At Norvo July 12th

- advertisement -

- advertisement -

Reviewed by Woody VA

I got the chance to see Shadows Fall on their opening night of the Sthress Tour JUly 12th, Norfolk, VA. What a great show for the headliners. I was not very familar with any of the bands that were opening other than hearing some of the stuff online. I am new to Poison the well and Darkest Hour. Both bands are accomplished in their own right but lack the polish that Shadows seems to have. All the bands got a decent reaction but everyone was there to see the boys from Mass.

I have all their albums but have always missed them live for some reason. They played a very good set, mostly using material from their War Within disc. The setlist included the following songs but none are in order and I may have omitted a couple. The light That Blinds, Enlightened by the Cold, Art of Contrition, What Drives the Weak, Inspiration on demand, Ghosts Of Past Failures, Destroyer of Senses, In Effigy, and Will to Rebuild which they dedicated to the Gulf Coast and NOLA. They played a sond from their earliest years, they said from 1995, I can't remember the name but it sounded great.

Those are the facts here are my thoughts:

Shadows have to be one of the best live metal bands I have seen musically. They played all the songs spot on and ripped the solos. What struck me odd was how well the detuned metal and low end was eq'ed in such a manner that everything was audible. The did not show the same sonic problems as most bands in this genre (the other bands on the bill included, with the exception of Darkest Hour) with the tunings too low to enjoy above the drums and bass. I was very impressed and enjoyed the entire set through and through.

Also want to give respect for the NORVA, the club they played at, is one of the best places I have seen a smaller show like this. It beats the hell out of HOB as they are not some crazy corporate affiliate and they put money and quality into the place. I love seeing shows here and I am glad that I get to visit here often.