for their debut MN live performance in support of their excellent debut “Revival.” 3 bands with 3 strong records and you know they are all going to have strong live performances.
I’ve been waiting for Howard Jones and company to come around and this was a great tour for them to showcase this new record. LIGHT THE TORCH opened with a blistering “The Bitter End”, Howard tore all over the stage looking in fantastic shape. The band has a new fire to them and the crowd took to it right away. “Calm Before the Storm” followed and Howard started joking with the crowd who ate it up. The new single “The Safety of Disbelief” sounded even better live than it does on record. Francesco Artusato riffed in fine form and Ryan Wombacher held the low end down with intensity. With new drummer Mike Sciulara in the band, the band has a new fire underneath them and were all having a great time up there. The band ended their quick 30 min set with “Die Alone,” “Embrace the Torture” and “The Way We Die”. I can’t wait for them to come back around again.
AVATAR came out to a hero’s welcome. It’s been awhile since they’ve been in the area and the crowd was ready. AVATAR came out to “Hail the Apocalypse” and sent the crowd into a fury. Following it up with a pit turning “Let It Burn” and “Get In Line” before letting the pit take a little breather for the King’s fine guitar work in “Bloody Angel”. Johannes had the crowd’s attention the entire show and I swear this band gets tighter live every time I see them. A great live version of “The Eagle Has Landed” followed with “Torn Apart” and “One More Hill” being tracks I wasn’t totally familiar with but a chunk of the crowd sang along to. “A Statue of the King” got the crowd moving again before the end of the set mainstay “Smells Like a Freak Show” brought the set to a close way too soon.
I’m calling it now, the next time AVATAR returns to the area, it will be on their own headlining run. This is a future headliner. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Bring yourself to Avatar Country and get in before they headline arenas and festivals.
TRIVIUM came out of the gate full throttle with an even more vicious “Betrayer” and the band and fans alike were excited for Trivium’s return to Minnesota. Quickly launching into “Throes of Perdition” from Shogun and “Beyond Oblivion” the crowd kept the pit moving before giving the crowd a little break. Matt let the crowd know early that the best stop on the tour thus far was Philadelphia and Minnesota was ready to step up to the plate and take the victory as the band tore into “Into the Mouth of Hell We March”. I was glad to see the band bring out “Suffocating Sight” from Ascendancy as well as “He Who Spawned the Furies” from Shogun into the set, two sort of deep tracks for the Trivium faithful! The band brought out Jared Dines and Howard Jones for a you had to be there to believe it “The Wretcheness Inside” and kept the pit turning for “A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation” (which sounds just as mammoth now as it did with Ascendancy was released 13 years ago!) and “The Sin and The Sentence”. Howard returned in the encore for “Pull Harder” and “In Waves” leaving the crowd beyond excited about the show they just witnessed.
Later, we all found out Matt needed to leave the tour early as his twins are coming sooner than expected so Howard Jones, Johannes and Jared Dines will be helping them out in these once in a lifetime Trivium shows to wrap up the tour. This turned out to be a special tour for more reasons than one!
CHECK OUT MORE OF BRETT's TRIVIUM and LIGHT THE TORCH PHOTOS HERE!
CHECK OUT MORE OF BRETT's AVATAR PHOTOS HERE!
