I travelled over to Belfast the day before the gig cos I was meeting up with my friend Kat and we were travelling down together. The next day we took the coach down the Dublin and met up with our friends Susan and Neil. As we were walking to their flat, we saw the queue outside the Ambassador and it was massive so we decided to head to the gig a little later so we wouldn’t have to wait ages to get in. We got into the venue about 8 o’clock just in time to see Annihilator. When I’d heard that they were the support band I went and bought a best of cd to see what they were like. If I’m being honest, I really wasn’t impressed but live they were absolutely fantastic!! I was pleasantly surprised. They had a great stage presence and got a great response from the crowd. After them we headed down the front on the right side of the stage and got to a good place. After about half an hour, their Final Fantasy intro tape started rolling and then they burst on with Entrance Of The Conflagration which I think is a brilliant opener. There were a lot of kids there so the energy on the floor was sky high, with mosh pits going from the first note. They played a lot from The Crusade which I was very pleased about cos I adore that album and it’s the one that really got me into them. For a band I absolutely hated when I first heard them, I’ve seen them live 6 times and counting!! Haha!! When I saw them with Iron Maiden I was hoping they would play Ember To Inferno and Dying In Your Arms (they didn’t) but we got them this time and was very happy. The song of the night was most definitely Gunshot To The Head Of Trepidation which had the crowd bouncing off the ceiling from the first note to the last, it was so great to be a part of but I was bloody knackered from all the jumping!! Haha!! They only played for an hour and 15 minutes which was kind of disappointing but I think it’s cos Matt’s voice is fucked. You can tell he’s really blown it out recently. Corey took over a lot of the main vocals for the older stuff cos it’s so screamy, with Matt just doing the singing parts which takes the pressure off him a bit. After the gig, we decided to wait to see if we could meet the band. It was great just sitting chatting together outside the venue. We didn’t have to wait too long before Corey and Travis came out. Travis didn’t stay for very long, apologising that he had to go but Corey stayed and signed every autograph and posed for every photo and was generally a really cool guy, very approachable and down to earth. I was kinda disappointed not to have met the other guys but there was always the next night. We went to get some food in a place called Supermac’s on the way back and when we were all finished, I decided to nip to the toilet before heading back and as I came back, my friends told me they’d just met all of Annihilator who’s been walked past and started giving them the horns. I was gutted cos I wasn’t gonna bother going to the loo until we got back!!! Argh, that’s just typical!!!!!!
The next day we had time to wander around Dublin. Su and Neil took us to all the cool record shops which was really not a good idea cos I spent loads (but I did get a dvd from the Somewhere In Time tour which is very awesome!!). We were going to go to the gig earlier this time so we could catch Gojira’s set and we weren’t disappointed. They were excellent!!!! I was really looking forward to Annihilator’s set tonight, especially a song called King Of The Kill. They were great once again and really got the crowd hyped up. Trivium opened with Entrance Of The Conflagaration again and a huge pit started as soon as they came on. This was kind of a good thing tho cos all the movement makes it easier to get nearer the front cos as someone moves, you slip into their place. So I managed to get second row on Paolo’s side which I was very pleased about. They did a lot of the same songs as they’d done the previous night with a couple of exceptions. They played Ascendancy which Matt said they hadn’t played in about a year and a half and another one which I can’t remember for the life of me what it’s called!! As they went off just before the encore, everyone started chanting “Master! Master!” for them to do Master Of Puppets. Travis went up to the mic and was saying (in a fun way) that it was a Trivium show, not a Metallica show. Matt then said, “Do you REALLY want us to play that song?” of course everyone roared in approval. He asked which we wanted to hear, Master Of Puppets or Walk and Puppets got such a huge cheer, so they went on a did a shortened version of the song which I thought was awesome!!! Gunshot was incredible again, I absolutely love that song!!! At the end, Paolo threw his water bottle out into the crowd and the entire contents landed on my head!! It was a very nice cool down then but not so nice waiting for waiting outside after the gig. There were more people waiting outside than the previous night so I wasn’t sure if they would come out or not. Annihilator came out and was chatting with the crowd. I only got to speak to Brian (who’s totally off his rocker!!) and Jeff. I was telling them about the incident the other night which they thought was funny. They signed my tickets from both nights and I got a photo with both of them. Brian was wearing a Pantera 101 Live shirt and I commented on it, saying Pantera were awesome and he pointed at my hoodie and went, “Hell yeah!!!! METALLICA!!!!” The guy is nuts!! Hahaha!! It wasn’t long before the guys from Trivium came out. I spoke to Travis first and got a photo with him. I was telling him that I’d was going to the Glasgow show as well and asked if there was any chance of hearing The Rising and he said, “Oh you might be in luck there!” so fingers crossed! I said the same thing to Matt so hopefully they’ll play it. I was surprised how tall Matt is, I’m damn near 6ft and he towers over me!! I got to speak to Paolo for a bit too and shook his hand, he’s so small compared to the others but such a sweet guy. We hung around as long as the band were outside and as I was stood next to Corey, I noticed he had the same awesome Machine Head jacket on as he did the previous night so I asked him where he got it. To which he replied, “The guys in Machine Head gave it to me.” I was afraid that’d be the answer cos I want one, it was so cool!!! All the guys were really nice and made sure all the fans there got a photo and stuff signed. A lot of people slate them, especially Matt, saying that they’re arrogant and rude but they had a lot of time for the fans that night and it’s made me love them all the more! Can’t wait to see them in Glasgow on Friday!!
Some photos now!!! Night one...
I LOVE this photo!!
Night two!!
Annihilator's back drop
Trivium banner
Video of Ember To Inferno - just before my camera died on me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QiEzR8Ivwg
My signed albums
Can't wait!!! So many gigs this week!! Was at Christy Moore (Irish folk singer) on Wednesday, McFly (cheesy pop band) tonight then Trivium in Dublin on Sunday, Monday and again in Glasgow on Friday!! 
So excited!!! Everyone be good and I will see you all when I get back!!! 
Up The Irons!! 
