The oddly chosen house setlist that included gentler music from the likes of Mr. Mister and Peter Cetera piped in overhead at The Factory, in St. Louis county, Monday night quickly melted into oblivion once the lights dimmed and metalcore band, The Acacia Strain kicked the night off with 50 minutes of nonstop, head banging, hardcore punk and noise metal. About 20 minutes into their powerful set, Vocalist Vincent Bennett, said “This is the crowd surfing part” and dozens of fans, young and old, rose to the challenge during the remainder of the night. A large mosh pit toward the back of the floor also broke out early and continued to ebb and flow all night long. In between songs full of bone-crushing rhythms such as “Flourishing” and “Dr. Doom,” Bennett made sure to check in on fans, telling them, “You belong here” and to hydrate more by drinking water.
Groove metal, Grammy-nominated Lamb of God’s headlining hour-plus set began with a black curtain emblazoned with their emblem draped across the stage while the band began the somber, powerful “Memento Mori.” The curtain dropped a little over a minute in as vocalist Randy Blythe screamed the refrain, “Wake up, wake up, wake up” with a burst of brilliant lights fluctuating. Partway through the first song, Blythe peered into the crowd, hushed his band members, and proceeded to ask if a person in the crowd was okay. After asking fans to give space and assuring the person was fine, he implored everyone to look out for one another and then proceeded to give his all to the second night of this 8-city leg of their The Omens Tour in support of their 2022 fall album release, Omens. Along with pyrotechnics and stellar lights, bassist John Campbell, guitarists Mark Morton and Willie Adler, and drummer Art Cruz sounded tight and complimented Blythe’s range from fry screaming to singing and whatever the f*ck else he (and the rest of the band) wanted to do on stage.
Lastly, a quick shout-out to the tour for having an interpreter on hand.
Lamb of God setlist https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/lamb-of-god/2023/the-factory-chesterfield-mo-6ba5aaaa.html
All photos from the night https://bit.ly/LambOfGod23cz
