Trivium brings their “Struck Dead” tour to Indianapolis

With the weather cooling off, the outdoor concert season has ended for the year, and remaining shows are taking place in the comfort of the indoors. Trivium is one of these bands taking advantage of what’s left of the year to tour, bringing us to Old National Centre in Indianapolis on Tuesday, November 18th. Special guests Jinjer and Heriot are along for the ride with them on this 31-date tour celebrating the release of their latest EP “Struck Dead.”

Kicking off our night was Heriot, a metalcore band hailing from Swindon, UK. I wouldn’t say that Heriot has the stereotypical metalcore sound, though. With their consistent, dirty vocals from Debbie Gough and groovy moments within the instrumentals, the band’s sound is something unique.  Even though this is the band’s first time touring in the United States, they already had fans in the crowd cheering them on throughout their set, and the mosh pit took off instantaneously.

Jinjer was next in line for the night, and it was clear from the crowd’s reaction to them taking the stage that there were just as many Jinjer fans as there were Trivium fans in the room. The crowd was rowdy during their set, cheering out for the band and with occasional shouts of “I love you!” being heard. Vocalist Tatiana Shmayluk was a powerhouse on stage and a commanding force for the crowd, managing to open a wall of death with a simple wave of her hands without any words being spoken. As the band reached the end of their set, the crowd chanted for one last song, and the band obliged, ending their night on “Pisces.”

The energy in the room was already strong after Jinjer’s set, but it lifted even further as Trivium took the stage. The band took the crowd’s energy and reflected it, never taking a moment to slow down onstage. The mosh pit expanded out even further at this time with people from kids to experienced seniors joining end, causing it to take up most of the room, and on the edges, the crowd surfers made sure to put the security guards to work. 

The band let us know early on that they were halfway through the tour and keeping up on who had the most energy out of all the cities. Only fifteen minutes into the set, we were told Milwaukee had first place, for now, but that we were coming close already. Safe to say, by the end of the night, we had become the reigning champions of the tour so far.

Not only was the energy on stage worth watching, but Trivium’s physical set was made to be stared at. With gothic gates, gargoyles with glowing eyes, and kaleidoscopic projectors aimed towards the ceiling, there was plenty to take in and set the scene. It wasn’t a stagnant set, either, with changing banner backgrounds and a giant inflatable humanoid figure popping up in the last twenty minutes of the set.

To top off the energy, we were promised a packed setlist for the night. After 14 songs in total, I’m inclined to agree that that’s exactly what we got. From opening on one of their largest hits, “In Waves,” to deeper cuts and newer hits in the middle, and a final ending on “The Sin and the Sentence,” there were songs for every level of fan in the crowd. Normally, I’d pick out what songs were crowd favorites, but with how consistently everyone was singing along, I have to say that the whole setlist was a massive hit.

Trivium still has some dates left on this tour, as well as quite a few festivals already lined up for next year, so be sure to head over to their website and check out what’s going to be near you.