Main page
First up, I have to say that I nearly didn't attend this gig 'cos I couldn't find the ticket......panic stations all round & to cut a long story short, I found it under my bed............I blame my cats! As a result I showed up 15 minutes after the doors opened & only had to queue for a sort time. But that was enough time to have a Jehovah's Witness chap risk his life in preaching to a bunch of metal heads!
Got in and checked out the Merchandise - 20 quid for T-shirt was a bit too much, so I decided to get a water instead!. Made my way upstairs
and got a good spot. 1st up was a band with the depressing name of Misery Index - and they certainly lived up to their name! The least said the better I think.
Next up were Breed '77 - not bad I have to say.......very energetic aggro-metal, with an engaging front man. Might well check out a CD or two from them.
9pm was approaching, the stage was clear and ready & the intro tape started, with the following:
"Woe to you Oh Earth and Sea
for the Devil sends the beast with wrath
because he knows the time is short
Let him who hath understanding
reckon the number of the beast
for it is a human number
its number is six hundred and sixty six............"
Were Maiden playing a secret gig I thought?! Nope, it's just that FF are big fans of Maiden, and they put on this taped intro to get the fans going - when that finished, we had this classic clip from Snatch: "Yes, London. You know: fish, chips, cup 'o tea, bad food, worse weather, Mary f--king Poppins... LONDON. "
Onto the music! This is the third time I have seen them - all of them at the Astoria, as Burton said - they are the Astoria's house band now! And this was was easily the best I have seen them. A brilliant setlist (more of which later), combined with some seriously tight and heavy playing from a band at the top of their game. Some amusing moments showed that they are really are having a lot of fun onstage as well..........one bit was when they played the Van Halen solo from the Michael "Plastic" Jackson's Beat It and Burton did a moonwalk!! (very well I have to say!)
The setlist itself was brilliant in that they played tracks from all of their albums - even the vastly underated Digimortal! Every track was a joy to behold with the band pulling out all the stops. I have to say the departure of Dino Cazares from the band has not hurt them in the least, the brilliant Album Archetype and its follow up - Transgression clearly show this, with the old bass player taking over the guitar duties & Byron Stroud taking over on bass.....there is more variation in the music but without losing that typical ear drum shredding Fear Factory trademark sound. The lead singer Burton C. Bell is the absolute master in the way he can switch from heavy death metal vocals to clean melodic vocals in a split second.....no other singer comes close to matching that style. Many have copied it, none have equalled it.
From the opening 540,000 Fahrenheit, to the beautiful and haunting Timelessness (sang solo by Burton for the encore), there was no let up in the skill and muscular musicianship we have come to expect them these masters of Industrial Metal and as a result, the mosh pit was especially busy, making me glad that I had chosen to go upstairs! To pick out some highlights of the show is pretty much impossible - but if pushed I would say Self Bias Resistor, Descent, Shock & Archetype & Burton jumping in the crowd during Acres Of Skin.........also, the intro to Pantera's Walk was especially cool.
Setlist
Number Of The Beast (tape)
---------------------------
540,000 Fahrenheit (from Transgression)
Trangression (from Transgression)
Slave Labour (from Archetype)
Drones (from Archetype)
Demanufacture (from Demanufacture)
Self Bias Resistor (from Demanufacture)
Zero Signal (from Demanufacture)
Shock (from Obsolete)
Edgecrusher (from Obsolete)
Descent (from Obsolete)
Martyr (from Soul Of A New Machine)
Pisschrist (from Demanufacture)
Contagion (from Transgression)
Linchpin (from Digimortal)
Acres Of Skin (from Digimortal)
Cyberwaste (from Archetype)
Archetype (from Archetype)
Intro to Walk
Replica (from Demanufacture)
--------------------------
Timelessness (from Obsolete)
To sum up; this was a brilliant, no nonsense in yer face METAL concert - one which will certainly be in my top3 concerts of 2006 come December 31st. One very, very slight moan in that they did not play the mighty Resurrection - but they can't play everything, and looking at the brilliant setlist, it is a very minor moan!
Prodigals Star rating: 10/10
Agree? Disagree?
Go to message board to vent!