ZERO 9:36

Bringing some of the highest energy to the stage to start the night, it was very clear why Zero 9:36 was the opener for this night and this tour. The first two songs didn’t dive straight into the rap abilities of vocalist Matthew Cullen, but they got the crowd moving, playing to more nu-metal flavours, much to the delight of the crowd, which was loudly ignited by “Toronto…how are we feeling?” After these two songs, the hip-hop and rap vocals just flowed out, sometimes with music and sometimes without music for maximum emphasis. The lyrics were so quick to come out that it was hard to comprehend what was being said, but stylistically, things rhymed, and bodies were grooving to it. The crowd grew louder with each round of banter, especially when Matthew took a playful jab, saying we didn’t know who the band was. This performance had something for everyone; surveying the crowd, it was cool to see some people moving, headbanging, and throwing up fists at different points of the set.

SETLIST
‘Underneath’, ‘Chasing Shadows’, ‘Break’, ‘Kill Me’, ‘Here To Bleed’, ‘System’, ‘Adrenaline’, ‘The End’

UNEARTH

This Boston bunch jumped on this leg for eight dates to act as direct support for Atreyu, and fortunately enough, Toronto was the last show for this mini run. Playing the second full-length album, The Oncoming Storm, from 2004 in its entirety, an unadvertised twenty-first-anniversary celebration, with Trevor, the vocalist, bringing this fact up mid-set. This nearly forty-five-minute scorching metalcore masterpiece of a set absolutely brought out the headbangers in everyone and got the main floor of the venue absolutely rocking in all directions with all of the moshing and movement, complete with some heart hand symbols in the air as well.

In-between songs, a lot of knowledge was brought up about the loving relationship the band has with Toronto, one of their favorite cities on the planet, and how good we have treated them, which led me to research how many times they have played Toronto. Unearth has been to the area 31 times since 2000, and 9 times at The Opera House. Unlike the earlier opening visit to Toronto this year, this set had a lot more substance and just felt significantly more special, especially when we were told how rare some of these songs were to be played live.

After a nearly nonstop performance played to near perfection, the time may have been short, but Trevor told the crowd the band will be back in 2026, as they are recording new music. One of the best moments of the night was when “Hail Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne forever!” was announced by Trevor towards the end of one of the songs. We are so fortunate to have had Unearth on this show; forty-five minutes went super quick. They were tight as hell, and it was one of the best sets I’ve seen from them.

SETLIST
‘The Great Dividers’, ‘Failure’, ‘This Lying World’, ‘Bloodlust Of The Human Condition’, ‘Endless’, ‘False Idols’, ‘Zombie Autopilot’, ‘Lie To Purify’, ‘Predetermined Sky’, ‘Black Hearts Now Reign’

ATREYU

A notable change in the air of the venue just before Atreyu walked onto stage, as the floor of the Opera House was significantly hotter in temperature and completely jam-packed with bodies. With the figure of a coffin on stage covered in lights, we had a pretty wild mix of music before the lights went down for the official intro. The iconic ‘Sandstorm’ by Darude blared through the speakers and got the red-hot crowd into a frenzy before the band began. We were met with ‘Blood Children 2.0’ as the official opening notes of this set; church bells with haunting melodies rang through, followed by synths. “Toronto, what the fuck is going on?” Then, without even saying go, right into arguably the biggest hit of the band’s history, ‘Bleeding Mascara.’

Even with the energy the crowd had spent by this point, the chorus’s intense, palpable volume was insane. As charged as the singing was, the floor was vibrating and shaking from all of the movement, not only against the railing but in the pit as well. It didn’t take long for the band to address the crowd, which seemingly happened multiple times during the set, with talks of celebrating the Curse originally being released and celebrating 2.0, Travis Miguel and his mini doughnut eating throughout the night including throwing multiple minis to the crowd, and a long-winded story about Dan Jacobs the first time in Toronto and the “pink jacket offence.” When the music was playing and honouring the anniversary of the album, the crowd energy, seemingly impossible, just kept going up in movement and in volume, to the point where Brandon Saller called Toronto one of the best shows of the tour because touring this album around the world “blows my mind when we play an album from front to back, and like by song 7…8? You still know the words? Respect!”

The crowd at the venue was also profusely thanked for being there for the first two shows of this leg of the tour (which included Montreal), which sold out. One of the few bands to give a shout-out to the road crew that makes every show happen as well. It wasn’t long before the album play-through was done. “Now we can have some fucking fun. A five-song encore played out for the last thirty minutes of a musically charged ninety-plus set, complete with the passionate Toronto crowd singing in unison not only with the band but also with Brandon, allowing the crowd to take over completely, which no doubt brought out the highest amount of happiness to the band as a whole. Having been a fan for decades, this was my first time seeing them, and it is rare for a crowd to respond with such consistent energy throughout the performance. Even if every band member was not on the original release back in 2004, this anniversary tour celebrating the Curse album, given the upcoming 2.0 re-release, was a phenomenal and bulletproof night of music. Toronto not only showed up in person but also stood out as one of the best nights of the tour, leaving a lasting impression on Atreyu, even with the city’s long-standing history.

SETLIST
‘Intro – Sandstorm – Darude’, ‘The Curse’, ‘Blood Children 2.0’, ‘Bleeding Mascara’, ‘Right Side Of The Bed’, ‘This Flesh A Tomb’, ‘You Eclipsed By Me’, ‘The Crimson’, ‘The Remembrance Ballad’, ‘An Interlude’, ‘Corseting’, ‘Demonology And Heartache’, ‘My Sanity On The Funeral Pyre’, ‘Nevada’s Grace’, ‘Five Vicodin Chased With A Shot Of Clarity’, ‘Becoming The Bull’, ‘Ex’s And Oh’s’, ‘Dead’, ‘Blow’, ‘Lip Gloss And Black’