Whitechapel -- Anaheim, CA -- September 6th, 2008

[treghet]

I thought I would type this up just for fun since I know there are a number of Whitechapel fans here. I was a big fan of Whitechapel in 2008 and I had been waiting to see them for a while. I had missed them multiple times due to not being able to get a ride. In February of that year they came here with Darkest Hour, Cephalic Carnage, and Emmure. Then in the spring they came with The Devil Wears Prada. Then they were on Summer Slaughter, and I couldn't make it to that either. So I was pretty excited when I would finally have the chance to see them at this show.

This was Whitechapel's first headlining tour and Molotov Solution, A Different Breed of Killer, Impending Doom, and Through the Eyes of the Dead were supporting them. Their popularity exploded after they released This Is Exile and this night was the second of two back to back shows at Chain Reaction, both of which had sold out. Only a few months prior they played there as the first opening band for The Devil Wears Prada. After this tour they would never play there again.

After a local band opened the show, the Las Vegas deathcore group Molotov Solution was up. At this time I had never listened to them before, but they were damn good and they turned me into a big fan. After this they ended up being one of my favorite deathcore bands for a long time. For being the first band on the tour they got good reception from the crowd, since Chain Reaction is pretty much their home. This was when they only had one album out, and I don't think they play any of these songs anymore, at least not regularly. The set is probably out of order, but the songs should be correct.

1. Introduction
2. Corporatocracy
3. An Even More Inconvenient Truth
4. Order Out of Chaos
5. Prison Planet
6. Psych-War
7. The Myth of Human Progress

Next up was A Different Breed of Killer, who are from Knoxville. They didn't impress me as much, but they're at least decent, for a generic deathcore band. I have no idea what they played.

After them was Impending Doom, who I was looking forward to much more. I really liked their first album and at this time they were a really popular local band, so the crowd went crazy for them. This was the only time I saw them because I think their albums after the debut are just horrible. But I know a lot of people will say the same about the first one too. Again, the set is probably out of order, but the songs should all be correct.

1. Intro
2. In Reverence Of
3. For All Have Sinned
4. My Nemesis (w/ Phil Bozeman)
5. The Serpent Servant
6. Nailed. Dead. Risen.
7. Condemned
8. Silence the Oppressors

Through the Eyes of the Dead was nex and I just took it easy during their set and watched from the side. They're good, but for some reason I just never got into them. This is the set from the previous night, so it was probably the same.

1. Force Fed Trauma
2. To the Ruins
3. Failure in the Flesh
4. Welcome to the Wasteland
5. Truest Shade of Crimson
6. Dead End Roads
7. Two Inches from a Main Artery

After they finished I went to get a spot closer to the front. By this time it was insanely hot inside and waiting in the packed crowd for Whitechapel to finish setting up seemed like eternity. Finally the lights dimmed and "Of Legions" began to play on the PA. When they went into "Devirgination Studies" the room turned into pandemonium. Phil looked possessed on stage and his vocals were perfect. For whatever reason they were only playing with two guitarists for this show. I'm not sure if they thought the stage was too small for all three or if one was just sick. Anyway, they played my three favorite songs from The Somatic Defilement, so I was happy. However, during the ending breakdown of "Prostatic Fluid Asphyxiation" I ended up at the edge of the pit without realizing it and some guy was crowd killing. He hit me in the back of the head a couple times before I nearly fell down. I didn't even see it coming. After the song was finished Phil asked the crowd what they wanted to hear. A lot of people were screaming for "Ear to Ear", which was actually written on the setlist, but unfortunately they skipped over it and played "Eternal Refuge" instead. Their set was incredibly short for a headlining show and I wish they had played more old songs (I was really hoping for "Festering Fiesta"), but I'm still glad I was there. Out of all the times I've seen them this was by far the best and I will always remember how insane this show was.

1. Of Legions
2. Devirgination Studies
3. To All That Are Dead
4. Vicer Exciser
5. Possession
6. Prostatic Fluid Asphyxiation
7. Eternal Refuge
8. This Is Exile

[dcmetal108]

Whitechapel are easily within my top 5 live bands to see.

[Kapper]

damn, 8 songs for a headliner? What is that, like half an hour?

[jd091]

Originally Posted by treghet

A lot of people were screaming for "Ear to Ear", which was actually written on the setlist, but unfortunately they skipped over it and played "Eternal Refuge" instead.

Aw man, I like Eternal Refuge but if that happened I'd be pissed! Ear to Ear is great. Or Festering Fiesta, like you said, but have they ever played that live? Like, post-2006?

Definitely a short set, but it sounds great. Chain Reaction probably have the coolest shows in the country; people there go crazy. It's kind of weird, realizing that it isn't 2008 anymore, and deathcore from that era is pretty much dead.

I remember liking Molotov Solution a lot back in the day, too, but I haven't listened to them in years.

[kalfitegrdan]

Dude, awesome. I would have loved to see that lineup back then. I used to love Molotov Solution, but after seeing them live last year I absolutely fucking hate them...bunch of fucking douchebags.

I saw Whitechapel a few months before this on Summer Slaughter, but don't really remember it because I'd never heard of them before that show. They always pull out really short headlining sets. I've seen them headline three times now and they've never pulled out a set longer than forty five minutes. I saw them at Warped Tour in 2010 and then saw them like three weeks later doing a short headlining tour and they played the same exact set. I really wish that they would pull out Somatic Defilement, Fairy Fay or Devirgination Studies sometime, but with their new album coming out, I fear that that is impossible..

[Kapper]

Originally Posted by kalfitegrdan

I used to love Molotov Solution, but after seeing them live last year I absolutely fucking hate them...bunch of fucking douchebags.

Really? What happened? I saw them in London a few months back and they seemed totally normal...

[kalfitegrdan]

Originally Posted by Kapper

Really? What happened? I saw them in London a few months back and they seemed totally normal...

Let me preface this by saying that I hate hardcore dancing with a passion and follow that with saying that this was the worst show I've ever been to. There was like this whole crew of like 20 hardcore kids there for MurderDeathKill and they were just flailing their stupid limbs in the pit and fucking with everyone who wasn't during every band. During, Molotov Solution this little shit tried kicking my friend who just grabbed his leg and threw him, then he came back and threw a chair at my friend (who's a pacifist or whatthefuckever) who just caught it and set it down.

But, anyway, why I hate Molotov Solution, during their set my friend and I are headbanging and shouting the lyrics to "Awakening" and after that song or the next one the vocalist stops and says that everyone in the pit are true fans and that every single person that isn't hardcore dancing in the pit isn't a real fan and was just wasting their money coming to this show and was being disrespectful to them.

Then that chair incident happened and the security guards tried to kick that guy out, but his douchebag friends grabbed him away from the security guards and wouldn't let them kick him out. Molotov was playing their last song at that point as my friend and I left the venue and vowed never to see Molotov ever again. So, yeah, anyway that show was horrible and just made me absolutely loathe them.

[Bergman101]

That is a sexy TTEOTD set.

[jd091]

Originally Posted by kalfitegrdan

There was like this whole crew of like 20 hardcore kids there for MurderDeathKill and they were just flailing their stupid limbs in the pit and fucking with everyone who wasn't during every band.

Well, MurderDeathKill is totally a beatdown hardcore band in my opinion, so I wouldn't expect any less. I probably would have been one of those kids if I was there.

[kalfitegrdan]

Originally Posted by jd091

Well, MurderDeathKill is totally a beatdown hardcore band in my opinion, so I wouldn't expect any less. I probably would have been one of those kids if I was there.

Hardcore dancing is one thing (that I still hate), but being a disrespect dickhole and trying to swing at people that aren't in the pit is a whole different level of douchebaggery.