By Mariah Berg
It was a rainy night in Green Bay, WI when the mighty metal tour of the year came to town. Fans packed into the arena to see four fantastic bands! Opening up the night was a 5 person band hailing all the way from Sweden, In Flames! What a great band to start the night. It was incredible to see the happiness these band members shared on stage. The amount of fan appreciation shown was great.
In Flames opened up their 8 song set list with their song “Cloud Connected”. That was the perfect song to start with as the crowd was immediately connected and engaged in their performance. In Flames has been putting out metal music for many many years, it’s an honor to see them still giving it their all every time they hit the stage! They were the seemingly perfect band to get the crowd pumped for the rest of the night.
Next to take the stage was a band that no one was a stranger to, Trivium! Trivium opened up their seven song set list with the title track off their most recent album, “In the Court of the Dragon”. Trivium performed 3 songs off their latest album but also performed some classics such as “Beyond Oblivion” and closed out their set with their song “In Waves” and fans went wild. The circle pit took up almost the entire floor in the pit, fans were banging their heads and being loud to make their energy known.
Up next was a band that everyone felt super thankful to be in the presence of. Lamb of God did everything in their power to put on a show for Green Bay. Unfortunately, vocalist Randy Blythe was sick with Covid and unable to perform. But thankfully super hero Joseph Badolato stepped up to the plate to take on vocal responsibilities for Lamb of God. Joseph Badolato is the vocalist for metal band Fit for an Autopsy and seeing him perform with Lamb of God was legendary! Joe had less than a day to prepare all the songs and to say he killed it would be an understatement. The fans helped Joe out with some of the singing and cheered him on every chance they got. There was not only one but two new faces sharing the stage with Lamb of God. On bass was Phil Demmel formally known from metal band Machine Head.
Unfortunately, Lamb of God bassist John Campbell had some things to attend to off the road but they couldn’t have found a better fit than Phil. Lamb of God guitarists Willie Adler and Mark Morton and drummer Art Cruz killed it as always and made their new friends Phil and Joe at home on stage with them. Lamb of God played some of their classic songs such as “Ruin”, “Walk With Me in Hell”, “Now You’ve Got Something to Die For” and more. Fans showed their love to those songs but their minds were blown when Lamb of God started to perform their song “Black Label” which is a song that they haven’t performed for many many years! Lamb of God’s performance was nothing short of incredible from the fire to “Walk With Me in Hell”, to the crowd interaction to the song choices. Green Bay fans were able to witness one of the most legendary and unforgettable performances by Lamb of God.
After 3 incredible performances, fans were left on the edge of their seat and tips of their toes waiting for the one and only, Megadeth! Once heroic vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine took the stage, the crowd roared. Megadeth opened up their twelve total song set list with their song “Hangar 18” off their 1990 album “Rust in Peace”. Megadeth performed many classic songs like “Dystopia”, “Tornado of Souls”, “Sweating Bullets”, “Symphony of Destruction”, “Peace sells” and even an encore of “Holy Wars… The Punishment Due”.
Megadeth is one of the most known and respected thrash metal bands to exist. This band has albums released before some of their fans were even born! Megadeth has been blessing fans with thrash metal for so many years, to see them still performing and touring is incredible.
All four bands contributing to this Metal Tour of the Year were nothing short of amazing. In Flames, Trivium, Lamb of God and Megadeth are four bands you cannot miss. A special thank you goes to Lamb of God to do everything in their power to be able to perform for Green Bay fans. It was incredible just to hear Lamb of God songs live. There are still a good handful of shows left on the Metal Tour of the Year so do yourself a favor and catch one of the remaining shows!
