Lamb Of God Scorches Phoenix on the Omens Tour

ADAM GUTIERREZ

Oct 23, 20224 min read

October 14th, 2022 Lamb Of God nears the end of the Omen tour, but not without a bang with Killswitch Engage, Animals As Leaders, and Fit For An Autopsy as support. I was eager to get to the Arizona Financial Theatre earlier to avoid any hang-ups. As I parked, I noticed I wasn't the only one showing up early. A couple of religious protesters were gearing up to protest this awesome concert and all I could do was a laugh to myself and wonder if they follow Lamb Of God as closely as I do, but of course for different reasons. I should have bought them a couple of tour shirts. After all, this tour is for the release of Lamb Of God's newest album "OMENS".

Once I got inside the theatre I was very excited to photograph and enjoy Fit For An Autopsy. I enjoy their music and seeing them live was a must for me. As the band got on stage, they went straight into the song "The Sea Of Tragic Beasts" and the concert was kicked off perfectly. Every member of the band tore that stage up and really got the crowd excited. I'd really enjoy catching Fit For An Autopsy again and hopefully very soon.

Once Fit For An Autopsy got everybody warmed up and hungry for more metal it was time for the instrumental technical metal band, Animals As Leaders. This trio really got everyone's minds warped with their insane brain-boiling technical riffs.

While I was photographing Tosin Abasi (Lead Guitarist/ Founder and CEO of Abasi Concepts) I couldn't help but just admire the perfection and cleanliness of his playing and his Abasi Concepts guitar. If you ever want to just lose your mind in something insane, sit down and listen to Animals As Leaders.

Now the next band I can say for sure the mass majority of the crowd could hardly hold back their excitement. It was time for KILLSWITCH ENGAGE! I was stoked to get the opportunity to photograph such an incredible band. Needless to say, I was also letting out some yells of excitement once the band took the stage. I have been listing to Killswitch Engage since high school. When Jesse Leach took center stage the crowd was losing it with excitement.

They opened with the heavy hitter "Strength of The Mind" which in my opinion is such a powerful song and the best song to start with. When they played "The End Of Heartache" the whole theatre sang along. The crowd really got excited when front-man Jesse Leach jumped from the stage to get up and personal with their amazing fans. Killswitch Engage really brought an energy that only a few can match.

The eagerly awaited LAMB OF GOD was due to scorch the stage. First I'd like to say I've seen Lamb Of God more than a couple of times and they bring the intensity every time. I knew I was in store for something special. I've been a Lamb Of God fan since I've gotten into metal. Getting the opportunity to photograph them is nothing short of amazing to me. Now that I got my fan-geeking out of the way, it's time for Lamb Of God!!! The set started off with a huge back curtain over the front of the stage with the white "LAMB OF GOD" logo lit up at the center and the intro of "Memento Mori" started to play and just as the heavy part kicked in the curtain is dropped with Randy Blythe (front-man/ vocalist) on a lit up podium at front center stage with Mark Morton (Guitarist) at the left stage, Willie Adler (Guitarist) and John Campbell (Bassist) at the right stage and Art Cruz (Drummer) on a tall back riser near the back of the stage.

I turned back and saw the crowd surfing had started. I would have thought security would have a challenging time trying to keep up with the number of crowd surfers, but they seemed to be keeping a good handle on it without tearing down any energy or fun for the fans. (Shoutout to a great crew!) The first song had the whole place moving and if "Memento Mori" didn't get everyone on their feet the next song must've! Because it was time for the heavy-hitting track "Walk With Me In Hell" and you can just feel the excitement and anticipation in the air.

I knew this was a special song because Randy Blythe would climb on Art Cruz's tall drum riser and jump off with pyrotechnics firing off at both ends just as the mid-song breakdown happens. This whole set was just incredibly well put together and the whole band absolutely killed it. As I stated before this is not my first Lamb Of God show and I can safely say it will not be my last. If you have never seen this band live, I can't say anything other than you are missing out on a solid well-rounded concert. Every metalhead needs to see for themselves.