Lamb of God, Mastodon celebrate 20 years of metal excellence in Phoenix

Nostalgia, milestone and anniversary concert tours are a huge trend in music these days.

Next up: metal legends Lamb of God and Mastodon, who are in the midst of a co-headlining tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of two albums, Lamb of God's "Ashes of the Wake" and Mastodon's "Leviathan."

Phoenix New Times recently caught of with Lamb of God's bassist, John Campbell, before the two bands blow the doors off Arizona Financial Theatre on Friday night.

Quotes have been edited for length and clarity.

Phoenix New Times: How did this co-headlining tour come about?
John Campbell: We’ve known each other for a long, long time. What we didn’t know is we’d be putting a record out on the same day so many years ago. But over the years, it’s been a conversation that we should do this. We’re all (playing music), and doing well, so the conversation started a few years ago and somehow came to fruition.

How is the tour going so far?
It’s fantastic. All the bands, crews – everybody knows each other, so everybody works well. There’s no egos clashing or anything. Everyone on tour has been doing this for a long time, so we’ve all gotten really good at doing this. It’s going incredible well. Couldn’t have asked for a better tour to come together. All the bands’ productions are great, everyone’s playing really well and the crowds have been fantastic.

What can people expect at the show?
Well, it is the 20th anniversary of both of our records, so you’ll see some old guys playing through a 20-year-old record from front to back. We’ve never toured a record like this. It’s interesting to play it front to back because a lot of times people don’t necessarily listen to records front to back. So in the back of my head I’m always like, “Which is the song these guys are going to track advance when they listen to it?” But here you are, stuck listening to it all.

What can be expected? We’ve been doing this for a while; we’ve gotten really good at doing this, and we’re incredibly happy to get to do this.

For every band that’s doing an anniversary tour, there are countless others that didn’t make it long enough for a milestone like this. Why is Lamb of God still here and touring?
I think part of it is we never really intended this to be our jobs. We just did it because we loved it. We were afforded the space to grow as people that way. We’re not faking anything, we’re putting ourselves out there and thankfully getting a great response. We’re real people, with no sort of agenda of topping the charts. We’re doing what comes natural to us, and somehow, that’s connected and afforded us this 20-year nostalgia tour.

After the tour is over, what’s next for Lamb of God?
We wrap this tour in a couple weeks, then we have a one-off playing Riotfest in Chicago, then we do the Headbangers boat at the end of October. Then I think we might start getting serious about making another record.