The Phoenix is always a great place to see a show, and on September 22nd, 2015, metalheads were in for a real treat when the HardDrive Live tour, featuring co-headliners Trivium and Tremonti with special guests, Detroit heavy rockers Wilson, steamrolled through Toronto. A crowd of devoted fans packed the Phoenix to see this awesome triple bill. Wilson had the task of
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2015 HARDDRIVE LIVE
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warming up the fans, but half the crowd seemed half-asleep during their set. Regardless, the band still put on a fantastic performance. Chad Nicefield was the star of their set where he wore a marching kick drum to enhance the accents of the beats in a song, and at the end of the set, crowdsurfed while singing. Although there were points where he had to ask the crowd a question twice in order to get a loud response. They had a good balance of heavy and catchy tunes, and they even played a teaser of AC/DC's "Back In Black".
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After Tremonti came the night's final headliners Trivium. It's always amazing to see Trivium live. Their stage set included a large drum riser with side stairs and two Oni skulls which is the symbol on the cover of their new album Silence In The Snow. Before Trivium hit the stage, Iron Maiden's "Run To The Hills" played on the P.A with the entire crowd preparing their singing voices by singing along. The two skulls lit up blue with green glowing eyes as the atmospheric intro "Snøfall" played and the band began their set with the new song "Silence In The Snow". Throughout the set, they touched on several fan favourites, as well as three new songs. Songs that followed included "Down From The Sky and "Becoming The Dragon". Before kicking into "Strife" (the fourth song of the set), frontman Matt Heafy jokingly said that they had one song left, which garnered a big chuckle. "Strife" has become one of Trivium's biggest live songs with it's sing-along intro riff, and they always get the crowd to sing along
to the riff, Iron Maiden style. I can see it staying in the Trivium setlist for years to come. |
Next up was first headliner Tremonti! Mark Tremonti has been to Toronto several times over the years with both Creed and Alter Bridge, but this was his first show in Toronto with his solo band, and the crowd was ecstatic to finally see him with his solo band. They began their set heavy with "Cauterize" and "You Waste Your Time". One difference about the lineup was that bassist Tanner Keenan was filling in for bassist Wolfgang Van Halen, who is out on tour with Van Halen. Other songs they performed included thrashers like "So You're Afraid", "Arm Yourself" and "Radical Change" and more mid-paced groovers like "Flying Monkeys", "Decay" and "Another Heart". The crowd moshed to all the thrashy tunes and headbanged to all the groovers. They ended their set with their thrashiest song "Wish You Well". I look forward to the next time Tremonti comes through Toronto! |
Fan favourites that were played included "Built To Fall", "Pull Harder On The Strings Of Your Martyr", "A Gunshot To The Head Of Trepidation" and "Anthem (We Are The Fire)". The entire crowd poured their hearts out singing the words to pretty much every song, including the new songs. How often do you see that at a show? That just goes to show the loyalty of Trivium's fanbase. Matt Heafy's commands for the crowd to step up their participation really worked out because I learned that the band named Toronto the best show of the tour. The set was amazing, but as a huge Trivium fan, I wish that they would have thrown in a couple more deep cuts into the set. Hopefully they will do that on a future headline tour.
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TRIVIUM
Matt Heafy - Lead vocals & guitars Corey Beaulieu - Guitars & vocals Paolo Gregoletto - Bass & vocals Mat Madiro - Drums Label: Roadrunner Records Website: www.trivium.org www.facebook.com/Trivium |
TREMONTI
Mark Tremonti - Lead vocals & guitars Eric Friedman - Guitars & vocals Garret Whitlock - Drums Tanner Keenan - Bass & vocals (Filling in for Wolfgang Van Halen) Label: Fret12 Records Website: www.marktremonti.com www.facebook.com/TremontiProject www.facebook.com/MarkTremonti |
WILSON
Jason Spencer - Guitars Chad Nicefield - Vocals Kyle Landry - Guitars Matt Puhy - Drums James Lascu - Bass Label: Razor & Tie Records Website: www.wilsonpartyanimals.com www.facebook.com/wilsonparties |
