Killswitch Engage – Live At The Wiltern

What do you do when you’re one of the biggest names in modern metal and your singer drops off the tour to take care of personal issues? It’s pretty obvious – you cancel the tour and return later. Unless, of course, you’re Killswitch Engage – then you get your buddy who just missed the cut to become your lead singer the last time around to fill in.

All eyes were on Phil Labonte from All That Remains Saturday night as he took on the role of stand-in screamer for the MIA Howard Jones. The sigh of relief was almost audible as the band (now lovingly redubbed “Philswitch Engage”) launched in to “Rose of Sharyn” and it became clear that Phil had brought his guttural A-game. A blistering “Reckoning” off the band’s latest self-titled release gave way to the classic “Fixation On The Darkness” (Phil channeled an uncanny Jesse Leach, the very first singer for Killswitch, on the latter which made me a little wistful for the old days) and it looked like this was going to be a show to remember.

Then Phil’s voice bid farewell…ironically during the song with the same title.

The triumphant, anthemic chorus arrived in “A Bid Farewell” but all that was there to meet it was a tired and road weary melody…a little flat and a lot scarred. It certainly wasn’t for lack of trying – but there is only so much a singer can do when one’s voice checks out for the evening. Phil’s screaming more than made up for it; a passion-filled plea to the gods of metal that he would not go quietly – so much so that you could hear the additional damage being taken from the vocal sacrifice of an unyielding rock soldier.

For most bands, this would be the likely denouement of the show as (normally) it could only go downhill from here. But Killswitch Engage is not most bands – and this is when the show became really special.

It was for the fans that Killswitch decided to continue their tour and it was the fans that saved the show. The packed house of The Wiltern joined together, with one voice, and sang with Phil on almost every word, lifting him up and uniting us all together. The focus was no longer on one man valiantly giving everything he had; rather it became a communal celebration of everything that makes this band so special.

And what a special band Killswitch Engage is. Adam D (sporting his trademark cape, of course) remains one of the most energetic and heavy riffing guitarists in the genre complemented perfectly by second guitarist Joel Stroetzel. Mike D’Antonio and Justin Foley make up the backbone of the band and have truly never sounded tighter. Always high energy and never too serious, the band showed once again why they are simply the best pure metal band of the post-Metallica era.

The frenetic pacing of the show reached a fever pitch with an incendiary take on set closing “The End of Heartache” and Killswitch Engage exited to thunderous applause in a much too (but understandably) short appearance. The token Dio cover filled in for the encore but without Howard Jones it came off as fun but uninspired.

And what of Howard Jones and his future with the band? The aforementioned Stroetzel told me, “He’s got some personal stuff going on, man, some mental stuff going on – his state of mind isn’t quite right. He also has some health issues to take care of so we figured he could use a break…Adam and I actually went to visit him the other day when we had the day off and he’s doing well – he’s looking forward to coming back.”

It should also be noted that the headliners weren’t the only stars of the night. Ohio natives The Devil Wears Prada preceded Killswitch and absolutely destroyed. They may appear like fresh-faced youngsters but this tribe of six put on one of the most proficient and energetic shows that I’ve seen from an opening band in quite some time. Mike Hranca and Jeremy DePoyster trade off screaming and clean singing respectively in a perfect blend over skilled rhythms and innovative breakdowns. If these guys continue to mature musically and branch out from beyond strict genre lines then great things await them.