Annilhilation in Sheffield

I wasn't sure if there were enough metal fans left in Sheffield to fill the Corporation for a band like Annihilator but to my surprise it was pretty packed. Not the most I've ever seen in there but it didn't feel empty which was good. There was a wide variety of people too, both young and old.

I'd not heard of the support bands before but both were pretty good. I preferred Sworn Amongst (but I have to say that as they're from Yorkshire). They both got a reasonable reaction from the audience which is always hard for a support band.


Annihilator were awesome in every way. I still can't hear properly on my right side! Normally I find it hard to remember the exact set list when I get home from a gig but this time I have a crib sheet, which I'll mention later, so lets go track by track.

Ambush
An odd one to start with I thought. It's from the latest album and hasn't had as many years to sink in, so much that I didn't recognise it at first. Then the chorus came along and I realized "Oh, I do know this!".

Clown Parade
Probably my favorite from the Metal album. Great vocal work from Dave Padden and excellent solo work from Jeff Waters. Although that kind of goes without saying. Also some nice "Woah Oh Oh Oh"'s for the audience at the end.

Plasma Zombies
Brutal from start to finish. I should take a moment to mention Carlos on drums as this song features them heavily. He was hidden away at the back but his presence was definitely felt.

King of the Kill
First of the classics and first chance of the evening for Jeff to take lead vocals. Most of the audience seemed to know when to shout "Kill"! Fast and powerful.

Betrayed
Another one of the new ones but this time one I'm more familiar with thanks to it's early release on You Tube. Some great guitar harmony here as the more recent work is obviously planned with Jeff and Dave playing together in mind unlike the earlier stuff.

The Box
Back to the King of the Kill album again for this one. Based on their live albums they like to play this often. It's got a little bass intro so I'll should take this opportunity to mention Alberto who is playing bass for the band at the moment. He's doing a good job and seems to be enjoying himself.

Hell is a War
It's been pretty relentless up to this point with barely any breaks in between the songs. No stopping to chat all the time like some bands do, they just keep going. Now we get a brief chance to rest thanks to the slow and beautiful intro to Hell is a War. Of course that doesn't last all that long until we're back to the speed.

Ultra Motion
Then they take the speed to a whole other level with Ultra Motion. It's hard and fast from beginning to end with some fantastic solos. Dave does a great job with the really fast lyrics originally written for Joe Comeau. The crowd love it.

Set the World on Fire
A track I know really well, over the years this has been one of my most listened albums. Sounded great live.

W.T.Y.D.
Everyone seemed to know this one, a classic from the first album. Was it on the Total Annihilator compilation? A couple of people I spoke to said they'd lost touch with Annihilator until that free compilation was released. I guess it did the job.

The Trend
I fell in love with the opening to The Trend when those You Tube vids from the workshops surfaced but to hear it live with the full band was outstanding. I expect this will become a long term favorite and a regular on future set lists.

The Fun Palace
More excellent guitar work here and Dave does a great job of hitting the high parts in the vocals too. Although you can tell from his face that it's at the extreme end of his range!

Phoenix Rising / Sounds Good To Me
The chairs come out and we chill for a little while. Jeff comments that it's the dirtiest chair he's sat on. Sounds about right for Corp, LOL. I've always enjoyed Phoenix Rising and Sounds Good To Me but I never expected to hear them live and yet that's what I got on my first time.

21
Another slightly odd one which I've not heard as much as for some reason which album it's on varies and my copies don't have it. Must buy the remasters at some point. Still I have heard it, just not as often and it's not hard to figure out when is the right time to shout "21"!

Phantasmagoria
Dave calls for the biggest mosh of the night and the crowd in the centre happily oblige and go crazy during the intro to this one.

Crystal Ann
A short instrumental which is the perfect opportunity for Jeff to show off more of his guitar skills.

Alison Hell
The classic end to a brilliant night.

I'm sure someone out there is uploading footage to You Tube, but as you should know I personally prefer to just take a few photos. You can see mine here if you didn't already catch them on my Facebook or Twitter feeds:
http://picasaweb.google.com/geniedataservices/20101115
(For anyone that doesn't know, the bald guy in pic 7 is me)

I also bagged a little souvenir from the crew as they started cleaning up, complete with Dave's footprints: