Trivium with Soldiers of Solace and ’68 The Webster Theater, Hartford, CT May 17, 2018 “My Night With Trivium”
Story by Rachel Bernstein

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As a 15 year old artist and drummer, I’m into a variety of different bands ranging from from pop-punk, to alternative, and most especially, all types of heavy metal genres. I went to see Trivium on May 17 at The Webster Theater in Hartford, Connecticut, and it’s a time I will not soon forget. I was able to meet them before the show. Matt Heafy (lead vocals and guitar), Paolo Gregoletto (bass and vocals), Corey Beaulieu (guitar and vocals), and  Alex Bent (drums) were all extremely nice and welcoming. They signed my Trivium artwork (my own artwork), they signed my poster, and I also got a picture with them. After the meet and greet, and after the sound check, they opened to doors to the hall, my dad and I made our way to the very front of the hall  – right up against the crowd barrier of the stage near the center. We had the best view in the house!

The concert started with the opening band, Soldiers of Solace. Straight-forward heavy metal with rock elements. They were very entertaining to watch and started to get us all hyped up for Trivium. An additional opening act was added to the concert, a metal core (specifically “mathcore”) duo called ’68. They were quite different from any other metal bands I’ve listened to before, with lots of strange time signatures and unusual chords. Their music contains very interesting and unexpected rests and beats, as was their unique stage setup (they faced each other instead of facing the crowd) and they drew me in right from start to finish. Not long afterwards, Trivium took the stage, and the concert hall went wild. Their performance was mesmerizing, and I could not look away for the full 100 minutes of music they gave us. They played songs off of their most recent album (2017) The Sin and the Sentence. Included in the set-list were: the title track, “The Sin and the Sentence,”

 “The Heart from Your Hate,” “Beyond Oblivion,” “Betrayer,” and more. They also mixed it up with songs from their first and second albums (2003 and 2005 respectively) such as the title track, “Ascendency,” and “Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr” along with several other songs from their 20-year, 8 album catalogue. Their set lasted long enough to the point where I felt tired, but not like I was going to pass out (thank goodness). The audience was surprisingly not too pushy, so I didn’t get crushed up against the barrier as I have in other metal shows, and I was able to get some good photos. Since I had brought some Trivium-inspired artwork with me, I got noticed by Matt during the show. After Trivium’s last song, “In Waves,” Matt waved over a security guard to help him give his guitar pick specifically to me! I like to think of that as a “Congratulations! You made it to the end of the show!”

I also was handed the stage setlist by the same security guard who helped Matt give his guitar pick to me, which was nice of him. The setlist is now hung up in my room, along with the signed poster and my artwork. Coming from a 15 year old, a musician and artist, I’d suggest Trivium to any young metalhead who is looking for some new bands to get into, and I would definitely go see them again when they come back. Trivium was one of the best concerts I’ve been to and I’ll never forget it. Hopefully, you won’t forget them either.

Video by John Balint

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