Written by:	Baz Anderson
Published:	November 23, 2010
Event:	Exodus: UK & Ireland Tour (Website)
Location:	Rescue Rooms, Nottingham, United Kingdom
Galleries:	Exodus - Nottingham, England, 22nd November 2010 by Baz Anderson (19)

It seemed somewhat bizarre that Exodus, these undeniable thrash metal legends would be playing at one of the smaller venues in Nottingham, but even more so that the queue to get in the venue before the show consisted of only a handful of people. Maybe because it was a Monday night, who knows.




It was going to be a relatively brief night with just the two bands. First up were Scotland's metal machine, Man Must Die. These guys might come over as somewhat of a technical death metal outfit on their recordings, but in the live environment their music sounded unmistakably deathcore. The band had a small audience, and even a smaller minority who seemed to be enjoying the set. Tonight's audience had a number of middle-aged members, who probably just could not appreciate the modern edge. The band showed us that they can provide some nice crushing death metal, but the pleasant parts were all too infrequent in among the vocalist's crude outbursts.



Still relatively early in the evening, Exodus took the stage to a much busier room. Not entirely packed, but people were standing from the front to the back. The audience were clearly ready and up for it, bursting in to chaos for the opening two songs of the latest album. Exodus always sound harder and sharper live, and this wasn't an exception. Rob and the gang owned the stage, although it was the intimidating frontman doing all of the moving on there himself.



In this intimate environment Rob was not acting as overtly brute-minded, and built up somewhat of a connection with the audience with the help of a few humorous comments that the last time they played in Bradford, he almost confused it for Afghanistan - before plunging into a surprisingly enjoyable version of "Children Of A Worthless God". The main problem with the later Exodus material is that the songs are so long, and this was felt in the set only a tiny amount as the band's setlist had a healthy balance between new and old. "A Lesson In Violence" and "Piranha" met with the crushing "Deathamphetamine" and galloping "War Is My Shepherd". There wasn't much to complain about song-selection-wise, other than the band still completely ignore the fantastic Fabulous Disaster album, bar "The Toxic Waltz".



Illness must have been in the air this evening though, as Rob seemed quite exhausted and during "Piranha" ended up being sick both in front of the drum kit, and over the front of the stage behind the barrier. Much respect has to be given that he didn't miss any lyrics and battled on through the whole set in order to give the people what they deserve. The hot room also took an audience member, presumably through dehydration.



The band came back for an encore of four great songs, including three great classics from the eighties. Exodus certainly proved their worth tonight as still one of thrash metal's biggest forces in the live arena. The band seemed humble and appreciative the audience showed up on a Monday night, and certainly gave us all a deeply satisfying show that won't be forgotten for a while.





Thanks to Adam for the accreditation.
Written by Barry Anderson.
Photos by Barry Anderson.