Killswitch Engage - Live
I'm late in posting this, but felt it bore mentioning that finally getting a chance to see Killswitch Engage live was well worth the wait. I was originally supposed to see them — along with August Burns Red back in March of 2020. Thanks to Covid-19, I never got a chance to see that show; the dates were re-scheduled a couple of times before the whole tour was ultimately scrapped.
I wasn't sure I would get a chance to see Killswitch live, as they typically would only have Montreal and / or Toronto dates on their tours. I really miss going to Montreal for shows, but the costs involved in seeing a show out of province are somewhat probibitive these days. (Toronto is also expensive and has the added downside of being Toronto.)
The show was at a new venue, a Hard Rock Hotel & Casino that I had been hearing ads for ("coming soon!") for several years on iHeartRadio podcasts. The sound was great, and the crowd was awesome. There were only 3 bands, and the show ran like clockwork.
Malevolence were the openers, a respectable modern hardcore band from the UK. I was completely unfamiliar with them, but they did a good job. I wasn't blown away, but they were a solid opener.
Machine Head were great, although they largely played songs from their newer albums. I was in the bizarre position of having followed the band since before The Burning Red even hit stores, and not knowing a half-dozen songs in the setlist — that a crowd, whose average age was well below mine, knew all the words to. It was nice to see Machine Head remaining relevant, and I still got to hear "Davidian" live.
The headliners stole the show, however. The band was in good form, though not perfect — which they even remarked on — but it didn't matter. Being in a crowd with a couple thousand other people who know all the words to every song is an experience I haven't had before. The setlist was absolute fire, and getting to hear "I Believe" and "The End of Heartache" live was even better than expected.
I've been a massive fan of Killswitch since I bought a copy of Alive Or Just Breathing — on little more than an endorsement from producer Andy Sneap — so this was a culmination of a decades-long fandom. This was easily one of the best shows I've ever seen.
PUBLISHED: 2026-08-23