The Sacrament Tour Review

The Sacrament Tour
Review

Sacrament Tour: Lamb of God Trivium Machine Head Gojira

The Sacrament Tour
Lamb of God
Trivium
Machine Head
Gojira
Eagles Ballroom (Milwaukee, WI)

3/14/07
Reviewer: Karma E. Omowale & EKW
Photos: Erika Kristen Watt

On March 14^th, on a beautiful spring day, the “Holy” Sacrament Tour converged on the Eagle’s Ballroom which served as our place of worship as the onlookers shared in the Eucharist of Metal. The acts on this bill (Lamb of God, Trivium, Machine Head & Gojira) truly made it hard to believe that we were worthy enough to receive them but through their music, we were healed! Returning to the Rave was sort of a déjà vu for us considering the last time we were there, we saw Gojira when they opened for Children of Bodom and Amon Amarth in a most similar situation, the Rave was the closest to our city! Not to mention seeing Machine Head and Trivium on the same stage during last year’s Sounds of the Underground. Now if I start ranting and raving about WTF is wrong with Chicago and why a lot of tours are skipping our port or mention the other bone of contention I have. The fact that Machine Head was in the second spot, come on guys, MH’s coming out with a brand new album in less than a month and talk about the perfect opportunity to have a longer set. Why must it always be about popularity as opposed to pure raw talent or the fact that MH has been putting out album for the past fourteen years… I will go no further with this as it would detract from the prime directive… so allow me to kick that damn soapbox from up under myself again.

Lineup: Joe Duplantier – Vocals, Guitar; Christian Andreu – Guitar, Jean-Michel Labadie – Bass; Mario Duplantier – Drums

As stated from before, Gojira captivated the twilight audience of the Eagles’ Ballroom. It was awesome to see the band take full advantage of the stage considering the last time they played there was in the Rave II – the basement stage! This go round, the floor (already wet and mildly malodorous) was filled to the brim of metalheads for the show. It was strange to see so many people in complete support of the first band bodies and all but more comforting than anything to see nonetheless.

The band opened their with the energetic “Ocean Planet”, the opener from their critically acclaimed release, From Mars to Sirius. We walked in during the beginning of “Remembrance” off the band’s second full length entitled, The Link. Before the intro to the “Flying Whales” Joe engaged the audience in a dialogue about the infamous ghosts that dwell in the venue. “I heard this place is haunted by ghosts. Let’s tear this place up!” Well whatever was going on, the energies were working well with the band! Intrigued, we caught up with Mr. Duplantier following their set, he had this to say about the otherworldly inhabitants, “I don’t like these ghosts and I don’t know why! I don’t feel it. I don’t know how to explain it but I get a strange feeling during the show that I was… [Searching for the right words] petrified” Well one could not tell from afar, that’s for sure. He was in control and in command of the situation. The only regret is that I wish they had a little longer to play! Bottom line is this band kills; make sure to see them next time they come ashore, in which a little birdie told me they will be stateside closer to the end of year. We can't wait!!!!!!!!

Gojira Setlist: Ocean Planet; Backbone; Remembrance; Flying Whales; The Heaviest Matter of the Universe.

Lineup: Robb Flynn - Vocals, Guitar; Phil Demmel – Guitar; Adam Duce – Bass; Dave McClain – Drums

This Bay Area quartet picked up where Gojira left off with remorselessness, thrashing the audience into oblivion. The crowd was even more maddened with adoration for their beloved band than when we last saw the band grace the same stage last year…like this was possible? All I can truly say is that it will be an immensely joyous to see Machine Head do their own headlining tour to witness them play an hour long set incorporating more songs off the crushing new album, The Blackening due out any day (March 27^th to be exact).

The crowd went nuts as soon as the band took the stage as they wasted no time and kept their and adoring fans engaged from start to finish. When Robb introed “Aesthetics of Hate”, (Robb’s homage to the fallen Dimebag Darrell defending his honor against a closed minded racist…) the venue erupted, as well as it should have! As horrible as this sounds, I was so taken aback by their set I was rendered defenseless, losing the power to move and notate what happened…however as seen through the lenses of our ace photographer, Erika Kristen, (she got a shitload of amazing pix); it was a set to behold! Until next time...which should not be too long mind you!

Machine Head Setlist: Clenching the Fists of Dissent; Aesthetics Of Hate; Imperium; Old; Davidian.

Lineup: Randy Blythe – Vocals; Mark Morton – Guitar; Willie Adler – Guitar; John Campbell – Bass; Chris Adler – Drums

The sermon began to a rousing number of metal parishioners (in the thousands, seriously). We hear that the number totaled over four thousand in the building that evening! The biggest pits of the night opened up during “Red Neck” and “Black Label”…talk about something to die for! So it definitely looked like it was full steam ahead for our Virginia boys. We craved to see LoG like junkies in a crack house and weren’t satisfied until the guys were bathed in sweat, gasping for breath in the chilly night air. Once the initial fix wore off, somehow, surprisingly, they lost the crowd. Was it due to the unfamiliarity of the Sacrament tunes or was it the signs of our furious five loosing steam in which not even half way through the set, let alone the tour!

Desperately trying to get the high of the crowd back, they ripped into each song with little or no banter from the boisterous lead growler, Randy Blythe. As per usual, the cool demeanor of guitarist Mark Morton and his ever smiling duelist Willie Adler, delivered the over your head guitar acrobatics that they are notorious for. While Chris Adler keeps steadfast on the drums, unfortunately he did not offer much in relief. It is always a kick to watch the playful, self-confident J.C. on bass. Randy keeps you fixated with his frantic pacing the length of the stage, which almost becomes distracting. His frenzied routine leaves you ever weary of what’s to come next. Although it wasn’t the best presentation LoG has given us, it is safe to say you are better off waiting for them to play in much smaller, more intimate surroundings to receive the metal fist fucking we’ve grown accustomed to. Everything seemed lost within the 3-story tall building and cathedral ceilings including the energy we so dearly depend on...it just didn't seem to reach its receptacles this go round. But will we catch them the next time they breeze through town? HELL YEAH!!! Deep down they still have what we need, what we crave, and we know where we can find that metal injection for which we fiend. We’ll keep a vein open just for them and spoken like a true junkie and we are hooked and always shall be!!

Lamb of God Setlist: Hourglass; Again We Rise; Walk With Me In Hell; Ruin; Pathetic; As The Palaces Burn; Descending; More Time To Kill; Blacken the Cursed Sun; Bloodletting (Burn The Priest); 11th Hour; Now You've Got Something To Die For; Laid to Rest; *** Encore *** Vigil; Redneck; Black Label.

Fri, Feb 16 - DALLAS, TX @ PALLADIUM BALLROOM
Sat, Feb 17 - CORPUS CRISTI, TX @ CONCRETE ST. AMPHITHEATRE
Sun, Feb 18 - AUSTIN, TX @ STUBBS
Tue, Feb 20 - ALBUQUERQUE, NM @ SUNSHINE THEATRE
Thu, Feb 22 - ANAHEIM, CA @ THE GROVE
Fri, Feb 23 - FRESNO, CA @ RAINBOW BALLROOM
Sat, Feb 24 - SANTA CRUZ, CA @ THE CATALYST
Sun, Feb 25 - LOS ANGELES, CA @ WILTERN
Tue, Feb 27 - CHICO, CA @ THE SENATOR THEATRE
Wed, Feb 28 - PORTLAND, OR @ ROSELAND
Thu, Mar 01 - SPOKANE, WA @ BIG EASY
Sat, Mar 03 - EDMONTON, AB @ ED'S THE VENUE
Sun, Mar 04 - CALGARY, AB @ MACEWAN HALL
Tue, Mar 06 - WINNIPEG, MB @ BURTON CUMMINGS THEATRE
Wed, Mar 07 - FARGO, ND @ PLAYMAKERS PAVILION
Thu, Mar 08 - OMAHA, NE @ SOKOL AUDITORIUM
Fri, Mar 09 - TULSA, OK @ CAINS BALLROOM
Sat, Mar 10 - KANSAS CITY, KS @ BEAUMONT CLUB
Sun, Mar 11 - SIOUX FALLS, SD @ EMPIRE EXPO HALL
Tue, Mar 13 - CEDAR RAPIDS, IA @ HAWKEYE DOWNS
Wed, Mar 14 - MILWAUKEE, WI @ THE RAVE
Thu, Mar 15 - FT. WAYNE, IN @ PIERRES
Fri, Mar 16 - TOLEDO, OH @ HEADLINERS
Sat, Mar 17 - GRAND RAPIDS, MI @ ORBIT ROOM
Sun, Mar 18 - GUELPH, ON @ COWBOYS BAR
Tue, Mar 20 - MONTREAL, QC @ MEDLEY
Wed, Mar 21 - PROVIDENCE, RI @ LUPOS AT THE STRAND
Thu, Mar 22 - NEW YORK, NY @ ROSELAND
Fri, Mar 23 - ATLANTIC CITY, NJ @ HOUSE OF BLUES
Sat, Mar 24 - ALBANY, NY @ NORTHERN LIGHTS
Sun, Mar 25 - ROCHESTER, NY @ HARRO EAST
Mon, Mar 26 - WASHINGTON DC @ 9:30 CLUB
Wed, Mar 28 - NORFOLK, VA @ NORVA THEATRE
Thu, Mar 29 - MYRTLE BEACH, SC @ HOUSE OF BLUES
Fri, Mar 30 - JACKSONVILLE, FL @ PLUSH
Sat, Mar 31 - ST. PETERSBURG, FL @ JANNUS LANDING
Sun, Apr 01 - FT. LAUDERDALE, FL @ REVOLUTION
Tue, Apr 03 - NASHVILLE , TN @ CITY HALL
Wed, Apr 04 - MEMPHIS, TN @ NEW DAISY THEATRE
Thu, Apr 05 - CINCINNATI, OH @ BOGARTS