Having just played at the enormous festival Rock On The Range, Killswitch Engage rolled in to The Town Ballroom on a cool Sunday night to another packed house. With everything that festivals are known for, I expected them to be a little drained. To my pleasure, that was not the case at all. Lead singer Jesse Leach stormed onto the stage with all the energy he is known for, and ripped right into “A Bid Farewell” off of 200’s “The End of Heartache” disc.
Leach, who was the original vocalist, has been back with the band since 2012 when longtime vocalist Howard Jones departed. With Leach, he has a good clean voice, but he’s a beast when it comes to his screams. Not only does Leach have great vocal ability, but his command of the crowd is second to none.
As the night went on, their fans continued to crowd surf and sang every chorus with them. Leach took a moment to address the crowd, and tell them that KSE had prepared a little something for them. I’m not sure if this was a way to give the security a break from catching surfers, but it sure worked. KSE bagan singing A Capela “We love you Buffalo, we love you Buffalo”, it was an entertaining stark contrast to the rest of the evening.
As they wrapped up their 90 minute, 19 song set with fan favorite “My Curse”, the energy was just as impressive as it was when they started. As the last note rang out, they thanked the crowd, and exited the stage. As the house lights, and music came up, I heard all the usual comments of; “great show”, “they killed it”, etc. What I didn’t expect to hear were the comments of the satisfaction of the lack of an encore. It’s a refreshing change, to see a band give their fans everything they want in their show, and not making them wait for the obligatory encore. I welcome this “return to normalcy,” and it appears fans actually get it.
Setlist:
A Bid Farewell
This Is Absolution
The New Awakening
The Arms of Sorrow
This Fire Burns
Self Revolution
Beyond the Flames
Rose of Sharyn
Life to Lifeless
Breathe Life
No End in Sight
You Don’t Bleed for Me
Always
My Last Serenade
The Hell in Me
Fixation on the Darkness
In Due Time
The End of Heartache
My Curse
We would like to thank Amy Sciarretto from atom Splitter Pr for the credentials to cover the show.
