The Omens Tour – Lamb of God take over The Pearl

August 25, 2023 – There were many things happening on this hot end of summer day here in Las Vegas. We had the pleasure of venturing off to The Pearl Concert Theater inside The Palms for Lamb of God with special guests/support from The Acacia Strain and Suicide Silence. 

Now, in my opinion, this bill was a power punch, and none of these bands really need an extensive introduction. They’re all long standing acts in their respective scenes so I don’t need to give too much of a background explanation, you’re here reading this because you know who they are. (If you don’t, then… well… go crank this shit up because you SHOULD know who they all are.) Each of these bands have had a new album released within the last year and we highly recommend that you take a bit to check those out!

The Acacia Strain

The only band I could see people not really knowing much about were our first openers, The Acacia Strain. These guys have been around through all the shifts and movements within the deathcore/metalcore scenes. This was actually the first time I had ever gotten to see them play on a bigger stage. Just about every other time I’ve seen them, they’ve played way smaller venues. (The last time I saw them here in Vegas was at 24oxford inside the Virgin hotel when it was still the Hard Rock.) They kicked off the night just right. Literally… in true hardcore fashion, vocalist Vincent Bennett could be seen kicking, two stepping, and running around the stage. I was already a fan, and all I could hope for is that these guys grabbed the attention of some of the people in the crowd that were maybe not so familiar with them.

Setlist:

1. Flourishing
2. Dr. Doom
3. Whoa! Shut It Down
4. 4×4
5. Chhinnamasta
6. Untended Graves
7. Seeing God
8. Chain
9. Fresh Bones
10. Crippling Poison
11. Beast
12. The Hills Have Eyes
13. Car Bomb

Suicide Silence

This was my third time covering Suicide Silence within the last year and a half. With the exception of the crazy lighting that I wasn’t expecting here, they delivered a gnarly set as they usually do. Fan favorites “Unanswered”, “You Only Live Once”, and “No Pity for a Coward” are staples of these guys’ setlists, and they get the crowd rowdy every time. “You Must Die”, has been a newer regular addition for these guys as well, and it is a banger of a song. If you haven’t listened to their latest record, you should do that. 

I always miss Mitch Lucker, but I am also always blown away by these guys and their growth. I like to think Mitch is out there stomping along in approval. 

Setlist:

1. Unanswered
2. Wake UpYou
3. Only Live Once
4. Disengage
5. Fuck Everything
6. Slaves to Substance
7. Love Me to Death
8. You Must Die
9. No Pity for a Coward

Lamb of God

Alas, Lamb of God takes the stage as the final performance. I have always been very fond of this band, so it’s hard to be objective whenever I see them play live. And I always find myself giggling at that a little bit because I seem to almost always get hurt during their sets. I think it was maybe 2 songs in when a crowd surfer flew over the barricade and knocked the balance of one of the security guards standing behind me. If you don’t know where this is going, pretty much I got pinned against the stage attempting to protect the camera around my neck. (Also, no complaints, I literally walk into Lamb of God concerts expecting to possibly get roughed up a little and I’m okay with that, it’s worth it.) 

This run they played another solid setlist, but I will say I would have loved to hear them play “Omerta”, or even some deeper old cuts from New American Gospel. (Yeah, maybe I’m a little heartbroken over not hearing Black Label live anymore.) But, I know time moves bands like these guys along, new music and albums always equals updated and changeups in sets. The new music is solid, and the live show just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Long gone are the basic heavy metal band I saw hit the House of Blues stage over 15 years ago. Lamb of God have grown massively through the years and it shows, between the fans that keep showing up, and all the crazy pyro they’ve got going on now. 

It looks like Lamb of God still has years and years worth of life in them still and you know what? I am here for it. Catch me at the next Vegas banger they come here with! 

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Setlist:

1. Memento Mori
2. Ruin
3. Walk With Me in Hell
4. Resurrection Man
5. Ditch
6. Now You’ve Got Something to Die For
7. Contractor
8. Omens
9. Blacken the Cursed Sun
10. 11th Hour
11. Desolation
12. 512
13. Laid to Rest
14. Redneck

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Overall….

Overall this was a night you had to be a part of to understand the energy that filled the theater. After my time shooting in the photo pit I found a comfortable place by one of the tunnel entrances to where the general admission floor is. I twostepped, headbanged and screamed lyrics so loud that even the fancy security personnel got a kick out of me. My only real complaint was that a lot of people working the event didn’t seem to know exactly what they were in for. In that case, there’s always youtube but I digress. This was easily the heaviest bill I’ve ever seen come to The Pearl and I hope they start to bring more events like this to life here. 

Until next time!

Live photos by Courtney Ware for ZrockR Magazine 2023. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.