Killswitch Engage Fully At Fillmore
Summertime is almost here in the Twin Cities officially, but the last few days of spring sure have brought the heat. The typical Minnesota temperamental weather was of course threatening thunderstorms, but thankfully we got just some humid breeze and big thunderheads to appreciate for our Friday night.
Wanted a bite and a beer before, so parked over by Inbound Brewing for a pint of Hazy Shades IPA and some tasty bites from the food truck. On the walk there, of all people to run into on the streets of Minneapolis, lead vocalist Jesse Leach from Killswitch Engage was crossing the street for a walk before the show. Uh, sweet. Said hello and chatted for a few minutes, he was loving the warm weather MN greeted him with, thankfully. What a nice guy. Made the next few blocks to the brewery even more of a pleasure cruise. Happened to be some fire Korean food from K-Express for Inbound’s food truck option, one of my favorites. Got their Korean fried chicken bowl, which came with some steamed sesame oil broccoli and fried rice. Delish.
Opening act Havok formed in 2004 in Colorado. These Rocky Mountain thrashers have such great energy. For an earlier show with a four band bill (doors were at 5:30, show at 6:30) there was a nice gathering of people ready to circle pit for Havok. Crowd seemed to be in a very good mood, and ready for some metal. Good thing Havok has exactly what everyone needed. Songs like “Prepare for Attack” and new banger “Fifth Generation Warfare” got the juices flowing inside the Fillmore. Rhythm guitarist/vocalist David Sanchez announced they signed a new record deal. Looking forward to seeing these guys around more often. For fans of true American thrash metal, Havok’s product is as good as any! Excited to see them again next time they are in town. They were fast, thrilling, and complete with a prime bonus of luscious locks used to expertly headbang.
Metal supergroup Iron Reagan was up next. Very pumped to see some familiar faces I just photographed a few months back (Municipal Waste is one of the most fun bands to witness live, so do not miss the chance next time they are in town.) Some heavy hitters fill out the ranks of Iron Reagan including Municipal Waste vocalist Tony Foresta plus Cannabis Corpse/Municipal Waste bassist Phil "Land Phil" Hall, former Darkest Hour drummer Ryan Parrish, Hellbear’s bassist Paul Burnette, and new-to-the-band since 2025, guitarist Adam Guillimas. Tony is a great front-man, getting some chuckles and cheers from the crowd during some between song banter. Always awesome to see crowds turn out for opening bands. You could tell it was a Friday night and people wanted to party. After a blistering dozen songs of Iron Reagan’s crossover thrash set came to a halt, it was time to hit the bar for a refill before the mighty Machine Head took to the stage.
I’m sure you can hear the chant in your head already... Machine. Fucking. Head. The crowd quickly began the familiar saying before the band took the stage. Tis tradition. Been a long time since I’ve seen them not headline, but knew they would bring the same high-energy badass performance they always do. I was not wrong.
I try to not spoil myself and avoid taking peeks at setlists, was so pumped they cracked open the set with one of my all time favorites, “Imperium.” The audience wriggled and crashed into each other with delight. Throughout the night all three bands had super nice solid crowd action. Still some boisterous bumps and moshing, but not anything out of the ordinary or channeling too much angst. Most know where the pit ends and the standing room for Olds headbanging (myself included) begins. Hearing “Locust” again live was much needed. It’s hard not to like every jam they play, but they cherrypicked from their illustrious catalog with precision. Perfect flow from song to song even with each being from a different album. Would have liked to hear a few more old songs (being an old-head myself), but an eight song set doesn’t leave a lot of time.
This time around Machine Head recruited guitarist Ben Eller who is known for being a social media guitar guru and has also filled in for Mastodon. Ben filled the role and seemed like he was a natural member of Machine Head. After front-man Rob Flynn said their goodbyes, the set up for KSE began!
It has been a minute since I have seen Killswitch Engage. Last time would have been when Howard Jones still held the reins as vocalist. I was pumped up to see the band with Jesse this time around. You know the band was about to take the stage when their own rendition of The Who’s “Baba O Riley” played over the speakers but with guitarist Adam D’s voice replacing Roger Daltrey yelling “Fucking Wasted!”.
The Westfield, Massachusetts boys ripped into some classics within the first handful of songs of what would be a long, enjoyable set. KSE has been around since 1999 and really have nothing to prove to anybody at this point but they still brought phenomenal energy and passion to Minneapolis this night. KSE covered a lot of ground with their set, spanning albums including career highlights “As Daylight Dies”, “The End of Heartache” and their latest “This Consequence”. They even went all the way back to their self-titled debut which is where I became a fan.
The show was long worth the wait to see these guys again. There’s a reason these guys have the reputation they do. Essentially the long time reigning champs of the metalcore genre. Other than Jesse and Howard switching out, KSE has somehow been immune to any lineup changes (Drummer Justin Foley has been around since 2003) which I think leads to the consistent high quality output from KSE. The band looked like they were having a ton of fun on stage. The crowd was most definitely having a riot. Jesse Leach gave us some pep talks also which was nice to hear, given the daily chaos we are bombarded with on our TVs and phones. I always appreciate when bands take the time to say hello and check in on us during a show. After leaving us with their last serenade….(wink wink) the night came to a close and the Fillmore emptied as fast as it filled.
Felt just very fortunate to walk outside into what was a perfect Minnesota early summer night after another wonderful metal tour stop. This tour goes until the end of June. Stop by a date in your city and give these bands some horns!
