Rockhal, Esch sur Alzette, Luxembourg6th October 2026
Spiritbox - “Tsunami Sea UK & EU Tour 2026” - Support: Jinjer, Dying Wish
SPIRITBOX’s performance at the Rockhal on Tuesday night felt like a full circle moment. Four years ago, the Canadian band had performed in the Grand Duchy for the first time, appearing alongside ICE NINE KILLS in June 2022. At that time, SPIRITBOX were the band playing the earlier slot on a co-headlining bill, riding the momentum of ‘Eternal Blue’ and rapidly building an international following. This time, they returned as the undisputed headliners.
The Rockhal Main Hall was not completely sold out, which made their progression all the more interesting. SPIRITBOX have clearly moved far beyond their 2022 status, but Luxembourg was not witnessing an arena-sized triumph in front of a packed crowd. Instead, this was a more intimate chapter in the band’s ongoing success story. With DYING WISH and JINJER as support, there was certainly no shortage of heavy music before the headline act even appeared.
Dying Wish
DYING WISH is an American Melodic Metalcore band from Portland, Oregon, consisting of vocalist Emma Boster, guitarists Sam Reynolds and Pedro Carrillo, drummer Jeff Yambra and bassist Jon Mackey.
Music & Performance
DYING WISH was in the least enviable position of the evening, opening for two bands that could easily headline a venue of this size themselves. Their metallic Hardcore is direct, physical and aggressive, but there is enough melody beneath the violence to prevent it from becoming one-dimensional. Emma Boster is an intensely physical frontwoman who constantly pushes forward rather than standing behind a microphone waiting for the audience to come to her.
It was a short set, but this worked in DYING WISH’s favour. There was little room for unnecessary detours. They hit hard, made their point, and left the stage with the audience considerably more awake than when they arrived.
Setlist
01. I Don’t Belong Anywhere
02. Watch My Promise Die
03. A Curse Upon iron
04. Symptoms of Survival
05. I Brought You My Soul (Your World Brought Me Despair)
06. Cowards Feed, Cowards Bleed
07. Lost in the Fall
08. I’ll How You’re Not Around
Jinjer
JINJER is a Ukrainian Metalcore band from Donetsk, formed in 2008. None of the founding members remain with the band. The current line-up considers 2009 as its official year of formation, with the arrival of singer Tatiana Shmayluk and guitarist Roman Ibramkhalilov. The band has since added bassist Eugene Abdukhanov and drummer Vladislav Ulasevich. Their fifth studio album, ’Duél’, was released in February 2025.
Music & Performance
If there was one moment during the evening when the order of the acts became questionable, it was this one. Although the Ukrainian quartet were technically the second act of the evening, their performance had very little of the conventional support-slot mentality about it. Their set was concise and focused, yet JINJER still managed to create the impression of a full headline performance, albeit compressed into around 50 minutes.
Their musicianship is, of course, one of their obvious attractions. Progressive metal, groove metal and metalcore collide in songs that rarely stay in one rhythmic or emotional place for long. However, what is more impressive live is how natural the complexity feels. The set moved through ‘Perennial’, ‘Pit of Consciousness’, ‘Green Serpent’, ‘Call Me a Symbol’ and ‘Vortex’, with drummer Vlad Ulasevich and bassist Eugene Abdukhanov providing a relentlessly precise foundation. The songs contain enough rhythmic twists and technical detail to overwhelm a less disciplined band, but JINJER never appear to struggle with their own material.
And then there’s Tatiana Shmayluk. Watching her perform is one of the most spectacular things in contemporary metal. Her clean voice can be remarkably delicate and almost conversational before she suddenly switches to a deep growl that seems to come from a completely different place. The contrast is extreme, yet it never feels like a cheap vocal trick. It is simply part of how JINJER construct their songs.
‘I Speak Astronomy’ revealed another dimension to the band’s sound, before ‘Someone’s Daughter’ and ‘Judgement (& Punishment)’ brought the groove back to the fore. Shmayluk moved constantly across the stage but never lost the sense of control that defines the band’s performances. And, of course, there was ‘Pisces’. Few modern metal songs have become so closely associated with a particular vocal moment. The audience knew exactly what was coming. During the quiet opening, the room held its breath, and then, when Shmayluk transformed, there was one of the loudest reactions of the evening.
‘Duél’ brought the set towards its conclusion, with the band once again demonstrating that their strength lies not only in their technical ability, but also in their ability to combine precision with groove and sheer physical force. JINJER left the stage having achieved something significant: they did more than just prepare the audience for SPIRITBOX. They made a strong case for themselves.
Setlist
01. Perennial
02. Pit of Consciousness
03. Green Serpent
04. Call Me a Symbol
05. Vortex
06. I Speak Astronomy
07. Someone’s Daughter
08. Judgement (& Punishment)
09. Pisces
10. Duél
Spiritbox
SPIRITBOX is a metal band from Vancouver Island in the Canadian province of British Columbia, formed in 2016. The band was nominated in the Best Metal Performance category at the Grammy Awards in 2024, 2025 and 2026, and four times at the Juno Awards.
Music & Performance
The transition from JINJER’s relatively uncomplicated stage presence to SPIRITBOX’s production was instant. It was no longer just a band entering the stage. The stage itself had become part of the performance. A large white curtain initially concealed the scenery, making the opening moments feel more like theatre than a conventional metal concert. As the opening of ‘Fata Morgana’ began, the curtain dropped to reveal a production built around darkness, haze, sharply defined beams, and surreal visual elements.
The focus was less on filling every available surface with information and more on carefully controlling what the audience was allowed to see. This was particularly effective in the Rockhal. The venue is large enough to accommodate a substantial production, yet small enough that the visual concept remains connected to the people standing in front of the stage.
During ‘Black Rainbow’ and ‘Perfect Soul’, the stage repeatedly shifted between almost complete darkness and sudden bursts of sharply defined light. For ‘Keep Sweet’ and ‘Soft Spine’, the visual language became more aggressive, with the flashes of light effectively becoming another rhythmic layer of the music. It was an impressive production, but crucially, it did not overshadow the band.
Courtney LaPlante remained the focal point. Her performance was remarkably controlled, especially given how physically demanding some of the material was. The contrast between her clean vocals and her harsher delivery was at its most effective when the production temporarily stepped back, allowing her voice to carry the moment. ‘Cellar Door’, ‘Jaded’ and ‘The Void’ formed a darker central section, followed by a brief Tsunami Sea poem interlude before the title track. The transitions between songs focused less on conventional crowd interaction and more on maintaining the atmosphere of the show.
This is an area in which SPIRITBOX’s current live concept works particularly well. The concert feels deliberately constructed as one continuous visual and musical journey, rather than a series of individual songs. Then ‘Circle With Me’ changed everything. This song is one of those moments where the distinction between new material and old fan favourites becomes irrelevant. The audience took over and, for a few minutes, the elaborate visual concept became secondary to the simple fact that the whole room was singing along.
‘Holy Roller’ took that even further. There was also a nice connection between the bands when Emma Boster of DYING WISH joined SPIRITBOX for the song, turning one of the evening’s biggest moments into something shared rather than purely for the headline act. After ‘Sew Me Up’, drummer Zev Rose was given his own spotlight before the final sequence moved through ‘Crystal Roses’ and ‘Ride the Wave’. Rather than relying on the most obvious possible finale, the show closed with ‘Mourning’.
It was a suitably understated choice to end with the new single. Rather than attempting to end with the loudest possible finale, SPIRITBOX allowed the show to dissolve into something more atmospheric. This final impression is probably the most accurate way to describe the entire performance, not just a metal concert, but a carefully choreographed collision of sound, light, and movement.
Setlist
01. Fata Morgana
02. Black Rainbow
03. Perfect Soul
04. Keep Sweet
05. Soft Spine
06. Cellar Door
07. Jaded
08. The Void
09. Tsunami Sea
10. Circle With Me
11. Holy Roller (with Emma Boster)
12. Sew Me Up
13. Crystal Roses
14. Ride the Wave
15. Mourning
The contrast was what worked particularly well about this package. DYING WISH represented the rawest and most immediate form of aggression. JINJER, on the other hand, brought technical precision and a groove, as well as a vocalist capable of moving between extremes almost instantaneously. SPIRITBOX then built on this, incorporating atmosphere and theatrical presentation while retaining their heavier roots. This meant that the evening never felt monotonous.
While the Rockhal was not completely full, the room itself worked surprisingly well for SPIRITBOX. The band are clearly moving towards larger venues, but the empty space actually allowed the audience’s reactions to become part of the show, rather than making the concert feel like an arena production in a smaller venue. However, there was one less glamorous detail awaiting fans at the merchandise stand. T-shirts were priced at 50 Euro.
While this is not unheard of for major international touring acts in 2026, it is still a considerable amount to pay for a concert T-shirt. When you consider that fans are already paying for a ticket and, in many cases, travelling to see the band, 50 Euro pushes a piece of tour merchandise firmly into the category of a considered purchase rather than an impulse souvenir. This may be a small detail, but it says something about the economics surrounding today’s large-scale touring productions.
All Pictures by Elena Arens
