Hot off the email… a review of the Machine Head/God Forbid/Caliban show in Birmingham! Thanks Glynn, for sending it in! “A huge ass kissing thanks to all the bands on Friday for putting on an awesome show! I was lucky enough to meet Machine Head before the show and they were all great guys, even though Rob wouldn’t let me touch his beard! I was one of the first into the venue so I ran straight to the barrier. First on were Caliban, who played a great opening set í¢ä‰åäóì the only downfall was the sound quality, but despite this they didn’t fail to impress. They played a lot from the new album ‘The Opposite From Within’ closing with ‘Goodbye’, which was good to scream along to. Its usually awkward being the opening band, but they went down really well and got the crowd to do a huge wall of death. After Caliban’s set I could see the members of God Forbid waiting on the upper balcony, and when they came on they were much appreciated, they had numerous circle pits during the set and played some great tracks, mostly from ‘Gone Forever’, including personal favourite ‘Better Days’. This was my second time seeing the band and although they were great last time (on the NWOAHM tour), I thought they were much better this time round. God forbid left the stage, and fortunately the venue played Chimaira through the speakers to keep us sane whilst we waited. A lot of ‘Machine Fucking Head’ chanting followed and then the lights faded, the intro music started, and then the intro to ‘Imperium’, which was followed by a huge cheer. Rob’s vocals filled the room and within seconds of the opening lines there were pits and crowd surfers. They played some great songs, from both old and new albums, including ‘Bulldozer’, ‘Old’, ‘Days Turn Blue to Gray’ and ‘The Blood, The Sweat, The Tears’, ‘In The Presence Of My Enemies’ and ‘Take My Scars’. I got completely crushed but it was worth every moment, I even heard that people were jumping from the balcony! They also played some calmer tracks later into the set, ‘The Burning Red’ and ‘Descend The Shades of Night’, which gave us a chance to build are energy up for a covers medley which included Sepultura and Metallica’s ‘Battery’ and a tribute to one of Birmingham’s ‘local’ bands Black Sabbath. ‘Davidian’ was amazing with everyone singing along – ‘Let freedom ring with a shotgun blast’. By this point I had been pushed from the centre to the speakers on the left, where Phil Demmel spent his time pulling some hilarious faces at the crowd whilst playing. The amazing hour and a half set closed with Block, and everyone raising their middle fingers to the words ‘fuck it all’. I enjoyed every moment and pity everyone who wasn’t lucky enough to have their asses in Birmingham on Friday night, can’t wait for the next UK ‘Head tour!”