Metal Anarchy

Last night (August 26), I attended the “Summer’s Last Stand Tour” featuring Slipknot, Lamb Of God, Bullet For My Valentine, and Motionless In White, at Concord Pavilion, in Concord, CA. Each band put on a strong show, and made it a night to remember.

Motionless In White opened up the show, with a high energy set full of songs from all three of their albums. They opened with “Break The Cycle,” which ultimately kicked off an evening of great music. Highlights from their set include the performance of the high energy track “Generation Lost,” and their classic track “Abigail”.

Bullet For My Valentine took the stage next, and played a set full of classic tracks, with some new material thrown in for good measure. The band opened with “Your Betrayal” and then continued to play hard hitting tracks. Highlights from their set include the heavy new track from Venom, “No Way Out,” and fan-favorites “Tears Don’t Fall” and “Waking The Demon.” It’s also worth mentioning that new bassist Jamie Mathias is great addition to the band. Not only is he a good bass player, he also pulls off some massive sounding screamed vocals.

Then it came time for Lamb Of God To take the stage. They opened with their classic track “Walk With Me In Hell,” before sliding into “Now You’ve Got Something To Die For.” Randy Blythe was on top of his game and put on a hell of a performance, which included other classics, along with a few tracks from their new album VII: Sturm Und Drang. Highlights from their set include the crushing “Laid To Rest” and the closing track “Redneck.”

After Lamb Of God, it was time for nu-metal legends, Slipknot to take the stage. The stadium blasted Van Halen’s “Runnin’ With The Devil,” to signal the band’s intro. Once that song ended, the audience screamed as “XIX” was played from behind the curtain, before it fell to give way for “Sarcastrophe.” After that the band rocked their classic track “The Heretic Anthem,” which was the beginning of a set filled with old-school tracks, mixed with others from .5: The Gray Chapter. The whole band were playing at top notch, from Corey Taylor’s screams to Clown hammering away at his customized percussion kit, to even Sid Wilson’s crazy dances. Even the band’s newest members, bassist Alessandro Venturella, and drummer Jay Weinberg killed it in a live setting. Highlights from their set include their performances of “Before I Forget,” “Sulfur,” “Killpop” “Custer” and “People = Shit.” Taylor also gave a cool speech about the “heavy metal family,” during their set, as well. All in all, it was a sick show.