Two Decades of Destruction Descends on Knoxville
A steamy night just outside the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains belied the incredible evening that was in store for the city of Knoxville, Tennessee. The Two Decades of Destruction tour featuring As I Lay Dying, Whitechapel, Shadow of Intent and Ov Sulfur had a massive line of fans outside The Concourse abuzz with excitement, even as the show start time got pushed back by 30 minutes, twice. Once fans got inside, if they were hoping for a ton of relief from the blistering heat, they were going to be disappointed as it was almost equally as hot inside.
Despite the heat, the fans packed inside the venue, now set in a new location in a building that is part of a strip mall. The first band to stride across the stage in the sweltering room was Las Vegas’ Ov Sulfur. Fronted by former Suffokate frontman Ricky Hoover, the band exuded power and force. Looking around the crowd in between snapping photos, the faces of the fans told the stories as many had facial expressions ranging from pleasant surprise to the proverbial metal “stank face.” It seems that the guitar pedalboard, set to a program mode called “Big Dick Energy” set the theme for the evening as the band dominated the stage.
Next to take on the crowd and the steamy atmosphere were Shadow of Intent from Connecticut. For those unfamiliar with the band, they formed in 2013 as, of all things, a Halo-themed studio project……. yes, THAT Halo, the popular Xbox Game Studios franchise shooting game. Impressively, the band has grown completely on their own as independents without the support of any record label. Much like the other bands on the billing, they exuded absolute power. All of the members controlled the stage as if they’d been on it for decades, particularly entertaining for me as a photographer was drummer Bryce Butler.
Of all of the places to see the next band on the lineup, Knoxville might be the most ideal of them all. Whitechapel hails from the city and has done their best to give back continuously. Every year they perform a charity show for local residents for Christmas (the band made sure to tell everyone they’d see them again for the annual show this year as well.) Surrounded by family, friends and masses of fans who have been there for the band’s entire rise to heavy metal legends, the group tore into a set that contained many of their fan-favorite tracks. Spanning the entire discography of the band, the group treated everyone to a monumental show, even throwing in tracks with almost entirely clean vocals like Hickory Creek to show off vocalist Phil Bozeman’s diversity. By the end, the instruments and the fans were coated in sweat and happy to be present.
Finally, it was time for the headliner, As I Lay Dying to stride in to the light of the Knoxville stage. Of course, you can’t talk about As I Lay Dying without addressing the massive elephant in the room that is the criminal case surrounding vocalist Tim Lambesis. I’m not going into it at length here in this article, there’s plenty of information about the trial and everything to do with it online. The band now consists of just two original members, Lambesis and Phil Sgrosso. The rest of the band is filled out with members of other powerful metal bands like bassist Ryan Neff from Miss May I. The band carried on without a hiccup as they played through the discography, dating back almost two decades (hence the tour name) to the delight of the fans. The members all played to the crowd, obviously enjoying being on the stage. At one point a gentleman in a wheelchair crowd surged his way to the front, garnering a high five from Lambesis. The evening was great fun and was a treat for heavy music fans.
This tour is only just beginning so there’s still plenty of time to check them out if you live in a state the tour is coming to. Additionally, Brand of Sacrifice will be joining the tour which only bolsters the already stacked lineup. Check out the remaining tour dates below:
06/23 – Stroudsburg, PA @ The Sherman Theater ^
06/24 – Sayreville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom *
06/25 – Hartford, CT @ Webster Theater *
06/26 – Elmira, NY @ The L *
06/27 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Roxian *
06/29 – Louisville, KY @ Paristown Hall *
06/30 – Columbus, OH @ Kemba Live *
07/01 – Grand Rapids, MI @ The Intersection *
07/02 – Ft. Wayne, IN @ Pierre’s *
07/05 – Moline, IL @ The Rust Belt *
07/06 – Green Bay, WI @ EPIC Event Center *
07/07 – Omaha, NE @ Admiral *
07/08 – Des Moines, IA @ Val Air *
07/10 – Billings, MT @ Zoo Montana *
07/11 – Great Falls, MT @ The Newburry *
07/12 – Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory *
07/14 – Grand Junction, CO @ Mesa Theater *
07/15 – Colorado Springs, CO @ Sunshine Studios *
07/16 – Wichita, KS @ The Wave *
07/17 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Diamond Ballroom *
^ = no Brand of Sacrifice
* = no Ov Sulfur
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