Lamb of God Concert Craziness

Last Thursday saw me in a club watching Gojira, Machine Head, Trivium, and Lamb of God. In what is becoming a trend I had to attend this concert alone, and I knew that it would be completely insane. I also knew the opening band would be relatively calm, so I found a spot where I could lean against a wooden walkway and endured Gojira. Gojira is a metal band from France. While tolerable, they aren't really my cup of tea. The highlight of their set being Randy Blythe of Lamb of God coming out of nowhere to sing on one song.

During the break in sets, I ran into a Lamb of God member while I was coming back from the bathroom. (This happened twice. Both times it was too late before I could say anything. Oh well.)

Machine Head put on a good show, and it was their first time in Indiana, which seems crazy since they've been around for almost 15 years. People were actually chanting for the band and knew the words to the songs. I was surprised that I wasn't the only fan there. Anyway, the situation started getting hairy when Trivium started their set. Things were relatively civil up to this point, but we were over 2 hours into the concert and that is how long it takes for the shirtless, overweight meatheads to start feeling a buzz from all the beer. Needless to say outside of the main mosh pit, a smaller "satellite" pit started right in front of me. Keep in mind that it is so jammed full of people there's no where to go, so you just have to keep your eyes open and push people out of the way when they get near you. (See diagram 1)


Diagram 1. My fun Trivium experience.
After dealing with that for an hour, and knowing that Lamb of God would be even crazier (especially since Trivium sucks ass) I decided to move behind the barrier this time. Problem was I was now standing in the aisle of a main thoroughfare, and people are always walking nonstop. Where are they going? Who the hell knows, but there's a show going on, fuckers! Christ, so annoying. While this protected me from the dumbasses who crashed into man, woman, and floor with reckless abandon, it did not protect me from a few other things. The first being someone almost overturning a trashcan on to my head. I felt the beer start to spill, and at first assumed someone had thrown their cup (which happens a lot) but I moved out of the way and then the trashcan crashed to the ground. While I wasn't drenched, it's never fun to have backwashed beer running down your face and shirt. There's not much you can do but wipe it off and keep watching the show. Next, a fist fight broke out right next to me. I didn't experience any collateral damage, but one of the perpetrators was pushed into a waitress whose tray was smashed into her face. Everyone feigned concern (she wasn't even bleeding) and continued on watching the show.


Diagram 2. Lamb of God

As for Lamb of God, they put on a really good show. Some sound problems at the start (which makes no sense, what was the half hour sound check for?) but then an hour and half straight of metal. "We don't do encores, this isn't a Limp Bizkit show." Hey, you know you've been to a good concert where your shoes are sticking to the floor from dried beer.