On Friday 25 August in the good year 2023, the almighty Trivium Shogunate rolled through Nottingham to teach its citizens all it could - this is what we learned…
Number one: Shows can start and finish early without anyone being upset. Orbit Culture and Bleed From Within both had a very early stage time, of 6:45pm and 7:30pm respectively, and yet the show didn’t feel rushed, neither band played like they were pushed for time, so when Trivium walked offstage it was still not even 10pm. More gigs like this sometimes please, it made my dinner feel like dinner and not a midnight snack!
Number two: All three of these bands are absolutely brilliant in a more enclosed setting. I’d previously only seen Trivium and Bleed From Within at a festival, and I hadn’t ever seen Orbit Culture, so all three on one bill in a venue like Rock City had me salivating like a dog eyeing up a particularly healthy bone. Rightfully so too, as the whole evening was a devastating display of crushing metal power, from perceived up-and-comers (who are on album five!) Orbit Culture bringing eight of their best bangers, to Bleed From Within’s Scottish metalcore mania, and of course the headliners turned the singalong factor up to eleven!
The third and arguably most important thing that I learnt was just how beloved Trivium really are to the metal fans of the UK. The crowd was enraptured by Matt Heafy (not to be confused with silly indie man Matty Healy of The 1975) and his astonishing work rate as both frontman and lead guitarist, not to mention the fact that each and every song had most of the attendees clapping, singing, yelling, and moshing the entire way through.
Trivium turned up and turned the heat up from start to finish, opening with a glorious rendition of the title track from latest album In The Court Of The Dragon, and winding through a set filled with metal anthems. Early in the set they bulldozed their way through Pull Harder On The Strings Of Your Martyr, to some of the most visceral crowd singalong moments of the evening, before jumping into a one-two of Shogun in Kirisute Gomen and Torn Between Scylla and Charybdis.
Next up was a personal favourite that kept me bouncing, Catastrophist, which went down as well with the rest of the crowd as me! We then were treated to the tour debut of Like Callisto To A Star In Heaven which obviously meant most people around me broke out grinning and stayed that way for the remainder of the track.
The night led onwards through more excellent songs before we hit the final three, in the beautiful form of The Heart From Your Hate leading into A Gunshot To The Head Of Trepidation, and a brief moment offstage before the single song encore of, sing it with me Nottingham, In Waves!
I was so annoyed to miss the bands previous tour through the UK, but to see them in a smaller venue than any on the aforementioned tour, and on such scintillating form, was a wonderful remedy to the fact. They are still working their way round the UK, so catch them while you can!
Trivium performed at Rock City on 25 August 2023
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