Lamb of God – Brixton Academy – 13th February 2010

I was very excited on Saturday. In fact, I was probably over-excited and that coupled with the fact that I was knocking back the Strongbows like the end of the world was on its way was probably a bad idea. But, hey – you live and learn! (Although, to be fair, I’ve been doing this for quite a few years now and I still haven’t learnt my lesson. Oh well, maybe one day!)

Anyway, the point of me writing this was not to fill you in on the punishment I’ve subjected my liver to! So…

After consuming a couple of beverages in The Beehive pub (note to anyone planning to visit The Beehive: If you feel the urge to empty your bladder during your visit, using the street outside would probably be more hygienic. I’ve seen cleaner toilets at festivals. Seriously, it was not a pleasant experience.), we made our way to the Brixton Academy. I treated myself to another Lamb of God t-shirt as I’m a firm believer in the idea that you can never have too many LoG shirts… In fact, it should be compulsory to have at least one for every day of the week (a quick count on fingers tells me that I have now surpassed this) and we headed to the bar to make sure that the blood didn’t regain control in our alcohol streams. A band was playing as we migrated towards the stage and we asked the people near who it was. Sadly no-one had a clue… which is a shame because I thought they were rather good. I’m aware of the fact that I have a BlackBerry and I could’ve just looked it up online… but I couldn’t be arsed at this point. I know, I’m a bad Lou. Next up were Job For A Cowboy. I’d seen them once before and hadn’t been too impressed and, as a result, I was a bit sceptical about seeing them again. I’d love to say that they blew me away, but unfortunately they didn’t. They did, however, have a good energy on stage and really worked hard to put on a good show. In fact, one of my main reasons for not getting into them was because I couldn’t really hear the bass. So, all in all, not JFAC’s fault. Maybe I will give them another try.

But, the night really did belong to Lamb of God. There was a moment just before the band was due to hit the stage when someone mentioned that it was “5 minutes ’til Lamb of God time”. I’d been counting down to Lamb of God time since I bought the ticket for the gig… Hell, I’d been counting down since their set at Sonisphere. If there was ever a worthy reason for someone to spontaneously combust, that last 5 minutes when every part of me was over-over-over-excited was it (I can only think of a few other situations when this could happen. Those situations would include the words: Guns N’ Roses, Black Ritual, Vesperian Sorrow, Devilish Impressions, Omnium Gatherum and Sebastian Bach. Oh, and the words “Thunder Reunion” would be rather awesome). So, the lights went down, Lamb of God came on and Brixton went fuckin’ crazy! It seemed like the entire floor (well, as far as I could see) had become a pit. The only other gig that I’ve been to where this had been the case was Obituary at the Mean Fiddler (or was it the Astoria?). It was mental! I was also pleased to see a guy who looked like Santa rockin’ out… and the two guys wearing “onesie” pyjamas definitely deserve a mention.

The band was on top form and proved that they were definitely worthy of the headlining slot. When they played “Now You’ve Got Something To Die For” it was AWESOME! I know I use the word ‘awesome’ rather a lot… perhaps too much… But, please believe me when I tell you – this was AWESOME! Randy Blythe really knows how to work a crowd and Brixton was putty in his hands. I would go through the set list here, but to be honest, the order is a little fuzzy in my head (thank you Mr. Strongbow) and I’m sure there will be a couple of hundred reviews online where some kind soul will be able to transcribe that for you. I will, however, tell you about a couple of personal highlights… and both of which are tracks from the “Wrath” album. Firstly, “Grace” (complete with its beautiful intro) was superb! Secondly, they played “Reclamation”! “Reclamation” has wormed itself in to being possibly my favourite LoG track and one of my favourite tracks of all time. Ever! For some reason I didn’t expect them to play it… but to hear it live was amazing. When the band started playing it, I swear I looked like a 5 year old on Xmas morning.

Overall, it was a brilliant night! Can I do it again, please?

lamb-of-god.com
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