BOSTON – Fresh off their new release, Shady Ladies and Outlaw Gentleman, Volbeat started the second leg of their US tour with a date in Boston at the House of Blues. Denmark’s Volbeat has been around for a number of years but are just starting to make headway into the US musical market.
Opening with the thundering Hallelujah Goat, Volbeat came ready to rawk. Next song up was A New Day followed by Guitar Gangsters & Cadillac Blood before taking a breather and debuting a new song off the Shady Ladies release, Pearl Hart. The band has five full releases of material to choose from and this night saw them play at least one song from each. Scattered throughout the night were a mixture of old and new songs like The Human Instrument, Mary Ann’s Place, Lola Montez, and The Hangman’s Body Count. Some other highlights of the show included a couple of songs that were played regularly on most rock radio stations last year, Heaven Nor Hell and Warrior’s Call.
On this night, Volbeat also introduced their newest member and former Anthrax guitarist Rob Caggiano. Caggiano was originally hired to produce and provide some guitar solos for the Shady Ladies release, but quickly formed a bond with the band and was asked to become a full-time member. Caggiano fits right in musically and meshed well with the rest of the band on stage.
Volbeat finished their set with anthemic Still Counting before coming out for a very energetic four song encore. The four songs included Doc Holliday (first time played live), Fallen, The Mirror and the Ripper and ending with the Volbeat classic Pool of Booze, Booze, Booza.
Opening the show were Springfield’s very own All That Remains. ATR is led by Chicopee native Phil Labonte. Labonte was the former singer of another area band, Shadows Fall, before making ATR his main focus. Like Volbeat, ATR also has a new release out entitled, A War You Cannot Win. A War was released last year and the band has been touring constantly since its release. Getting the opening slot for the Volbeat will surely help the band generate some new fans. ATR played a strong 40-minute set and included some of their staple live songs including Two Weeks and Hold On. They also played a couple of new tracks, Stand Up and Asking Too Much. The crowd loved the set and the band is definitely primed for bigger shows.
If the opportunity arises, go check out the latest releases from both bands and definitely go see them live. These are two bands that are really diverse on record and have real high energy live. This really was a great rawk show!
