So I just got back from this show and it was kick ass! Lots of good moshing, crowd surfing and of course, non-stop headbanging. So with that I'll get on with the show.
The show started with Death Angel. Now I'll admit I'm only familiar with Death Angel's first album so it was the first time hearing most of the songs in their set, though that didn't stop me from moshing! They did play Voracious Souls from "The Ultra-Violence" though which was cool. Lot's of sing along from the crowd with that one as I'm sure you can imagine. Overall Death Angel's set was really good and really set the energy and atmosphere for the rest of the show. Mark Osegueda was really interactive with the crowd and made sure he received the energy he was giving. Was a little disappointed they didn't play "Thrashers" which I was really hoping they'd play but other than that small gripe it was a great first set.
Next up was Exodus which I enjoyed the most of the three. They played three songs from Bonded by Blood. The first from that album was "A Lesson in Violence" and that's when shit really got wild. The pit really began to swell and it was no longer safe on the edges so I just jumped in. Ended up losing my $5 Liquid Death. Didn't care. Just kept moshing. I gotta say the crowd was really into it during Exodus's set. Not that they weren't for Death Angel but I feel like things really ramped up when Exodus took the stage. The next song from Bonded by Blood was the title track and that's when I really lost my shit. Moshed until I was gassed and then did some crowd surfing as did many. Was an awesome experience.
Now Exodus like Death Angel played a lot of there newer stuff and by newer I mean post Pleasures of the Flesh. I'm only familiar with there first two but I still enjoyed everything they played. They played a song from Shovel Headed Kill Machine. Deathamphetamine I believe it was. It was a great song, I really enjoyed it. Now Exodus ended their set with "Strike of the Beast" and the crowd really went wild for this one. Exodus made sure of it because they had the crowd split in two and when the song started both sides charged each other and started one giant mosh pit. Like I said earlier I enjoyed Exodus the most of the three but that's not to say that the next band wasn't really fuckin awesome cause they were.
Which brings me to the last band. Testament. Now I said I enjoyed Exodus the most but I'm not sure the rest of the crowd did because I kind of felt like Testament's set was the wildest set. Not sure if it was just the energy being carried over from the last set but the crowd was pretty wild. Me personally I just chilled closer to the front doing some casual headbanging for most of the set. I just didn't recognize most of the songs. I did recognize "The New Order" from the album of the same name which was pretty cool but it wasn't until closer to the end of the set when they started playing more of their old school stuff that I joined the rest of the wild crowd. First they played "Over the Wall" which was great but it got really crazy when they played "Into the Pit" which I'm sure you can guess why. I definitely jumped straight into that pit.
The set ended with "Disciples of the Watch" and the crowd including myself loved it. So much crowd surfing, I actually went a couple of times. A great way to end the show.
So that's how the show went. All the bands were great. The solos were really tight and on point. Not a single note missed. All the band's frontmen were awesome and really engaged with the crowd and Lombardo was a monster on the kit. They all promised to return to Philly soon and quite frankly I can't wait. As far as merch all the bands had their own tour shirts. I grabbed Death Angel's because it looked the most badass in my opinion. There were also signed CD's and cassettes. Beer was expensive but that's to be expected I guess. I had a blast.
Let me know how it is at their upcoming destinations if you attend and I'd also like to hear from anyone who may have attended this particular show if you see this. What did you think? And oh yeah. Keep it fucking metal!