Killswitch Engage Take Over New York City With Residency in Celebration of ‘Incarnate’ Album
To celebrate the release of their brand new album Incarnate, Killswitch Engage announced a week long residency in New York City leading up to the March 11 release. It was heaven for any East Coast Killswitch fan as the band took Manhattan and Brooklyn by storm with consecutive sold out shows.
It started at the Gramercy Theater, where local heavy metal act Black Anvil opened up the show. Killswitch began their show with two favorites for old school fans -- “Fixation on the Darkness” and “Rose of Sharyn.” They also cranked out brand new infectious and hard-hitting new tunes like “Cut Me Loose,” “Hate By Design” and “Strength of the Mind.” Guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz danced and drank as he ran into some guitar trouble during the show but that didn’t stop him from partying. Adam “D-runk” also made his way to the bar with his guitar in hand to get a shot during the notable anthem “End of Heartache.” Killswitch Engage as a whole set the bar for the energy and force early in the week, displaying what a live show should encompass. With vocalist Jesse Leach back in the band, they are simply unstoppable.
On the second day of Killswitch Engage "Christmas," the Bowery Ballroom was the setting for the madness. With no security and barricade in between fans and the stage, it was a crowdsurfer and stage diver’s dream. As fans bombarded the stage, Leach got off on the action and made his way into the balcony to greet fans. But more importantly he gave his mom and OG concert goer, Ms. Debbie Leach, a big hug and kiss. Brooklyn’s own Candiria opened up the show with a high energy performance.
With a break in the middle of the week and only a few days before the Incarnate album release, the third show was the most intimate of the week as it took place at the Saint Vitus bar in Brooklyn. The sold out, 21-and-over show was filled with lots of force and a wealth of whiskey. Leach fed some concert goers Jameson and then eventually passed the bottle around throughout the set. Jason Rudolph of their management team celebrated his birthday and was brought onstage to chug more Jameson. During the show, the band debuted their hard-hitting new track “Loyalty” live and delivered an older favorite “Rise Inside” off of the first album which caused pits and crowdsurfers to fiercely erupt. Supporting act included City of Homes, whose guitarist Tyler Stroetzel just happens to be the brother of Killswitch guitarist Joel Stroetzel. It was all brotherly love at this very special show!
Fans lined up outside of Webster Hall on the fourth day to enter the Marlin Room. Although every show was filled with stage divers, this bunch might have been the messiest. The entire show was filled with a lot of laughs and a lot of visible butt crack from crowdsurfers. One fan even ripped off his shirt while onstage only to expose a furry ginger chest before diving into the crowd. Another fan looking at the crushing performance just happened to be Wilson frontman Chad Nicefield. The very groovy and progressively heavy rock band Moon Tooth hailing from Long Island captured fans when they opened up the show with their captivating set.
On Friday, the day finally came for the release of the new album Incarnate and the week-long celebration wound down with a band signing at the Rough Trade record store in Brooklyn followed by a cozy in-store performance. Fans got to meet the band and shake hands while getting their copy of Incarnate signed before banging their sweaty heads and singing Killswitch anthems. Brooklyn based hardcore punk band Ache kicked things off with an aggressive set.
The Rough Trade show gave us the live debut of a new song “Quiet Distress,” but they also performed a tune they haven’t played in a while -- “The Arms of Sorrow” -- which led to a full-on mosh. It was never a dull moment as a crowdsurfer knocked into Leach who fell into the drumset during “Beyond the Flames.” The band even tried to do an interesting acoustic version of the song but eventually restarted and chaos ensued. Friday was the birthday of their longtime manager Kenny Gabor, who took a swig of tequila provided by Leach and they had giant printouts of his face onstage in appreciation of Gabor who exited the stage in high fashion … by stage diving of course.
“Seek me / Call me / I'll be waiting!” fans sang at the top of their lungs to at the end of the night with the favorite “End of Heartache.” Leach climbed up to the balcony and dove off into the arms of adoring fans. The band, sweaty and smiling thanked their passionate fans for all of their support. That’s it, right? Wrong, although some fans left Rough Trade, die-hards stayed and chanted “One more song!” even as the house music came on and the band left the stage with the crowd still chanting. With that Killswitch returned to the stage to unleash “Fixation on the Darkness” and ended their very memorable residency with the song that started it.
There are no words or photos that can truly sum up the level of power and strength that Killswitch Engage brought to the stage and the hold their music has on fans, but we tried. Take a look at our photo gallery documenting each show of their incredible New York City residency above! The band kicks off their headlining tour this month. Check out a full list of dates here!
Killswitch Engage's Jesse Leach Talks 'Incarnate'