Lithium Magazine

Review and photos by Mike Bax

www.lamb-of-god.com
www.myspace.com/lambofgod
www.facebook.com/lambofgod

Lamb of God fans can put January 27th, 2012 down in the history books as a bona fide day to remember! The band rolled into town early, appearing at HMV on Queen Street West at 3:00pm to do an in-store autograph signing and then went over to The Phoenix to play one of the smallest rooms Lamb of God have performed in Toronto since their early album tour cycles in the late 1990's.

Lamb of God's seventh studio album, Resolution, was released this week. To both celebrate and promote the albums' completion and release, six very intimate live shows on the East Coast were booked for the week - Toronto being the only Canadian date on this run:

January 22nd: Richmond - The National
January 24th: New York - Irving Plaza
January 25th: Boston - The Paradise
January 26th: Philadelphia - The Trocadero
January 27th: Toronto - Phoenix Concert Hall
January 28th: Washington DC - 9:30 Club

Tickets for this evenings show were in high demand. The show sold out in minutes. Fans were assembling at the venue at 1:00pm, chomping at the bit to see one of their favourite bands in a smaller venue. Before the doors opened at 7:30pm, a lineup of die hard metal fans spanning back towards Wellesley Street were all standing in line, trying to shake off the subtle chill looming in our warmer-than-usual January.

The Acacia Strain and Toronto's own Manahan handled the opening duties this evening. Both bands performed well, with Acacia Strain's vocalist Vincent Bennett going out of his way to douse the patrons up front with water bottles that he smashed together in a clapping fashion. Bennett thanked Lamb of God for the tour and indicated that they would not exist as a band without their direct influence.

By the time 10:15 rolled around, the Phoenix was wedged to capacity. People were already sweating heavily before the band even started, and once Lamb of God took the stage and exploded with a one-two punch of “Desolation” and “Ghost Walking”, The Phoenix lit up with a communal energy I haven't seen at many shows before. Fans were coughed over the security rail with wild abandon as an ever present circle pit whipped the Toronto patrons into a melting-pot of shirts, sweat, shoes and Axe body spray.

Lead singer Randy Blythe addressed the audience a few times. He cited Toronto, saying "This town has always been really kind to us!" before going onto describe Toronto as the first city the band ever played outside of the USA, and Canada as being the only place to ever yield Lamb of God with a number one album (Wraith). Towards the end of the performance, Blythe took the time to commend filmmaker Sam Dunn and his support of the metal scene. Blythe even went side stage and dragged Dunn on stage, sharing a brief hug before Dunn quickly retreated off to stage right.

Everyone from Lamb of God was on fire this evening. Mark Morton and Willie Adler were comically sparring with their guitar necks multiple times during the bands encore. A woman's bra was tossed towards Mark Morton shortly before show closer “Black Label” was performed. Mark handed the garment to Blythe, who put his back to the audience as he slipped it on and then sung the beginning of the song wearing it.

John Campbell sneered and swayed throughout the evening's performance, whipping his lengthy hair into the neck of his bass a few time and leaving the occasional tendril of hair wedged between the tuning pegs and headstock of his bass. Chris Adler pounded out an amazing evening of blast-beats high atop a riser behind the band. His complex setup of drums and cymbals along with his height above the band made getting a clean photo of him almost impossible as he was all but obscured behind his kit. His position was AWESOME for the audience however, putting him up high enough that fans could see him work his magic throughout the bands entire set.

Randy Blythe flailed about the small Toronto stage like controlled chaos for almost two hours, flinging his dreadlocked mane about like a man half his age for the shows entire duration. When it comes to metal bands and dynamic posing and presentation from a lead singer, Mr. Blythe ranks high amongst my favourite to watch.

This evening was nothing shy of amazing. A great band in a small venue, celebrating with their core fans around an album of excellent material. A show worth every penny paid to attend. My favourite songs of the evening were “Contractor” and “Redneck” but only by a small margin. The whole show was just amazing to be a part of.

Set List:

Desolation
Ghost Walk

Walk With Me In hell

Set To Fail

Something To Die For

Ruin

Hourglass

Undertow

Blacken the Cursed Sun

Contractor

The Number Six
Llaid To Rest

Encore:

(The Passing)
in Your Words

Redneck

Black Label