Tomorrow night, Lamb of God will stream the first of two epic live performances, each celebrating one of their albums. Tomorrow, fans will get to hear this year’s self-titled release, as well as a handful of classics; then, on September 25th, the band will perform their infamous 2004 album Ashes of the Wake in full for the first time ever. For guitarist Willie Adler, performing that record in its entirety is an awesome gift to their diehards — though it’s hell on his fingers.
“We knew the anniversary of Ashes… was coming up, and if you go online, that’s the album that pretty much everybody is stoked on,” Adler told The Pit. “All the dudes that hate us now, we lost after Ashes, and everybody who still loves us, Ashes is where they got into it. But to tell you the truth, we could’ve picked easier records to do! It’s going to be a lot of work, and it’s a lot of material, and there’s a lot of those songs that I haven’t listened to in 16 years, let alone played them. So we’ve got our work cut out for us.”
According to Willie, the idea of doing livestreams was born out of a lot of different ideas — but first and foremost among them was the desire to get in a room together and make something for the legions of Lamb of God fans who had their years rained on by COVID-19’s industry-wide cancellations.
“Before we decided on what we were going to do, all of us just wanted to get back together and do something — something for the fans, for everybody sitting at home,” said the guitarist. “Our little quarantine video was cool, but the idea was, let’s get back into a live setting. We can do it safely, nobody here’s a fucking idiot so we can all behave well and not put anybody in danger. Let’s do this!”
Anyone who’s ever attended a Lamb of God show in the past decade knows that it is not a subdued experience. The band rile up the crowd, whose excitement in turn feeds the show’s energy — all of which, Willie notes, is harder to pull off via a stream.
“I’m a little scared about the whole energy exchange, where there’s no crowd,” admits Adler. “I don’t necessarily want to treat it like a practice, but it’s going to feel like a practice, so I’m excited but a little scared, a little nervous. I guess we’re just going to have to find out. I don’t know if we are gonna be able to see interaction in real time, or if it’s gonna be totally just us there with these camera crews. It’s definitely gonna be odd to not have that energy coming back, but at the same time, I’m excited.”
Which begs the final question: how should fans at home set the mood for Lamb of God’s livestreams?
“If you have any Memento Mori coffee, I say brew a cup!” laughs Willie. “Cut the lights down, thrash around your living room — put away your valuables, make sure your dog doesn’t get hurt!”
Lamb of God’s streams are scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. EDT/2 p.m. PDT on their respective days. Livestream tickets will be $15 per show or, for a limited time, $20 for both shows and are on-sale now via the band’s live site.
A pre-show is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. EDT/1 p.m. PDT before each stream, hosted by Jose Mangin, featuring exclusive interviews with members of the band and opening sets from Bleed From Within (September 18) and Whitechapel (September 25). Bleed from Within will be airing a brand new full production 30 minute set and Whitechapel will air their memorable 2014 hometown performance from Knoxville, TN.
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Words by Chris Krovatin
