Testament and Lamb of God in Manila: “The Apocalypse” Slams the Philippines
May 22nd, 2010 by Craig Hartranft
On April 17 the Amoranto Sports Complex held an unprecedented capacity crowd of between 30,000 to 35,000 warm bodies for the yearly Summer Slam festival. Organized by a popular music magazine, the event has become a hallowed tradition for thousands upon thousands of Manila’s young and restless who congregate in the stadium each year like pilgrims to Mecca. Waiting for them inside is a massive stage towering above the gathered multitude. But this year was special. Unlike so many Slam’s prior since its 2001 founding, two of the most popular bands in today’s metal scene were performing back to back. To emphasize the importance of such a momentous pairing, the organizers christened the gig “Summer Slam X: The Apocalypse.”
This writer and his friends arrived at sundown just as Fire Fall Down, an indie rock group from the UK, finished their set. The festival had been in full swing for several hours by then, but yours truly wasn’t interested in the colorful flavors the local scene—who are the usual Summer Slam staple—had to offer. Despite a heavy lunch followed by dessert, he still craved something that simply could not fill his stomach. He craved release. Catharsis. An awesome spectacle. Come evening the Summer Slam road crew were prepping Testament’s gear and taking their god damn time, as is their wont. Because in the Philippines, schedules are more like suggestions rather than, well, schedules. First came the thud of drums, followed by the guitars, then the check-check-check staccato from the mic, and finally the thunking bass. Funny thing is, by the time Testament hit the stage, there were still sound problems. In fact, one of the Filipino support bands backstage witnessed Chuck Billy having a bitch fit as he knocked out a couple of amps with his massive foot.
The hair-raising overture For The Glory Of… exploded from the amps before Testament hit the stage. When the intro gasped its last, the band launched “Over The Wall” followed by a slew of their older material. Forgiving the minor technical glitches that subtracted Greg Christian’s bass form the mix and Chuck Billy’s own grievances, Testament disported themselves with panache. Chuck Billy himself is as big as his voice. Even from 50 feet away, the massive Po Indian’s presence overwhelmed those of his guitarists Skolnick and the ever-dwarfish Eric Peterson. Owing to their age however, the reception of Testament was hot but far from ecstatic. There wasn’t even a serious moshpit boiling. As the band steamrolled through their timeless classics—Disciples of the Watch, Practice What You Preach, Souls of Black, Into the Pit, and First Strike Is Deadly—they liberally added the best cuts from the last two studio releases. It was gratifying to finally hear the chest-thumping Three Days In Darkness rendered live together with the furious DNR where, sadly, Chuck Billy’s voice gave out. The Bay Area’s finest wrapped their performance with a storming The Formation of Damnation before bidding the audience adieu and graciously exiting the stage. Thanks for the priceless memories Chuck, Alex, Eric, Greg, and Paul.
Near-sexual excitement swept the pulsating throng as the roadies went back to preparing Lamb of God’s gear. Let’s fast-forward an hour, mention a bottle fight where several hundred plastic Pepsi bottles cut through the air, and then go straight to the beginning of the grooving thrash fivesome’s set. Lamb of God’s opening salvo was In Your Words from their last album followed by tracks that stretched all the way back to their pre-mainstream success. The band’s trademark anthem Laid To Rest, the annihilating edge-of-your-seat killride Contractor, Walk With Me In Hell, and Dead Seeds got twenty thousand kids into a frenzy. Weeks of unforgiving summer heat left the ground parched and dry. With thousands of sweating bodies going ballistic it was inevitable that a chocking dust storm would rise from underneath them and cast an infernal haze upon the proceedings. It got so bad, almost suffocating, many were compelled to wrap bandanas and shirts around their head ninja-style. But the murderous fun never stopped and circle pits kept going throughout Lamb of God’s set. In fact, by the time Randy Blythe and co. reached the two hit encore of Redneck and Black Label, the size of the pit reached a near biblical scale as everyone let loose in a numbing climax whose sensations eclipsed the most exquisite orgasm imaginable.
When Randy and the band incited the audience to form the wall of death, not one, but half a dozen large groups parted to do their bidding. Wham! As Lamb of God left the stage after throwing a million or so towels, water bottles, and skins at the crowd as souvenirs, every gratified soul in attendance knew the loudest night in the history of Philippine heavy metal had just passed.
Tags: Concert Review, Lamb of God, Testament
This entry was posted on Saturday, May 22nd, 2010 at 10:14 am and is filed under Alternative Metal, Concert Review, Heavy Metal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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