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Sunday, December 1, 2013

Lamb of God/ Killswitch Engage/ Testament/ Huntress @ Fillmore Silver Spring 11/26/2013

I went to see the sold out last top of the tour for Lamb of God, Killswitch, Testament, and Huntress ($35) at the Fillmore.  Even though this was a sold out show, I saw a ton of people there.  They included Ariel y su Mujer, Jaime,  Dwayne, Brenda y su hombre, Scott, DanPaytas, Victoria, Meghan, D'andre, Dorothy, Jen P, bridget,  and Bill from work.


It was of course raining horribly and cold outside. I forgot my heavier leathers, so I stood in line and got almost soaking, but definitely shivering wet while getting frisked. I don't know what the issue was, but it took forever to get in and warm up. There were not a lot of people when I stumbled in at around 6:45 or so.

The weather was bad enough, with rain, bad traffic, and cold. But the whole timetable was even more of a pain, because Huntress posted they'd be on at 6:30, then Fillmore posted that they'd be on at 7, and the sign/actual at the venue they were on at 6:45. I'm glad I got there early!  Shivering and my hair all matted and wet, I tried to warm up by watching the Huntress band.  I noticed that something was a bit...off. This was the last stop on the tour,and you could tell it- Jill Janus sounded kinda rough. On the high notes, she just wasn't hittin' 'em. So I don't know if other dates were like this, but she def has sounded better. The band was solid, and I don't think I heard any bad notes from them. They seemed a bit overlooked, just like the rest of Amaranthe.  Whatever the case they sounded way better than at Mayhem Fest (at which we were up way too close). Perhaps the next time I won't catch them on a bad night. I don't know how much touring Huntress has done, but I recall that Anette from Nightwish toured a LOT, and it seemed like she had a LOT of off nights...

The might and way too low on the bill but seriously all that is determined by album sales and the like right Testament was on next. Some stage drapes came down to reveal large skull faces that shot steam. Yeah, pretty metal. So that was pretty exciting, along with the backdrops.  Testament took the stage nonchalantly. You saw the band file in and Chuck Billy's trademark Lightsaber/ light up mic stand. They had a damn loud crowd reaction (and deservedly so).  They played a lot of newer stuff, but still some classic songs.  I was thinking if they played (the decidedly commercial) "Electric Crown" I might have taken to the pit- people were not as rowdy as I think they could get, especially for the typical Lamb of God fan. They sounded pretty great, but maybe from where I was standing, Chuck Billy's vocals seemed a little low in the mix. I think "The Preacher" was the best song of their set. The pit was pretty wide, so that looked pretty intense from where I was standing.  Chuck Billy was throwing all manner of stuff into the crowd, I def could make out the large novelty guitar picks, but there were other things he was chucking. I don't think I've ever seen anyone throw that many items to the crowd.

Somehow we moseyed up to the front for Killswitch Engage. I was thinking that Killswitch was going to not be as good as Testament, but somehow I was proven wrong. Killswitch, despite their super annoying strafing spotlights that blinded me, had a pretty badass set. Adam D did his usual stupid antics, from the moment they ran onstage to "Eye of the Tiger" to the end of ...um... "End of Heartache." His short shorts, silly bandana, frosted tips, and Wolfgang Peavy guitar made quite the odd sight.  I was less irked by his insanity (I think it was the booze), and I remembered that the bass player of Killswitch is the bass player for Death Ray Vision.  So Killswitch played a set of hits and some new stuff, all of which sounded great. Also some cute girl distracted me about halfway thru, trying to get up front. So that kind of distracted during the less than stellar "Beyond the Flames." and the like.  Anyways, I remember Dwayne and I were shouting like maniacs during several songs. My favourite of their set-  "Life to Lifeless."  I think they were about as great as last time. They also changed up their setlist a lil, with their newest single "Always," "Turning Point," and "Into the Unblind (!!)." So that was awesome (OK,  "Always" was very good, not awesome).   I was thinking that Lamb of God would not be able to top these metalcore (secretshame?) monsters, especially if they played the same setlist like they did the last 2 times....


During Killswitch's set, the crowd really filled up... so Lamb of God stomped on stage to a setlist that was about 80% the same to a ton of people. I was a bit disappointed at that, I am not sure exactly why because Killswitch seemed to have that similar situation. I think it had to do with Lamb of God doing a similar set way more times, I guess. That is not to say that they didn't sound great- but it was nothing new. And this is from some guy who loves going to see Kix. I don't know what I was expecting, but there was something missing from their set for me (besides "Contractor"), kind of like they were going thru the motions.    Chuck Billy did, however, come out to do "Redneck" with Randy Blythe at the end, so that was pretty smashing.  There were the Ric Flair "WOO!s" like last time, which were still silly. The pits that I could glance at were pretty intense, and I would get nowhere near them.  The crowd was damn into it, and Randy and the Adler boys sounded as great as the other times that I've seen them.  Again, I can't complain about the performance or the music.  This was a pretty great show,  with Lamb of God putting on the most professional set of the night.


Photos:

Huntress-Jill, it was pretty cold
Huntress II
Huntress- Jill and guitars
Huntress closer
Testament
Killswitch!
Killswitch Engage
LOG
Lamb of God w/ Chuck Billy
Lamb of God

Setlists:
Huntress (6:45- 7:08)
  • Senicide
  • Destroy Your Life
  • Spell Eater
  • I Want To Fuck You To Death
  • Zenith
  • Eight of Swords

Testament (7:30- 8:09)
  •  Rise Up
  • More Than Meets the Eye
  • The Preacher
  • Native Blood
  • Into the Pit
  • The New Order
  • Disciples of the Watch
  • Over the Wall

Killswitch Engage
  • A Bid Farewell
  • The New Awakening
  • Fixation on the Darkness
  • Rose of Sharyn
  • Beyond the Flames
  • This Is Absolution
  • Always
  • In the Unblind
  • Life to Lifeless
  • Turning Point
  • My Last Serenade
  • In Due Time
  • My Curse
  • The End of Heartache


Lamb of God
  • Desolation
  • Ghost Walking
  • Walk With Me in Hell
  • Hourglass
  • Set to Fail
  • Now You've Got Something to Die For
  • The Undertow
  • Omerta
  • Ruin
  • 11th Hour

  • Vigil
  • Laid to Rest
  • Redneck
  • Black Label

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