Concert of a lifetime - Lamb of God

The hungry-for-top-notch-concert heavy metal maniacs from India as well as in and around India were in for a treat when two months back Lamb of God announced on its official website that they will be touring Banglore or Bengaluru as the purists would like it on 15^th May 2010. Me and my friends for one were only waiting to gobble up such an opportunity and booked our flight tickets and concert tickets instantly.

For starters LAMB OF GOD or LOG is a heavy metal band from Richmond Virginia, USA and like their music to be called as ‘Pure American Metal’. A 5-piece band, LOG consists of Drummer – Chris Adler, Bassist – John Campbell, Guitarists – Mark Morton & Willie Adler & Vocals – Randy Blythe.

So, finally Deepak & I reached Bengaluru airport on 15^th morning for “Summer Storm Festival 2010” at 8:00AM and waited for ei’s arrival from delhi. After boarding ‘Vajra’ the AC bus service from the airport to Hotel Basil, in Malleswaram, which was booked by ei. Reaching the hotel was not on our mind as was eating some nice South Indian idli, dosa with sambar & chutney. And you thought and only LOG were dying to have South Indian cuisine. Anyways, checked in at 12:00Noon in the hotel room and rested a bit so that we can be ready for the long day ahead at Palace grounds. After having some light lunch we zoomed to Palace grounds wherein there were wedding preparations going on which made sure that the actual place of the concert was on the other end, misleading directions from the localities made matters worse. Finally at 4:30PM we made it to the entry gate as Boomerang had already started playing.

The Indian bands performed well with Bhoomi not present for reasons know best to them. Scribe for one takes the cake with Vishwesh not leaving any stone unturned to connect with the audience. At the start the band had its share of problems with the sound check but later tracks like ‘Pav Bhaji’ really got the sweating audience moving. Extinct Reflections in their last gig with one of the band member coming all the way down from LA put up a good show with Prasad Bhat on the vocals trying his level best to get the crowd going. But they just could not get them much interested as the gods themselves were waiting backstage and the crowd was getting impatient. At 6:30PM Extinct Reflections buzzed off from the stage. The announcer then told that LOG wont be coming befor 7:30PM. The thirsty crowd started wandering off for a bite or some beer.

Finally, after a wait of 50 to 60 minutes, Chris Adler came on the stage and the band kicked off the show with ‘The Passing’from their newest album “Wrath”.Then Randy Blythe cam on stage and gave the crowd ‘In your words’ & ’Set to fail’. The crowd really got violent with mosh pits going infront of the barricade. Not that I was complaining. Then cam ‘Ruin’, Walk with me in Hell’, ‘Now you got something to die for’ & ‘Blacken the cursed sun’.Chris Adler showed why he was voted the best drummer of 2009 and the crowd was not denying either. Mark Morton’s riffs created waves and John Campbell gave the perfect bass to each and every track. Willie Adler on the other side with his no nonsense guitars completed the circle. Those not present at the concert did miss a spectacle and let me be down right candid here. I know some might say that Iron maiden was the best when it came to LIVE @ Palace grounds but LOG was different from them for the simple reason that they came to India in their prime. The fact that 6000 people made it to the concert is an achievement in itself for rock fans like us and the rock community in the country on the whole. A total of 16 tracks were belted out by LOG in a span of 90 minutes. For the full setlist go to http://setlist.fm/setlist/lamb-of-god/2010/palace-grounds-bangalore-india-13d4d991.html.

Even after so many tracks the crowd yearned for more and why would not they. LOG made their mark on India and they have promised that they will be back soon. With the vibrant headbanging and moshing during the last track ‘Black Label’ the body was a bit stiff, the neck stiffer but who is complaining after watching Lamb of God in flesh.