WORDS WILL MAXWELL / IMAGES JOE JONES
Metal powerhouses collide as Bullet For My Valentine and Trivium bring their “Poison Ascendency Tour” to the Co-Op Live in Manchester.
Marking 20 years of their breakthrough albums – Bullet’s “The Poison” and Trivium’s “Ascendency” – this vast Arena is packed to the rafters with excited fans ready for this night of true metalcore nostalgia.
With this being a co-headline tour with equal set lengths, top billing is rotated on each night of the tour. Up first tonight are Brigend’s finest, Bullet For My Valentine.
Video footage from interviews and award ceremonies from 2005 plays in the background, and chants of “Bullet!” reverberate around the Arena as they take to the stage. Matt Tuck (Vocals, Guitar), Michael “Padge” Paget (guitar), Jamie Mathias (bass) and Jason Bowld (drums) receive a heroes welcome as Matt’s scream at the start of “Her Voice Resides” kicks things off in typically ferocious style.
Matt thanks the fans, old and new, for what they have given him and the rest of the band over the years. Introducing “Tears Don’t Fall”, he asks us all to sing along. An acoustic-style intro allows our voices to echo around this gigantic arena, with the predominantly male, 40-something, tattooed audience turning into a choir in a rare moment of calm on an otherwise chaotic night. The iconic “let’s go!” scream as the song bursts into life sets the tone for the rest of the set.
Continuing the set with The Poison played in full, tracks like “Hit The Floor” and “Room 409” showcase Bullet at their best. Crisp production and the perfect blend of heavy and clean vocals made them a gateway band, with the battle jackets of many in the crowd sporting much heavier bands as evidence of this.
As they rip through “10 Years Today” and “Cries in Vain”, the dazzling stage production and lasers created a huge amount of energy that spills over into the crowd, with the standing area a sea of various different circle pits.
“The End” fittingly marks the, erm, end of The Poison setlist and they briefly leave the stage before returning to finish with “Knives” and “Waking The Demon”.
BFMV’s throwback set was a reminder to us all how they are one of the UK’s most important modern metal bands.
SET LIST
1/ Her Voice Resides
2/ 4 Words (to Choke Upon)
3/ Tears Don’t Fall
4/ Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow (What Can I Do)
5/ Hit the Floor
6/ All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me)
7/ Hand of Blood
8/ Room 409
9/ The Poison
10/ 10 Years Today
11/ Cries in Vain
12/ The End
Encore
13/ Knives
14/ Waking the Demon
Time for things to get even heavier. It’s Trivium’s turn to test the limits of the sound system. Matt Heafy (vocals, guitar), Corey Beaulieu (guitar), Paolo Gregoletto (bass) and Alex Bent (drums) arrival is met with a sea of devil horns as the Orlando, Florida natives burst straight into life with Ascendency opener “Rain”.
A platform that circles the VIP area allows the band to patrol out into the crowd, something each member of the band takes full advantage of. With microphones set up at different points, they regularly rotate to each spot. Even in this huge standing area, this brings them closer to us, allowing for a connectivity usually reserved for smaller venues.
The headbanging is in full flow as “Drowned”, “Torn Asunder” and “Ascendancy” assault our senses, with the fans in fine voice for the gloriously melodic choruses.
No metal show is complete without an overly elaborate and indulgent drum solo, which we are treated to before “A Gunshot To The Head of Trepidation”. A giant Demon Zombie from the album cover of Ascendency emerges from behind the kit of Alex Bent.
Matt thanks Manchester for being one of the first places to embrace Trivium. He recalls times when they couldn’t believe they sold out a 300-capacity venue, so looking out on the 16,000 in attendance tonight was a special moment. He teases us that the Glasgow audience was better and lays down the challenge to better them.
If brutal pits and an ocean of crowd surfers were what he had in mind, he is given them in abundance. As I stand on the periphery of one of the many circle pits, I witness the pandemonium up close as bodies smash into each other, blood is shed, and injuries are acquired in what for those involved is classed as a thoroughly good time!
With the Ascendency album played in full, an encore of “In Waves” squeezes the last bit of energy out of a crowd and band who have given it their all.
With this Arena Tour and a headline slot at Bloodstock Festival to follow this summer, Trivium’s 27-year career continues to hit new heights. Ascendency complete.
SET LIST
1/ Rain
2/ Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr
3/ Drowned and Torn Asunder
4/ Ascendancy
5/ A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation
6/ Like Light to the Flies
7/ Dying in Your Arms
8/ The Deceived
9/ Suffocating Sight
10/ Departure
11/ Declaration
Encore
12/ In Waves
FOLLOW BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE
FOLLOW TRIVIUM
My life is a soundtrack, i track my life through music, photography is my passion, my escape, my expression. Without both i have pieces missing, thankfully i’m blessed and get to combine both.
Born in Manchester, lived in Australia for 22 years where i was heavily involved in the Australian Music Industry, firstly in bands (Singer) and then managing bands (all original), I moved back to the UK, Wales specifically 10 years ago