The hardest working concert fan in Detroit, Art Michalski, recently attended 3 shows in 3 days. After catching Alexisonfire and Clutch on consecutive nights, the Motor City concert scene wasn't enough for Arty. He had to jump the state line and catch Lamb of God in Toledo. He's like the Energizer Bunny... of METAL! - ed.

Alexisonfire @ Majestic Theatre- March 14, 2007

The Canadian band Alexisonfire got a lot of love from their Canadian brethren at the sold out show at the Majestic Theatre, as the band opened up for Anti-Flag. The band’s 45-minute set focused in on both their latest album, Crisis, with tracks such as “This Could Be Anywhere in the World” and “Boiled Frogs” getting the strong treatment they deserved.

It looked as if most of the people made the trip through the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel or Ambassdor Bridge in order to see the band. When lead singer Dallas Green showed his thanks to the Canadian fans for showing up, the American fans responded in a chorus of boos and started chanting “U.S.A.” like they were getting ready for the Republican National Convention in 2008. Quickly, Green spotted the irony of people chanting that at an Anti-Flag show (a notoriously anti-Bush band).

The band is positioning themselves to be a hit in Canada as well as gaining a cult like following here in the States, similar to bands like Thrice. But if the band can keep up the type of show that was seen, that cult like status could grow into something major.

Clutch @ State Theatre, March 15, 2007

Inside of a rowdy State Theatre, the beer drinkers and hell raisers shoved around as Clutch brought their hard rock jam style sound to an estimated 2,500 or so. The band, lead by scruffy and bearded singer Neil Fallon, let out their fury in songs like “Spacegrass”. The cult following of the band came out in full force, as fan favorites were sung to just as loud as some of the band’s minor rock radio hits, such as the furious anti-government anthem “The Mob Goes Wild.” The band did showcase some of its new material from their upcoming From Beale Street to Oblivion album (out March 27th ), such as the new single “Electric Worry.” The new material seems to be moving in more of a jam rock direction, versus more of the straight forward hard rocking groove approach of their previous records.

Fallon has the demeanor of a jam rocker; not being much of a talker and letting the band’s music do all the storytelling that it had to. Clutch may not be the most engaging band live, but the solid riffs and Fallon’s gruff vocals make up for any lack of showmanship that may hurt the band.

Lamb of God w/ Trivium & Machine Head @ Headliners- March 16, 2007

Obviously, the 2000 person capacity venue Headliners was too small of a club for Lamb of God to crash through the doors. The way over sold out capacity of the Toledo venue could hardly contain the rage of the fans in attendance during the Virginia’s band 75-minute set.

In their maiden voyage to Toledo, the band sent people slamming into each other right off the bat with tracks like “Hourglass,” and the epic “Walk With Me In Hell.”

Lead singer Randy Blythe and company kept dishing out the fan favorites, such as “Laid to Rest” and “11^th Hour.” The venue felt about 100 degrees inside by the time the band launched into the Pantera-style grooved “Redneck,” and the primal thrash of the final song of the evening “Black Label.”

Meanwhile, openers Trivium and Machine Head put together similar 35-minute sets. The latter of the two bands seem to have more of the crowd on their side. The San Francisco band Machine Head was promoting their upcoming album, The Blackening (out March 27^th) with the early-era Metallica leaning track “Asthetics of Hate” becoming the showcased track from that album. Meanwhile, both bands sets could have been at least ten minutes longer, and both bands could have played a few more songs that nearly surprisingly omitted from the set.