The Gorgeous Matt Heafy
The Unholy Alliance Tour kicked off at Manchester Apollo on Monday with a bill packed full of all your favourite filthy metal bands, Amon Amarth, Mastodon, Trivium and of course the Kings of metal; Slayer.
After queuing up for what seemed like an eternity I got inside just before the start of Triviums set and elbowed my way as near to the front as I could get… after all the closer to Matt Heafy I get; the more chance he has of wanting to marry me right?
The lights go down and I start to clap and ‘woo’ much to the distaste of the group behind me who ‘boo’ at the tops of their voices. I wonder if they have come to the wrong gig for a second as Trivium are a pretty big deal right? Wrong.
Apparently ‘true’ Slayer fans hate everyone but Slayer and will hiss and throw things at every band that grace the stage until they are replaced by their heroes; I could tell it was going to be a long night… and clad in a girly dress and red heels, boy was I right.
The guys run onto the stage and launch straight into Kirisute Gomen only to be greeted by a room full of boo’s and one finger salutes. However for the quarter of the room who had their rock hands out and proud; the guys gave it everything they had.
The sound quality was quite poor and at times it was pretty difficult to hear Matt and Corey Beaulieu above the instruments. However that was the least of my worries as the guy next to me seemed to be more interested in playing the games on his phone than watching the gig - don’t worry guys; I told him off!
Just in case they forgot what band they were in, they all had on Trivium t-shirts which Matt had taken the time out to ‘customise’ by cutting the sleeves off so that all the girls (like me) could drool over his perfectly formed arms - and his white ankle boots totally sold his look to me!
But enough about the clothes, by the time they got to A Gunshot To The Head Of Trepidation it’s clear that the guys aren’t going to be put off by the clear distaste towards them - they can’t fall silent without the room being filled with the chants of ‘Slayer, Slayer, Slayer!’
I mean, if these guys are good enough for Slayer; they should be good enough for their fans too. Even if you don’t particularly like their music, you can tell that Matt’s voice is incredible as it slips effortlessly to throat clenching screams to softer harmonies.
Not to mention, Travis Smith’s incredible speed on drums and Paolo Gregoletto’s efforts on bass are just as energetic as his spirits as he gallops around the stage putting everything he has into his performance.
The guys behind me are still hiving Matt the finger every time he comes over to our side of the venue but rather than shying away from the closed-minded idiots he simply blows them a kiss to rile them up more - although I like to think it was directed at me!
Like Light To The Flies brings the room to life as the majority of the room begins to move as one and the guys are more than happy to play to the crowd and pull out some guitar hero moves of their own and I find it ironic that the moron behind me who has been heckling everyone for singing along actually knows the words… not too cool now are you idiot?
There is no doubting the fact that these are incredibly talented guys who move around the stage as though they have eaten a full packet of extra-energy Duracell batteries! The instruments almost come to life with the amount of energy that is poured into them and given the right crowd this could have been an incredible show.
However, I admire the way that Matt handled the guys in there who had nothing better to do than chant for someone else. They knew who the support was so why not arrive a little later rather than making the rest of us feel uncomfortable for enjoying such an amazing set?
For the people in the mini-mosh pit and the ones, like me, who have liked Trivium since the Ascendancy days; this was an excellent gig which mixed new and old tracks fantastically well along with some great lighting and snazzy outfits for good measure.
And for those who spent the entire time booing and throwing water at the guys; shame, you might have actually learnt something about modern metal music.
FemaleFirst - Ruth Harrison