Photo by Randy Blythe
You know that feeling when you show up to a music festival early and are completely (and sometimes surprisingly) mesmerized by one of the first acts to take the stage?
Well, that same thing happens to the musicians who are actually playing the festival too. Case in point: Lamb Of God’s Randy Blythe.
This past weekend at Columbus, Ohio’s Sonic Temple Festival, Blythe was utterly blown away by newcomers FEVER 333 and their jaw-dropping live performance – so much so, the longtime frontman decided to shoot the band’s set on his personal camera and later post about it on Instagram with a glowing review.
Talking about witnessing Jason Butler, Stephen Harrison and Aric Importa on stage for the very first time, Blythe said:
“The other day at [Sonic Temple Festival] I woke up & immediately started doing a lot of stuff- press, business meetings, catching up with friends, etc. Finally I cruised over to our stage to see what was poppin’ & THIS band, [FEVER 333], were playing. I watched one song and immediately got my camera. These dudes were straight WILDING OUT.”
Blythe went on to add, “Normally, you watch a dynamic live act, even the most energetic hardcore band, & you think ‘They have a lot of energy, & the frontman is insane.’ With Fever 333, all three of them were GOING THE FUCK OFF. The goddamn DRUMMER was jumping off shit in between songs. The stage carpet got ripped up, their singer dumped a huge trashcan over his head (there was garbage everywhere), the guitar player was going nuts jumping over shit, the drummer somehow found a giant piece of plastic sidestage and was flying through the air looking like he was in Dragon Ball Z or some shit- it was ILL.”
Lastly, Blythe lent his final comments saying, “I had never heard a single note of their music before & I was getting so pumped up I literally had to restrain myself from running onstage & starting to fuck shit up with them, haha. For me, that’s the sign of a good band – they make me lose my mind from the start. Just incredible energy, & it made me pumped up to go play later myself. I had a really nice talk with them after the show- SUPER cool dudes (2 from LA, one from the ATL) & their music is socially conscious, which as anyone who knows me is aware, is a huge bonus in my book. They also knew our music & were stoked me & my band were watching their gig. They blew me away live, so I show respect where respect is due. I love seeing the youth BRING IT with that straight-up fire I saw so much of in the 80’s at punk & [hardcore] shows, so shout-out to [FEVER 333]. REAL RECOGNIZES REAL, MOTHERFUCKERS. If you get a chance to check them out, do so – it’s an experience you won’t forget!”
To check out Blythe’s epic photos of FEVER 333 from Sonic Temple, be sure to look below. Afterward, make sure to grab tickets to see Lamb of God and FEVER 333 out on their own separate tours here and here.
