Lamb of God with Fear Factory and Children of Bodom
Average Rating: 4 Skulls
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Lamb of God with Fear Factory and Children of Bodom
Average Rating: 4 Skulls |
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Death's Review (11/1/04, The House of Blues, Hollywood, CA):
With Halloween officially over, I made my way to the House of Blues yet again (it seems that they have been a lot of good shows of late) for Lamb of God, Fear Factory and Children of Bodom. I purposefully blew off Throwdown – I'm just not interested and I was wrapped up in a meaningless Monday night football blowout between the Jets and Miami because I had the Jets "D" on my fantasy team and my opponent had Miami TE Randy McMichael. So even with the score 41-7 I still cared more about the end of the game than I did about seeing Throwdown.
Lamb of God
Photo by DeathI got there just as Bodom started to play. I missed the first couple tracks but caught most of the set including "Sixpounder" and "Needled 24/7" and, as always, the Fins put on one hell of a show. Bodom has gotten a lot of U.S. exposure this past year, and they deserve it as they are incredibly talented musicians who love metal, sound modern, but have a healthy respect for the old school. To top it all off, these guys are obviously having a whole lot of fun too, living the rock and roll life and fully appreciating every second of it. Every time I see this band play live, the entire venue fills up with an incredible energy, and this night was no exception. Raise your shot glass and toast the mighty Bodom - a band that deserves even greater accolades in the year to come.
Fear Factory were cooler than I expected, at least at first. I had pounded a few beers and that was good enough to get me in a headbanging mood, and Fear Factory came right out of the box with some of their newer material ("Nothing! You say! Matters! To Us!") that actually sounded pretty cool in the live setting. The crowd was pretty into it too. The most surreal aspect of the set for me, however, was standing near ex-Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares in the VIP balcony area while watching his old band jam onstage. Weird - it kinda made the title track off of the new album "Archetype" resonate with a deeper meaning. Anyway, I'm not that into Fear Factory these days but I was drinking and having fun so I just decided to let loose and band my head to the classic material from old favorites from Demanufacture and Soul of a New Machine. All in all, the band was actually better and more fun than I had expected.
Children of Bodom
Photo by DeathIt took a while for Lamb of God to take the stage; many of my friends had already heading out to the Rainbow - but I'd say the venue was still 85% full when Lamb of God went on. At this point I was hanging out by myself for a stretch, and I ordered some food from the bar at the House of Blues (the stuff is good and reasonably priced for a theme restaurant on Sunset Strip -- $2 for fries, $4 for a sandwich wrap, and the upstairs restaurant looks cool too). Then I climbed into the photo pit and awaited the might Lamb of God, who came onstage and immediately began to devastate all. Simply put, Lamb of God were amazing. This was my first time hearing the Ashes of the Wake material live, and it was every bit as powerful as I had imaged while cranking it in my car or on my iPod. "Laid to Rest" opened and killed everyone and everything within earshot; new stuff like "Something to Die For" also destroyed, as did "Omerta" and Lamb of God classics like "Eleventh Hour" and "Black Label." All told, this was one of the best performances I've seen out of Lamb of God. They are undoubtedly an unstoppable machine right now hitting their peak as a band. In 2004, Lamb of God is pretty much one of the best bands the heavy metal genre has to offer. If nothing else, this night solidified that opinion in me for a long time to come.
After the show, I hit the Rainbow, where my buddies were hanging out with the Children of Bodom guys. These guys just don't let up, and the party continued on over to see Metal Skool at the Roxy - a Monday night/80's metal/Sunset Strip institution. Of course, Bodom's appreciation for all things Motley Crue and Guns and Roses knows no bounds, so I had the distinct pleasure of rocking out into the wee hours with the Bodom entourage and screaming along to stuff like Motley Crue's "Live Wire." By 2:00 am though I had to bolt - it was a "school night," after all. All in all a killer night - this is what metal is all about.
Redwolff's Review (10/15/04,The Palladium, Worcester, MA):
Due to a misread train schedule and uncooperative driving weather, we arrived at the Palladium about a half hour after the doors opened, expecting we'd have missed first openers Throwdown but were just in time for Children of Bodom. Instead, a sign at the ticket window proclaimed that due to unavoidable circumstances (Randy from LOG later said it was "some horrible tire thing, or something, I don't know exactly what happened") Throwdown was not on the bill that night and the show had started on time with COB up first - and they had just left the stage. The disappointment increased exponentially when my companion, who writes for another site, discovered he was not on the guest list as expected, and had to take his camera back out into the rain to his car. Fortunately I was on the list and proceeded inside with his sister, where we ran into Requiem and Ember by the bar. They had a similar story to tell regarding the guest list. I guess I just got lucky.
Fear Factory
Photo by DeathBefore too long, Fear Factory started up. Their set consisted of songs from Soul of a New Machine, Demanufacture, Obsolete and the new album but they seemed to have skipped Digimortal entirely. We started out behind the bar, then moved up towards the stage, then went up to the balcony; but to my ears the sound was bad from every area in the theater. The drums were a little ahead of the rest of the band through most of the set and Burton's vocals went off-key a number of times as if he was unable to hear his monitor to correct it. Some crowd participation was encouraged (chants of "Hey! Hey!", etc.) which kept the audience in the pit interested but all in all I thought it was a weak set - I've seen them play much better before this. I've been a fan since Soul..., and their management was very cool to Requiem and Ember, getting them a photopass after the mistake with the list was discovered. So I'll have to give them a break and just say that Fear Factory were having an off night rather than "Fear Factory suck now."
Lamb of God
Photo by EmberAfter a quick breakdown/set up, Lamb of God took the stage. This was my third or fourth time seeing them and this was probably the best set I've seen them play. LOG mostly played a mix of Palaces and Ashes of the Wake with a couple from their Burn the Priest days "for the old school fans." Between song banter included ridiculing the Boston fans for starting a "Yankees Suck!" chant. About three-quarters through the set, Randy appeared from stage right slung over the shoulder of Howard Jones from Killswitch Engage, who deposited him back at center stage and ran off again. A song was dedicated to Shadows Fall, bringing Brian Fair briefly out from the wings. Then Steve Austin of Today is the Day joined the band on a couple songs with his unusual vocal stylings, and he and Randy both dove into the crowd a couple times. The roadies, still on stage, played out the microphone cords, making the two of them look like they were being fished out of the sea of people below the stage. Lamb of God seemed very at home at the Palladium, and Randy commented on the fact that they had been there "millions of times". The confidence and energy of the band made it a great show - and the acoustics were much kinder to them than they had been to Fear Factory.
So the night hadn't started too well, but Lamb of God really saved it for me. I have to say that the Palladium is a fucking pit though - I haven't been back to Worcester too many times since I graduated from Clark U., and I'd never seen a show there before. The peeling paint, nasty bathrooms with no locks on the doors and mildewed balcony seats might say "metal" to some of you grungier types but to me it just says "old and dirty". The gross venue, the fact that my friends and fellow reviewers were not on the list, and Fear Factory's disappointing set detracts from Lamb of God's five skull performance somewhat - I'm going to have to give this show three skulls overall. But I'm looking forward to seeing LOG again, you can count on that.
Requiem's Review (10/15/04,The Palladium, Worcester, MA):
There's no doubt in my mind that Worcester is the place to have a metal show. After attending a few different shows in Boston, the turnout is nowhere near what tonight's capacity would reveal. Either that or the combination of bands on this bill were to blame. While Children of Bodom have been gaining notoriety and Fear Factory have been holding on to their vast legion of fans, the new wave has certainly shown its stature, this night in the form of Lamb of God.
Children of Bodom
Photo by EmberWhen we arrived it was raining, and the line was wrapped around the building. This made for a wise call to duck into Irish Times and get a pre-game brew. Smart move, as there was virtually no line when we decided to head to the venue. Word got out that Throwdown would not be playing, which was no let down, as long as we got inside to catch Bodom. Well here's where the expected dilemma comes into play. "No, sorry sir, you're not on the list." Luckily I knew the promoter who promised to remedy the situation if Fear Factory could not come to my rescue. A polite Burton C. Bell answered the bus door, kindly retrieved his tour manager who quickly and courteously took care of us. Thank you Scott Lee, and thank you Fear Factory for being so cooperative.
Bodom hit the stage and I sent Ember off to do her photo duties, while I waited for the rest of my crew to make it into the club. It was so packed in there that there was really no great place to watch the band, unless you were content with rudely shoving people out of the way, which I was not. It was pretty much a lose/lose situation as we tried to find many spots to watch the band, only to find that we could see but not hear them well or vice versa. However, when I could see them they looked great and when I could hear them they sounded great. They also had the crowd in their control, mesmerizing each and every one of them with their tremendous talents and earning a roar of approval in between songs. Job well done guys.
Fear Factory
Photo by EmberFear Factory were up next, and I must admit it was weird to see them not headlining as they used to be a LOT bigger ten years back. But kudos to them for sticking it out, and writing one of their finest albums in a long time. Needless to say, they sounded 10 times better than they did a couple months ago in Boston. And this was mainly due to the much better sound of the venue who managed to capture Fear Factory they way they should be heard. There was no doubt that they had their share of fans there too, both new and old, sporting Fear Factory garb and singing along religiously through every track.
Last but not least were Lamb of God, who have clearly earned their spot in the heavy metal elite. One can't deny that these guys tear it up and are ultra tight every time. Even vocalist Randy, who was inebriated an hour before, never missed a beat. I too was well on my way to inebriation at that point as well, so what do I know. Regardless, their brand of tech thrash/metalcore/whatever you want to label 'em, went over incredibly well. The crowd was going ballistic as expected and the guest vocals by Brian Fair from Shadows Fall, Howard Jones from Killswitch Engage and Steve Austin from Today is the Day made for an interesting moment in the show. Like it or not, the New Wave of American Heavy Metal, as they call it, is here, and Lamb of God are doing a good job riding that wave to success. The 2,000 plus attendance reassured me that heavy metal is alive and well. If fact it looks as though mainstream metal is about to take a step up into the extreme.
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