10/11/2022
Trivium
The Sylvee
Madison, WI

Trivium roared into Wisconsin’s capital city, Madison, WI on a  cool and rainy Tuesday evening. The streets in front of The Sylvee were bustling. With concert-goers fully waiting in a line that pushed down the block and around the corner, the anticipation of pushing through the security gates to position themselves along the front barrier was at a fever pitch. Once entering the facility the bar was at least a few people deep. Around the corner, the merchandise stand was packed full of specialized tour shirts, flags, vinyl, and even a jacket. All very quality buys. Once you finish up shopping and grabbing a drink the main floor is behind you. Heading down the stairs and into the pit the room opens up. Above the main floor, two more levels with seating and suites present themselves. The hardwood stage runs the entire length of the main floor. The ceilings are high and hold extensive lighting equipment. Every band is fully back-lined on the stage because of its massive depth. 

This Deadmen and Dragons tour brought the band back to Madison for the first time in 6 years. They are coming off releasing their newest album, In The Court of The Dragon back in October 2021 to massive critical acclaim within the hard rock and metal world. To many, the release is their best piece of work. The stage decoration ran the entire length. The drum platform sat above the main stage with an emblem of a dragon in gold coloring in front. On each side of the drum kit ran a small walkway that had red canvases over them. At the front of the stage, stone-like pillars were formed into the shape of dragons. The stage aesthetic was perfect.

Heading onto the stage the band was met with an explosion of applause. With a few hand waves and smiles, they jettisoned themselves into the first song of the night. Trivium features two incredible guitarists Corey Beaulieu and vocalist Matt Heafy. Beaulieu often head bangs and whipped his hair around while shredding his custom 6-string Jackson guitar. His backing vocals were loud and overpowering. Often he switched lead parts with his ultra-popular frontman. Matt Heafy is known for a few things; he shreds with ease and sticks his tongue out while doing it, then delivers punishing vocals. Vocally, it was a riveting performance that lead to plenty of moments for the crowd to sing along. This was extremely noticeable during The Heart From Your Hate. The frontman often pulled back from the center microphone and walked up to the front ledge of the stage to his unique riffs. While leaning over towards the front row, Heafy would have his tongue out nodding his head up and down. His fingers worked ultra-fast and cleanly picked through the intricate riffs. The guitar Gods came to the Badger state and displayed a level of expertise that very few have. The rhythm section consists of Paulo Gregoletto on bass and Alex Bent on drums. Paulo was phenomenal. You felt his bass thundering and room-shaking licks vibrate through your body. His energy was infectious and often supplied a multitude of smiles to the already enthused crowd. Often he provided backing vocals as well. In Waves, the closing track gave him the opportunity to flex his vocal capabilities and the bassist slayed it. Perched above the stage, drummer Alex Bent rolls through his kit with ease. He snapped on the snare with lightning-fast efficiency while delivering booming double-bass kicks in rapid succession. There was no doubt left behind that he kept the foursome in time with the recorded versions of their songs. 

All in all, Trivium gave the crowd every ounce of energy they had. Their passion for performing in the live setting was well received by The Sylvee’s crowd. Trivium has always delivered deep cuts within their setlist and always picked songs for themselves other than what most would expect. Songs like The Skyline’s Severance and Shogun are rare treats to the dedicated fan base. One would never expect them to perform those tracks with such an expansive catalog of radio singles to choose from. It is a big reason why attending a Trivium show is so special. You never know what you’re going to hear from them. The business approach to performing is refreshing, but they take time to give commentary between tracks. These breaks are often comical moments or shouts of appreciation. They gave their hearts and talents to the evening. Judging by the number of circle pits and crowd surfers that kept security busy the mass of metalheads noticed. Pretty safe to say, that if you weren’t there you missed out on an amazing experience. Trivium is the cream of the crop when it comes to performance.

Setlist:
1. IX
2. What The Dead Men Say
3. Into The Mouth of Hell We March
4. The Sin and The Sentence
5. The Skyline’s Severance
6. Amongst The Shadows and The Stones
7. The Shadow of The Abattoir
8. In The Court of The Dragon
9. To The Rats
10. The Heart From Your Hate
11. Shogun
12. Like Light To The Flies
13. In Waves