Strapping Young Lad
The Graceland, Seattle WA
05/15/2002

After being a fan of Strapping Young Lad/Devin Townsend for quite a while I was very excited to see SYL play live for the first time. I find it kind of odd how they live just a few hours up I-5 yet have never been to Seattle. All is forgiven now as on May 15th 2002 they decided to grace us with their presence at the Graceland. I missed nearly all of the opening bands due to partying and having to drive back home after realizing I left my camera’s memory card there. From what I understand I didn’t miss much, besides I was there to see Devin and company, not a bunch of local bands.

From the opening of “Velvet Kevorkian/All Hail the New Flesh” on through the very end Strapping Young Lad delivered a ferocious attack on the senses with a thick wall of sound backed by the crushing drumming of drum god Gene Hoglan. Devin is an awesome frontman with a fantastic sense of humor. The crowd was behind him 100 percent of the time as he tore through a set comprised of many of the best songs from both SYL albums and a number of brand new ones as well. Devin’s energy was up there with the best of them and his facial expressions were priceless. I have never seen anyone give an audience as much good natured shit as Devin and I got the impression that the crowd loved him for it. Jed Simon and Byron Stroud provided the stringed attack and didn’t let up for a minute, reproducing the studio tracks with the greatest of ease. This show marked the debut of new keyboardist Will Campagna who seemed to fit in very well with the band musically. It probably doesn’t need to be said but Gene was awesome as usual. Is there a better drummer in metal today? I think not!

All said and done, Strapping Young Lad is one of the best live acts I have ever seen and I have seen a lot of them. If the new songs they played are an indication of what’s to come the next album is going to kill, possibly even surpassing the brilliance of “City”. Check these guys out on their current West Coast mini-tour; it will be well worth your while.

Set list:
Velvet Kevorkian
All Hail the New Flesh
Oh My Fucking God
Devour*
SYL
In The Rainy Season
Consequence*
Bring On The Young*
Home Nucleonics
Force Fed*
Namaste
Detox
Dirt Pride*
Far Beyond Metal

*New song

Rating: 10 /10