On a humid Friday night in Baltimore, a nice crowd was gathered for only the second date of the 2016 tour featuring Trivium, Sabaton and Huntress. Considering it was a Friday night, the room was pretty packed upon arrival. It could have been the result of the show happening on a weekend, or it could have been that one of the support acts drew the full house. This mystery was solved without a doubt further into the event.
As a reviewer, I always go into a concert venue with an open mind. There is no guarantee that any band, whether you like them or not, will give a stellar performance. There’s also no guarantee that a band you don’t like will give a less than stellar performance. With that said, and keeping in mind I am not a great fan of the opening act, Huntress was up first, a 5-member group out of Highland Park, California. Commencing their set with the songs “Sorrow” and “Spell Eater”, Huntress did put on a good show. The band was tighter and more aggressive, as opposed to when we saw them at the Mayhem Fest few years ago. Overall, they’re a good band. They closed out with “I Want to F*** You to Death” and “Eight of Swords”.
During the transition to the next band, we enjoyed at least one rousing chant of the upcoming band’s name the got the packed crowd nicely riled up. The audience erupted at the first sounds of Sabaton’s pre-recorded tracks of “In the Army Now”and “March to War” which both played in their entirety in the absence of the band. The guys hit the stage for “Ghost Division” and “Sparta” in rapid succession, enjoying a great fan response with lots of singing along which really seemed to please the band. All hell broke loose upon hearing “Blood of Bannockburn”. The crowd had a huge reaction, singing along, and there were even a few crowd surfers.Vocalist Joakim Broden seemed sincerely moved by the amazing response of the Baltimore fans. Sabaton’s entire setlist consisted of songs from various previous albums like “Swedish Pagans” and “The Lion from the North”, and many from their latest release, ‘The Last Stand’, such as “The Lost Battalion” and “Winged Hussars”. Sabaton’s unique brand of power metal translates to the stage seamlessly and the band delivered a superb performance.
Headlining the night’s festivities was Trivium, a very busy group of guys out of Orlando, Florida. They’re seemingly touring non-stop. They were just here in Baltimore about 4 months ago and, unfortunately, seem to be suffering from market over-saturation. A large portion of the crowd departed after Sabaton’s set so Trivium had a slightly less active crowd. Regardless, they threw down like only they do. Opening with “Strife”, “A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation” and “Foresake Not the Dream”, Trivium rocked the house with vim and vigor with all members in sync and having fun on stage. Its always great to see a band having fun on stage. Their setlist went on to include songs from several of their releases, “Dead and Gone” and “Detonation” to name a few. Closing out with “Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr” and “In Flames”, Trivium slayed the fans that were left, the die-hards that hung until the bitter end. Now, those are fans.