Four popular and modern metal acts hit the stage at The Paul E.Tsongas Arena in Lowell, Massachusetts last night to kick off the first night of a three week tour across the United States. The quartet of Lamb of God, DevilDriver, Soilwork and Killswitch Engage figured to quite possibly be the best all-around lineup of any show I've attended.
In March, I attended the Metal for the Masses tour featuring Into Eternity, Scar Symmetry, The Haunted and Dark Tranquility. But seeing these four bands on the opening night of a three week long tour added a bit of flavor to the show.
I expected the bands to be at their sharpest, especially the vocalists. I also expected the bands to be full off overflowing energy from their time off touring before tonight. The road crews would probably be healthy and strong as well, making the downtime as fast as the music being played. And it was all so true.
As I entered the show at 7;31 PM ET, I could clearly hear Soilwork playing from afar. In particular, I was amped to see these Swedish metal gods, as they were the only band in the line-up that is from outside the United States.
Even before my arrival I contemplated how and why a band with seven records under their belts could possibly open before a band like DevilDriver(and for that matter KE and LOG).
In comparison, Soilwork's seven albums(four are brilliant) easily defeat DevilDriver's three mediocre albums.
In any case, Soilwork's set was brief as it ended after just five songs. The band stayed free and clear from their brilliant early albums and instead fed the largely 30 and under crowd of a taste of the previous two albums. Fortunately, the band performed stellar renditions of Exile and The Pittsburgh Syndrome. Dipping into Natural Born Chaos, the band performed Follow the Hollow before closing the 25 minute set with Stabbing the Drama. A nice growl from Speed over a brief drum assault put a smile on the face of concert goers such as I who love the early thrashy death metal Soilwork sound.
Meanwhile, an energized and surprisingly upbeat Dez and the boys from DD hit the stage. Immediately, a pit arose and stayed strong throughout the loud 30 minute set. Dez thanked the other bands for giving DD the chance to come and play along with some of today's best metal bands. He also won the crowd over after announcing three of the members in the band were from Massachusetts.
The band displayed a little bit from all three albums. Songs such as I Could Care Less, End of the Line and Sin & Sacrifice took loud and made it louder. The band quickly plugged their new album before playing arguably the two best cuts on 2007's The Last Kind Words; Not All Who Wander Are Lost and Clouds over California. The solos were sharp, loud and clear. Same goes for Dez's brutally extreme vocal performance. The front of the drummer's set had a neat picture on Jack Nicholson on it; very cool.
At the halfway point of the show, I was bit dismayed only roughly three or four thousand people were in attendance. The floor was packed but the blue seats were more empty than full. Quite surprising for an all-ages show. Without a doubt, the fans for Lamb of God were everywhere, easily outnumbering all three other bands combined. I saw at least 10 concert revelers in the same LOG shirt as me. In estimation, LOG's t-shirts outnumbered all other bands tenfold. DD was a distant second, as I tallied up the kinds of t-shirts the fans in attendance wore at the show. Meanwhile, the clothing apparel vendors had the usual prices; $15-20 cd's, $25 t-shirts and $45 hoodies. The brand new Soilwork Sworn to a Great Divide(think cd cover) designed t-shirts seemed to be a hot seller as the show progressed.
I grabbed some Red Hook ESB as I awaited Killswitch Engage. Or so I thought. Despite the fact Howard from KE was playing with the microphone 15 minutes after the close of DD's set, it was in fact LOG that came out next. The backdrop was the PURE AMERICAN METAL logo with the flag.
The entire set was amazing. The band stayed on stage for 58 minutes as they played a bit of everything. Randy, much like Speed and Dez, was in a jolly good mood. He thanked the crowd a whopping nine times for coming out and supporting the opening night of this arena tour. He talked about the past great shows at the Palladium(my home away from home) and how great the area is(I'm certain he says that every show). Randy also mentioned the last few times LOG was at Tsongas arena; the Slayer tour, the SOTU tour and the Subliminal Verses World Tour.
That got me thinking about that show as I was there. It was March 15 2005. I spent so much time drinking before the show I missed the opening band;Shadows Fall. But LOG stole the show way before Slipknot took the stage. They were infectiously good with their evil renditions of Ashes of the Wake.
This time they played a ton of the somewhat recent stuff from 2006's Sacrament.(note- they broke the record on my heavy metal radio afternoon show in Salem, MA. for longest stay on heavy rotation) The amazing metal bland from Richmond, VA played furiously catchy compositions such as Pathetic, Blacken the Cursed Sun, Requiem, Walk with me in Hell, and Redneck. The band even played Decending, a dark and evil cut that was dedicated on this night to someone in the crowd. That someone was Ken Susi from Unearth. He and the boys from Unearth were in attendance along with Seemless and Blood has Been Shed. Pure Massachusetts Metal.
But the band still stayed true to their early stuff as they played cuts such as Ruin and set closer Black Label. The band had a great time playing songs from Ashes of the Wake such as Omerta and Now You've Got Something to Die For.
One last note on the LOG performance. The guitar work was breathtaking. The riffs and solos were truly mindblowing. Willie opened a couple songs with vicious leads and executed some extended mistake-free leads with the red smoke filled spotlight on just him. Lastly, Randy told the crowd expect a new album and tour in 2009. That was a catastrophic disappointment to all in attendance.
Last but not least was the boys from Killswitch Engage. Their performance was one past music one past comedy. Howard and Adam had a ton of fun going back and forth with each other and the crowd. Adam also had the funniest lines of the night. On how to heal his ailing back he told the crowd I quote, "Ben and Jerry's and hand jobs." Adam also talked about vices, saying his worst are, " The Wendy's 99 cent meal and young girls."
They were comical at times but a bit aggravating to few others(It's an all-ages, general admission show after all). Adam's cries for circle pits every 5 minutes(p.s. Adam-your music isn't that heavy) irked a plethora of fans in attendance as did his overly frequent calling of the crowd "pussies". Though it didn't bother me, it was clear others felt different.
At one point Justin disappeared and Howard asked of his whereabouts. It wasn't until the crowd chanted for him did he reappear. The band was clearly confused at times, to which Howard quipped,"It's the first night of the tour guys." No problem for me. Adam also touched on a patch of hair on his hairy back, an obvious reference to Randy.
The biggest roar of the night was when Howard lay mention to the Red Sox winning the World Series. He spotlighted Justin for being a Yankee fan to which the crowd predictably booed.
As for the music, the band stayed with newer stuff meaning a bunch of near ballads.
Songs of the newest album such as My Curse, The Arms of Sorrow and Desperate Times kept things at a medium pace. But not to disappoint, the boys played the heaviest and arguably the best song on As Daylight Dies; For You. Besides For You, the only other songs to garner a pit was great renditions off The End of Heartache such as Rose of Sharyn and Bid Farewell. The set closer (at 12:01 AM ET) was dedicated to the women(the third time he did so, the first time was to fat women, the second to the beautiful women and the third to simply women) as they performed the cut The End of Heartache.
Don't get me wrong; KE put on a good show. I'm simply being objective since I'm a big fan and so are my faithful listeners on 91.7 WMWM Salem. I was hoping to hear some early stuff but all we got was Self Revolution.
I talked with a few fans in between sets and most knew what to expect; new material from each band. A Soilwork fan from the area expected nothing from the stellar early albums but loved the new stuff for its catchiness.(That's about all a listener can appreciate from that album) A crew of teens from Leominster, MA came for DD and left a bigger fan than before the show. Two dudes from Chickopee, MA came for the sole purpose of seeing KE because they're the next town over from KE's beginnings. All the LOG fans I spoke with after the set were so stoked to see the show and loved the fact the set was an hour.
In the end a great show. Things were a bit different though. The crowd was mellow at times, but considering the security was present it's somewhat expected. The drinks consisted of either beers, a glass of win, or shooters of Bacardi. The BASS stand was shut down as was the Gosling's stand. And unfortunately, no Jagermeister was available. The wonderful smell of marijuana was hardly in the arena's rafters. Security confiscated packs of cigarettes and did the proper pat down. But many concert veterans knew how to bypass these procedures. So go check out the rest of the tour and support our bands.
Jason Parrella
a.k.a. 'the prophet'
www.myspace.com/fridayshadow
rock/metal director 91.7 WMWM Salem
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