I had been eagerly anticipating this concert for a long time to come since the almighty MACHINE HEAD was going to be playing! In all reality MACHINE HEAD should be headlining just because their album sales aren?t quite what LAMB OF GOD's are, their status is just so much more legendary. I also was excited to see TRIVIUM with new material since I hadn?t seen them since they opened for ICED EARTH. GOJIRA and LAMB OF GOD were just extra goodness on the side.
GOJIRA had already begun playing by the time I got in the door due to a discretion with the guest list. They were crushing as they were before when I saw them open for CHILDREN OF BODOM in December. The crowd gave them a fairly decent response I think the majority of the crowd was just too pumped for the last three bands since it was such a devastating lineup. My favorite song that they played is the first track on the album From Mars To Sirius entitled Ocean Planet. For those who haven't heard it, I think that it is has a MESHUGGAH like time structure with an ENTOMBED kind of tone if that makes sense at all.
Next up was the Mighty MACHINE HEAD! I hadn't seen them play for about 3 years or at least it seems like it. They opened with Clenching The Fist Of Dissent, the first track fro their new album The Blackening. It is a extremely solid song that is very reminiscent of old MACHINE HEAD, but with a different twist. Next I think was Imperium and Aesthetics of Hate, which is also a new track that is dedicated to Dimebag. Both songs blew my fucking mind their sound is just absolutely crushing live and the way the fans react is always super positive with huge pits and crowd surfing galore. Then at the end of the set they threw in Davidian and Old which are always crowd pleasers especially Davidian with the somewhat sing-a-long chorus.
TRIVIUM were up next on the bill and this about the time when al the little eyeliner and girls? jeans wearing guys came up to the front. I just kind of eased my way to a semi-decent spot to watch the crowd antics as well as the band. They played a decent mixture from both of the latest albums however only playing one-maybe two songs off their first album, which disappoints me greatly since that is my personal favorite of theirs. Their new songs I had a real problem getting into since the singer now sings like James Hetfield used to sing. Musically I thought they were pretty much on the same level as the songs from Ascendancy. Overall they were decent not as good as they were before, but easily good enough to watch.
The headliner was LAMB OF GOD who have almost turned into the PANTERA of the 2000s. Lots of the same crowd listens to them and they are one of the biggest newer metal bands on Earth right now. Although their record sales aren?t what PANTERA's were, too many metal bands have gotten that successful. LAMB OF GOD needs to have less light in their stage shows!!! Yes it was cool to have the strobe lights etc, but I couldn't see anyone at all other than the singer, NO JOKE! I was a distance back, but still I had no problem seeing any of the other bands because they lacked such an elaborate light show. They sounded great though playing such songs as Burn The Priest, Now You've Got Something To Die For, and Laid To Rest. Randy was on point from what I could having a great command over the crowd. Oddly enough their was no wall of death, I thought that it was a LAMB OF GOD ritual or something that they did it every time, guess not. Overall MACHINE HEAD easily dominated the entire evening by light years, they are just such a tight band and the songs are always huge. I just cant get enough MACHINE HEAD I look forward to seeing them in the future.
A special thanks to Terry Taylor at Hunt Industries for setting up the passes.
