Here's a very brief outline of what was missed by a few and some of what can be expected by others:
When a venue's bar enclosure is larger than its stage, it usually follows that very little is being done to promote stellar performances. But, at the admitted risk of canonizing the event as
The Little Concert That Could, Immolation and Suffocation still managed to offer exceptionally clear-sounding, fluid performances (I’m chalking it up to experience and a very good sound guy).
As expected, nearly all of Immolation's set consisted of material from their two most recent releases. On paper and in thought there's an obvious necessity for the band to promote their latest output, but on this occasion any semblance of obligation was effectively neutralized through an air of drive and intensity that emanated from the stage: Bob Vigna and Ross Dolan honestly appeared just as enraptured while performing live as they clearly were
15+ years ago, and it was a pleasure to soak that in. It’s a shame they were only on for about an hour.
Suffocation enjoyed a considerably longer set than Immolation and was a little less business-like in their demeanor, but still flawless in their performance. I think it’s pretty well-documented that the core band members are very aware of their back catalogue, and so it wasn’t too surprising that quite a bit of material from the first few albums was touched on. I guess the only unexpected aspect of their performance was that they seemed a little uncomfortable with the small turnout: despite the influx of people on the floor once Suffocation came on, there still was never a solid line of heads at the front of the stage. In fact, I don’t think I made physical contact with another person at any point during the concert (which was actually kind of nice, by the way).
I can post what I remember of either set if anyone wants it, but beware that it’ll undoubtedly have holes in it, especially as far as newer material goes. Also, Terrance Hobbs mentioned that both bands switch up the “classic” tracks each night, so I’m not sure how informative it would be anyway.