The Sunday Scaries Didn’t Stop Killswitch Engage
March 30th, 2025 - Kansas City, MO
As a general statement, death metal isn’t really my thing. BUT! I really enjoyed Frozen Soul’s set. I see why a good chunk of my friends like their music. My favorite part of them opening the show was the fact that they genuinely looked like they were having a great time performing. They had skeletons on pikes on stage with them and I appreciate the vibe.
Fit For A King was one of the first actual metalcore bands I really got into, and seeing them play the Midland warms my heart. I’m pretty sure they’re my most seen metal band, with this show being the fifth time I’ve seen them since The Hell We Create came out, and they’ve sounded absolutely insane every single time, regardless of venue. They’re a band that’s truly fun to watch on stage, especially Tuck’s bass spins, they make me crack up every time. He puts an immense amount of faith in those strap locks. Ryan Kirby is one of the best vocalists in the game right now, his singing and screaming vocals are consistently amazing. I think this was the first time I got to hear “Technium” and it was just as fun live as I had hoped. The crowd was fully engaged the whole set, from the crowdsurfers to all the people in the circle pit during “Reaper”. “God of Fire” &” Eyes Roll Back” will never fail to be two of my favorite FFAK songs and I’m so glad they opened and closed with them respectively.
If Kublai Khan is one thing, it’s extremely consistent. From their music to their stage show, they know their audience. It felt like déjà vu seeing them at this show since the last time I saw them was also a support slot on a tour that played at The Midland. Each one of the guys in the band are locked in the whole performance and you can absolutely tell, because they sound GOOD, consistently. One of my favorite things about seeing KKTX live is their insane bass tone. It shakes you to your bones no matter what venue they play.
Tonight was no exception to that either. They started playing and the entire time in the photo pit it felt like I was vibrating.
I also enjoy their appreciation of neon lights. The TX lights in front of their amp’s were so fun to photograph & edit. Speaking of photographing them, they are by far and away one of my favorite bands to photograph!
The power move of opening with “Supreme Ruler” into “Theory of Mind” into “Low Tech” is my new favorite way to see them open a set, I really enjoy all three of those tracks.
My friend Juan who fronts KC Hardcore band Lower heaven came out to do a guest spot for “Self Destruct” and I’m a huge fan of watching my friends get to do cool things, if you like hardcore go check his band out after you’re done here! Every Kublai Khan show closes with “Antpile” and more recently it’s successor, “Antpile 2” and if you want to mosh that is the time. I’m really glad two of the bands I really enjoy got to play on this absolutely massive tour, show up early for all three openers on this tour I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect seeing Killswitch live. I knew a grand total of two whole songs going into that night, and they’re the two EVERYONE knows. But you know what. It was a SICK show. Clocking in at a whopping 18 song set, I genuinely had a great time watching this band. I went to this show with my partner who is a MASSIVE Killswitch Engage fan and it was also pretty special to watch him watch a band he’s listened to for a really long time.
They played at LEAST one song from every major release, including a good amount of songs from when the previous vocalist, Howard Jones was in the band. They also played new songs like, “Collusion” & “Forever Aligned” from their 2025 album, This Consequence, that came out in late February. I was 100% obsessed with their light show, it made shooting their set so fun, and the constantly changing video wall behind them was just neat. I love a good video wall. The last three songs of the night ended the show in the best way possible with a run of “My Curse”, “ The End of Heartache”, & “My Last Serenade”, with the first two being two of the most popular Killswitch songs, and Serenade being the song that put them on the map. Overall, if you can swing one of the remaining dates of this tour you absolutely should, it was such a fun show!
