I cannot remember the last time I had been to the Zoo and upon arrival it felt like it was my first time there. As I went in and started walking up the stairs, hearing Strange, one of the supporting band on the bill, making noise and seeing fans head banging brings earlier memories of all the good times I have had in here instantly flooding to my head, making me realize what I loved about the place. So I proceed to the bar whilst it’s clear and order myself a beer, after that I scope out the place for a spot to set up camp to watch the supporting act Chaos Divine belt out a cover of Toto’s Africa whilst I wait for Caligula’s Horse to embrace the stage.

With Chaos Divine finishing up and starting to clear the stage, I rush to find a spot closer to the stage and as I just find my spot the lights go out and then on come Caligula’s Horse. As they open with Rust you can just instantly feel the energy levels of the whole place jump to 100 percent as they jump around in the mosh pit as the chugging down tuned 7 string guitars sends everyone into a headbanging frenzy. Moving into their next song, Bloom/Marigold, everyone is instantly put in a trance by the double bass and the catchy riffs as singer Jim Grey quickly joins us in the mosh pit while Zac, Sam and Dave head bang on stage. Atlas is next on the set list, a much softer opening giving the crowd a chance to take a breather, as Jim brings shows of his beautiful singing while Sam does some intricate guitar work in his solo, complementing Jim’s voice. The crowd is then brought straight back into a mosh frenzy with Daughter of the Mountain right up to their 2015 single Firelight, where the crowd sings along in the chorus and we are treated some wonderful guitar work. Moving on through the show we are addressed by a passionate speech about Charon and the treatment of refugees, a fight for humanity before we near the conclusion of the show, ending with Turntail before an encore with songs Dark Hair Down and the epic The City Has No Empathy, clearly a crowd a favourite, they most certainly saved their best for last, leaving the fans wanting more.

After a great night at the Zoo, Caligula’s Horse ended it in style as they put on a great performance. They opened with a song full of energy and slowed things down at the right time to only bring us back on our feet to get us jumping up and down like no tomorrow and head banging the night away. What really impressed me was their enthusiasm, playing like there were 50,000 people in the audience, which is awesome as the crowd feeds off their energy and vice versa, which was something the supporting bands lacked, not that they were bad. One thing I always look for in a performance is the connection with the audience and that was definitely something they done well, with Jim’s charisma making the audience feel a part of the show and that in turn makes a great and memorable part of the show. As this was their last show of the tour I hope they won’t be taking too long of a time out from playing shows, because the next time they do I definitely recommend to go see their show as this prog metal outfit are definitely making big strides in the metal world and you only need to see these guys play just to realise how good they are.

- Angus Jones