Loomis is God
Along side Megadeth, Nevermore is my favourite band and to see them at any show is treat. The band had been hampered by unforeseen illnesses during the past year and so hit the stage without bassist Jim Sheppard and guitarist Steve Smyth. The back bone of Nevermore was still in place however, and the combination of vocalist Warrel Dane and the great Jeff Loomis is a potent one. This was none more evident as Warrel, without resorting to shouting or swearing, simply said "I want to see a pit" prior to 'I Voyager'. The front of the crowd erupted into two separate mosh pits, which soon spilled over to make one huge pit. The atmosphere was frantic and my colleague ended up missing half the set because he was defending himself from the lunatic fringe.
Warrel was in fine voice and charm, proving you don't have to shout/scream or tell the audience how much they 'fucking rock'. He has as an automatic respect from the mass of Nevermore fans yet even found the time to acknowledge the guy holding up the 'Nevermore Fuckin Rule' sign scribbled on a notepad with a black felt tip pen. The band ran through a number of tracks from their latest opus, 'Final Product,' 'Born' and the awesome 'This Godless Endeavor', along with classics as 'The River Dragon has come' and the underrated 'Deconstruction'.
The pit, now shifted to the right, seemed endless as the fans kept throwing themselves into each other. Jeff Loomis once again showed everyone why he's revered so much in the guitar world by being technically precise, and the two stand in players (of whom were never introduced) did a brilliant job that made you think you were watching Nevermore and not Nevermore with two hired hands.
'Enemies of Reality' finished off the set and the atmosphere down the front was that of excitement and fervour. We wanted them to play on but they'd played their hour and we had to deal with it, only a burger was going to quell disappointment of a short set. For myself they were the band of the festival, but I'm biased in that respect.