It was a beautiful night heading to Berkeley California. Voivod was supported by Prong and Hirax at the UC Theatre and it was and epic night that rocked the ages.
Hirax was the first band on stage. Hirax is a band formed in 1984, with this new incarnation of the band being one of the best. They charged on stage they dominated it. Starting off the set with with “Baptized by Fire”, they jammed through the tunes as if they were on fire and the crowd was into it. The set continued with favorites with “The Plague”, “Mouth Sewn Shut” and “Broken Neck”. The show included 16 songs finishing with “Bombs of Death”. The band left the stage promising to come back, sooner than 10 years.
Follow Hirax band members
Katon W. De Pena – Vocals
Neil Metcalf – Guitars
Jose Gonzalez– Bass
Emilio Marquez – Drums
Setlist:
1). Baptized by Fire
2). Blind Faith
3). Hellion Rising
4). Warlords Command
5). The Plague
6). Black Smoke
7). Faster Than Death
8). Lightning Thunder
9). Hate, Fear and Power
10). Hostile Territory
11). Mouth Sewn Shut
12). Destroy
13). Criminal Punishment
14). Broken Neck
15). El diablo negro
16). Bombs of Death
Prong was up next and they just keep getting better with age. Their first song “The Decent” set the pace for the set. Their set consisted of a Killing Joke cover “Seeing Red,” “Beg To Differ”, “Revenge….Best Served Cold”, a Chrome cover of “Third From the Sun” and Rush‘s “Working Man”. The Rush cover was my favorite, as the presentation of the song was stunning. The set was riddled with prompts to the crowd, with little response, but it didn’t detour the band at all. They rocked it!
Follow Prong band members
Tommy Victor – guitar, vocals
Jason Christopher – Bass, backing vocals
Tyler Bogliole – drums
Setlist:
1). The Descent
2). Seeing Red (Killing Joke cover)
3). Irrelevant Thoughts
4). For Dear Life
5). Beg to Differ
6). Unconditional
7). Disbelief
8). Cut-Rate
9). Broken Peace
10). Breaking Point
11). Revenge…Best Served Cold
12). Whose Fist Is This Anyway?
13). Another Worldly Device
14). Dark Signs
16). Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck
17). Third From the Sun (Chrome cover)
18). Working Man (Rush cover)
When Voivod finally hit the stage, they blew the audience away. Voivod was the powerhouse of the night and they dominated their set. The band started their show with a bang playing “Forgotten in Space” from the album Killing Technology, which was released in 1987. From “Holographic Thinking” to “Fix My Heart” the band rocked just over an hour and they could have done two hours with no complaints as the crowd was completely involved. The show including tracks “Rise” and “Fall” with the band having the crowd completely in their hands. The set ended with “Voivod” released in 1984 on the War and Pain album and they nailed it. What a iconic song! This band showed why they are headliners by how they played.
Voivod Band Members:
Michel “Away” Langevin – drums
Denis “Snake” Bélanger – vocals
Daniel “Chewy” Mongrain – guitars
Dominic “Rocky” Laroche – bass
Setlist:
1). Forgotten in Space
2). Holographic Thinking
3). Tribal Convictions
4). Rise
5). Pre-Ignition
6). Nuclear War
7). Fall
8). Condemned to the Gallows
9). The End of Dormancy
10). Fix My Heart
11). Voivod
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Photographer of about 10 years, I have been shooting concerts for about 8 of those years. I started to get serious about concert photography about 6 or 7 years ago and now try to shoot as many as I can. I shoot mostly rock but, have done some country and big band stuff. I love music and since I am nowhere close to being a musician, this is a way I can be a small part of what, in the words of Henry Rollins, “gets me through the highs, the lows and everything in between”.
