Lamb of God • Mastodon • Kerry King • Malevolence • August 27, 2024 • The Great Saltair
Reviewed and Photographed by Colton Kresser
Lamb of God and Mastodon embarked on their North American co-headliner, stopping at the Great Saltair in Salt Lake City on 8/27/24 to celebrate not only the release of both their albums (Ashes of The Wake – Lamb of God) – (Leviathan _ Mastodon) that were put out on the exact same day 20 years ago but that both bands are still taking the stage and giving it their all every single night just like they have for the past 20 years.
Malevolence
Opening the show with support from Malevolence who came all the way from Steel City in Sheffield UK, they did not hold back. Their set was filled with energy, plenty of brutal breakdowns, circle pits and lots of laughs. It was refreshing to see Malevolence enjoying themselves during their set, that’s what music is about, isn’t it? Enjoying each other’s company and doing what you love while traveling the world together, especially if you’re going to be trapped in a tight bus for six to eight weeks with the same people. They even had their own little three-member circle pit on stage to match the energy of the crowd. Vocalist Alex Taylor commented on the beautiful sunset going down over the salt flats and how it couldn’t have been a more perfect night and show for the boys in Malevolence.
Kerry King
Next up was Kery King…. Wait, Kerry King? Why have I heard that name before? The band takes the stage, I look up to start shooting photos and that’s when it hits me, I say out loud “Oh my god that’s f$#king SLAYER!” If there is one band, I could think of that knows how to move a crowd and bring massive energy to a venue it’s Slayer. Kerry King consists of the man himself ripping on guitar and former Slayer vocalist Tom Araya, former Slayer drummer Paul Bostaph, Kyle Sanders of HELLYEAH on bass, and guitarist Phil Demmel formerly of MACHINE HEAD.
Talk about a supergroup of musicians. The thing I loved most about Kerry King – and most artists, if I’m being honest – they took the stage and played their music and played it hard. No speeches, no agendas, just rock n’ roll and the fans. Tom has crowd control like you wouldn’t believe, he has this aura around him so that when he says “BANG YOUR HEADS” you listen. The Kerry King set was easily my favorite of the night, more specifically when they closed out their set with Raining Blood.
As soon as the intro started the crowd erupted with a roar so loud that nothing could have topped it for the rest of the night. The main riff hit and all you could see from the crowd was hair from all the headbanging windmills, sweat flying into the air and a massive circle pit turned moshpit for the duration of the song. Kerry King was not only the highlight of the night for me personally, but I can confidently say they are the best acts on this tour. Being able to see these Thrash Metal legends in a more up close and personal environment is not something I, let alone others thought would ever happen.
Mastodon
Mastodon was on next, playing their sophomore album titled “Leviathan” from front to back. To be honest, coming on stage after Kerry King left me feeling like their performance was a bit underwhelming. The band sounded tight and played incredibly well, the production was excellent with giant screens behind them showcasing various renditions of their album art, they had lasers that would shoot over the crowd, something which I had never seen in person before, and behind the stage some fire cannons that shot off quite a bit during the first half of their set.
I could feel the heat down in the barricade so I could only imagine the intensity on stage. Mastodon had everything except the energy I was exposed to during the first two bands. Some of that could be due to the layout of their album Leviathan, since most albums as we know have a certain flow to them throughout the tracks. A few heavy ones here, a couple instrumentals there, a long ballad at the end, etc. Mastodons’ performance was, in my eyes, more a casual listening experience than a “rock show”. However, many Mastodon fans could be seen in the crowd wearing their merch, holding up posters and signs, pumping their fists. It was everything they were hoping it would be.
At the end of their set, Mastodon drummer, Brann Dailor, grabbed a mic and told a story of when in 2004 he received a phone call from a friend telling him to run down to BestBuy and see that Leviathan was for sale and on display in the “New Releases” section. He hopped into his car, drove to the nearest BestBuy where he saw not only their new album but right next to it was the latest Lamb of God record “Ashes of the Wake”. He then said he phoned up Lamb of God vocalist Randy Blythe to give him a big congrats on the new record and to pitch the idea that in 20 years they should go on tour to celebrate these two albums.
Now, whether that story is true or not, I’ll leave that for you to decide. Either way, it’s nice to know that all the bands on that tour have great friendships and enjoy spending time together on the road.
Lamb of God
Lamb of God closed out the show playing “Ashes of the Wake” front to back, opening with their number one streamed song on Spotify – at 141,123,138 streams – “Laid to Rest. I’ve seen Lamb of God several times before and they usually keep this song towards the end of their setlist being that it’s a fan favorite but opening with it was just what the crowd needed to pick up from the more mellow set of Mastodon.
As soon as that iconic riff started to play it was as if a light switch turned on in the crowd. The energy was back up, the pit had been opened, Randy took the mic and screamed “SALT LAKE CITY!!! LET’S MOVE THIS MOTHER F#$KER!” smoke filled the stage and headbanging commenced. It’s been 20 years since the release of their album, and you would never know it’s been that long; the band played every song with such enthusiasm one could assume it was the first time they had played any of those songs.
Despite having his ankles wrapped in braces, Randy was running and jumping off pretty much anything on stage that was off the ground, guitarists Mar Mortan, Willie Adler and bassist John Campbell were in a state of constant headbang and screaming lyrics to the crowd and drummer Art Cruz could be seen with a big smile on his face ear to ear. Giant screens filled the back part of the stage with live footage of the performance and members being projected onto them to get a more intimate and personal experience.
Most bands, if not all modern bands use these things called IEM’s or rather, “In Ear Monitors”. A set of custom molded earphones that play a click track as well as the other members’ instruments into your headphones so you can hear everything and stay in time with the rest of the band, knowing when one part of a song starts and another ends. Not one member in the Lamb of God camp was wearing them, which means that they are totally in sync with each other during the entire performance. They don’t need a click track to tell them when to start or when to end a song, they just jam together as a single unit.
To those who aren’t aware of IEM’s or how they work, playing without them with the rest of your band is incredibly impressive. I guess after 20 years they should be that good at playing shows together, right?
Lamb of God closed out their show thanking everyone for the 20 years of support and that they will continue making the music that all their fans know and love. Unfortunately, they only have a few dates left on their North American run of this tour but if you didn’t get the opportunity to catch them on this tour I’d highly recommend not missing them on the next one.