Turns out not all the time schedules on the Lotto Arena said the same. Some time schedules only showed the times for Bullet for my Valentine and Trivium, so I didn’t know Orbit Culture was playing. It’s my own fault of course for not paying attention to the details, although I do think schedules shouldn’t have an option to show less or more. Since I haven’t seen their performance, I asked, read and listened around to other people who had seen Orbit Culture. Our photographer said that he actually went to see mostly this band, and that they were amazing. If I’m reading other reviews, they also say that they wished the band had more time to play. They only got to play 5 songs, but seems like those were definitely worth it.

Looking up the setlist; the band performs hard, pounding songs. Solid heavy riffs with growling and clean vocals. Sounds like a great opening act for the two main acts for today.

The lights went out, on the screen behind the stage were three skull like figures where the middle one was slightly bigger. In that middle one, a video was shown about the band in their early years. The band talked about how they always wanted to be in a rock band and how it was their dream to become big rock stars. This was all loudly welcomed by a cheering crowd. All of this created a tension, a good one where you feel you are excited for what is about to come. This intro can be seen in the video below.
Then the video stopped, the atmosphere changed and Bullet for my Valentine walked on stage one by one. Starting off with Her Voice Resides. Since the band doesn’t usually play The Poison in full, we got treated to some songs that are rarely played live.

The first verse and chorus of Tears Don’t Fall got beautifully played on acoustic guitar. The crowd sang along, and it created this emotional vibe for long-time BFMV fans. After that acoustic part, we got the full distorted version. As one of my favorite songs, this was amazing to hear. A few songs later, we got to hear another one of my favorites: All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me). The band plays with the crowd and knows the crowd knows the songs word by word, so they pause and let the crowd sing, scream and shout the lyrics. This creates the feeling that you are part of the band, or get to be a part of the concert. I loved screaming the lyrics along and the band interacting with the crowd that much. So much energy to give, receive and release.

After The End, I thought the show had, well, ended. But the lights stayed off and the crowed was screaming for more. Bullet for my Valentine came back on stage and played Knives and Waking the Demon for an encore. After that, the band left the stage and left an exited and satisfied crowd.

Trivium didn’t go down memory lane, at least not in their intro to prepare us for the show. The lights went blue and Trivium was there on stage ready to give it their all. No bullshit, just go, and it was amazing. They started with A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation, and we also got to hear some songs that are rarely played live, since the band doesn’t usually play Ascendency in full.

I loved the moment when drummer Alex Bent was playing his solo early on in the show and the character that’s on the cover of their Ascendancy album grew tall behind hem. It was amazingly done and gave an extra boost to the show and its visuals. Throughout the show, lead vocalist Matt Heafy asked for circle pits and mosh pits, and he really got the biggest pit I have ever seen in this venue. During the whole show there was so much energy. The band was asking for more and more, and the crowd gave more and more.

Trivium just had to end with In Waves. They always end on that song, and when you hear those notes, you know you have to go down and jump when the song starts. This was the only song not from Ascendancy, but still very fitting to close the show with this. I left the show exhausted but also very happy.