photos by AJ Kinney

Big Band In A Small Venue is typically a surprise. For Lamb of God, it was the world’s worst kept secret, as Internet publicity had fans packing the 800-cap Theatre of the Living Arts like sardines. By comparison, the other venues for this tour were 3,000 to 5,000 cap. Given the scourge of fees, the all-inclusive $15 tickets meant that the band practically played for free.

The crowd was appreciative. Seemingly every camo cap in a 10 mile radius showed up. The setting harked back to 2004, near the start of another Middle Eastern war, with Lamb of God recording Killadelphia in the Trocadero Theatre. Even then, 10 years into their career, they were veterans.

22 years later, Randy Blythe was appreciative. He lovingly and repeatedly mentioned the band’s salad days as Burn the Priest playing West Philly warehouses. (Read more about that here.) The 1-2 punch of “Ruin” and “Laid to Rest” recalled the Killadelphia era; “Walk With Me in Hell” and “Redneck” had people dancing and air guitaring. To see a bunch of mostly 50-somethings still bring it was uplifting to fans who’ve grown up with the band.

But it wasn’t just a set of golden oldies. “Parasocial Christ” and the title track from new album Into Oblivion got people moving. The former was slightly ironic, given the number of phones in the air. The “You Are Being Recorded” sign in Killadelphia would now be unnecessary. Blythe is outspoken about this, but tonight he was all smiles. It was funny to watch his numerous near-misses with bassist John Campbell. Clearly they’re used to bigger stages.

Warmup Show In A Small Venue also has a practical purpose, ironing out kinks. A guitar tech missed an amp switch, briefly causing a clean intro to blast distorted. Mark Morton flubbed the intro to “512”, causing some mirth onstage. But the band more than recovered. One could feel the tide turn as the energy rose and rose, with the final chord unleashing a release that had people screaming and cheering. Put down your phones, folks – there’s still no feeling like live music.