Virginia Beach, VA – Westfield, Massachusetts metalcore veterans Killswitch Engage brought the heavy to Virginia Beach with support from Boston’s metalcore band Shadows Fall, Tyler, Texas melodic metalcore outfit Fit For A King and Hartford, Connecticut’s metalcore band Boundaries.
The original Dome was a multipurpose venue that supported everything from live music events to industry conventions. In 1994, after years of operation The Dome was torn down and turned into a municipal parking lot for the City of Virginia Beach. The new Dome which has a capacity of 3,500 to 5,000 is an indoor/outdoor facility that can be configured to meet the needs of most medium sized events. The opening show for the new Dome was Three Dog Night on May 4th.
Starting off the evening was Boundaries, one of two bands on the lineup I had never seen live before. Despite the 25 minute set, they managed to squeeze in six songs from their 2024 effort Death Is Little More, with one song from each of their previous efforts Burying Brightness and Your Receding Warmth. Plenty of their fans were in attendance and there was activity in the pit.
Boundaries SETLIST
Turning Hate Into Rage
My Body Is a Cage
Scars on a Soul
Darkness Shared
Is Survived By
Cursed to Remember
A Pale Light Lingers
Easily Erased
Like Boundaries, this was my first time seeing Fit For A King. They had 40 minutes to fire up the crowd, which they did with a set that touched on their last three albums with some extra material thrown it. There was a lot of movement in the crowd and the pit was busy.
Fit For A King SETLIST
Technium
End (The Other Side)
Reaper
Keeping Secrets
Backbreaker
No Tomorrow
Breaking the Mirror
When Everything Means Nothing
God of Fire
My first time seeing Shadows Fall was Mayhem Fest years ago and I thought these guys killed when whenever I saw them. I was bummed when they went on hiatus and like most people, you hope they decide to get back together and perform again. To my surprise when I booked for Headbangers Boat, they were part of the lineup, I was stoked that they were back!!! Getting the opportunity to see them blow it up in my backyard, Hell Yeah!!! While I wished their set was longer than 40 minutes, they crushed it with songs from The War Within, Retribution and The Art of Balance which made up for the time. The diehards started taking the place of the people who came for the openers, as things were progressively getting more rowdy.
Shadows Fall SETLIST
King Of Nothing
Thoughts Without Words
What Drives The Weak
Souls Devoured
Destroyer Of Senses
My Demise
In The Grey
Power Of I And I
The Light That Blinds
It has been seven years since I last saw Killswitch Engage live, and that was the KillThrax Tour in 2018 with Anthrax and Havok. The crowd was ready for them! A wave of crowd surfers started during “Rose of Sharyn” which kept security busy. Jesse Leach asked for two circle pits because the band wanted to make sure that The Dome got introduced to the metal world properly!!! They laid the place to waste and it was a fitting end to a fantastic tour!!!! Can’t wait to see them again!!!
Killswitch Engage SETLIST
Strength of the Mind
Rose of Sharyn
Reckoning
Aftermath
Fixation on the Darkness
A Bid Farewell
Beyond the Flames
Broken Glass
Hate by Design
Forever Aligned
The Signal Fire
I Believe
The Arms of Sorrow
In Due Time
This Fire
My Curse
The End of Heartache
My Last Serenade
Show Date: 5.18.2025
