The headliners may have been Ministry, but the night kicked off with the mighty DevilDriver, hailing from California and formed back in 2002. A relatively new band to the scene, but these guys had big plans and the means and motivation to put them in motion. This was my fourth or fifth time witnessing their amazing performance live. The night was full energy, high impact riffage and epic drum beats all in all one of the best shows I’ve seen them put on.
Devildriver opened with the hard hitting “End of the Line” from the 2005 album The Fury of Our Maker’s Hands, one of my all-time favorites. The song starts with a slow mellow introduction, kicking in the the heavy stuff (that we all want to see) gradually. From there it’s non-stop fast brutal epicness till the very end, an excellent choice to get the crowd going.
Despite the cloying heat in the venue, DevilDriver barely paused for breath. There’s no pleasing the Scottish population in of weather – we complain when it’s cold and as soon as the sun comes out for a day or two, we can’t handle the heat in a crowded venue. Despite this, the crowd kept on giving back to Dez and the band as much as they were dealt. What certainly helps was that the set as a whole was perfectly selected with a mix of their old classics and their new stuff. The new songs from the album Trust No One fit perfectly with the setlist – not surprising in the slightest given that Devildriver are masters of setlist choice. There were only two songs from Trust No One as they unfortunately had a short time on stage, but they gave it their all in what little time they had.
They finished off their set with their fastest circle pit song “Meet the Wretched” from their self-titled 2003 album. This song is arguably the best choice to finish a set with – it builds up so much momentum and energy with the crowd you can’t help but to run around for a lovely big circle pit. The sheer epicness of this song gets you stoked for the next band, and ready for an even better time than you’re already having. It is, to quote the song itself, “Fast as f**k”.
A perfect end for an incredible set.
Devildriver’s full set:
- End Of The Line
- Not All Who Wander Are Lost
- Daybreak
- I Could Care Less
- Nothing Wrong?
- My Night Sky
- Before The Hangmans Noose
- Clouds Over California
- Ruthless
- Meet The Wretched
DevilDriver: official | facebook | twitter | instagram
Trust No One is available to buy on Amazon in the following formats:
- [amazon text=CD&asin=B01DB85Z0C] (or [amazon text=special edition CD&asin=B01CFGCFKY] with bonus tracks)
- [amazon text=Vinyl&asin=B01APH59IU]
- [amazon text=Digital &asin=B01CQHHP6Q]
