Furious. This band's stock is rising.
Many questioned the idea of having Decapitated as the main support on this Lamb Of God tour, but on the evidence of tonight, and reports from the rest of the tour, the band have seized the opportunity and made a real lasting impression. For a start Decapitated managed to have probably the greatest sound-check of all time. Members of the band were all on stage going through their last bits and pieces and almost out of nowhere just exploded into Pantera's Walk stirring the crowd into a bit of a frenzy. About half way through the song they felt everything was ok and just stopped and left, absolutely mental.
When the band did then return about ten minutes later to start their set proper, the crowd size inside Brixton Academy was pretty large. There was this heightened anticipation due to the hype this band have started to produce, and once they exploded into 404 and Day 69 and front man, Rafa "Rasta" Piotrowski, started prowling around in all his dreadlocked glory, heads were banging and pits were flowing. Perhaps in classic Brixton Academy form, Decapitated did at times suffer from poor sound. Not their fault of course, but it did need to be a little louder, although it should be noted that towards the back end of their set this vastly improved and closing tune Spheres Of Madness sounded absolutely monstrous. Mad respect needs to go to Decapitated's guitarist, Vogg, because on stage it feels like it is his brilliantly executed ferocity which drives this band forward into being a proper live force.
There have been worse cases of band's suffering under the sound of the Brixton Academy support slot, but Decapitated showed tonight that despite this they are ready to break into the big leagues. The crowd reaction and adoration towards the end was testament to where this band is at the moment. Definitely worth checking out on future tours, especially in a more intimate venue where one can only imagine the intensity would become nuclear.