Concert Reviews

BEHEMOTH Concert Photos and Review

by Brooks Robinson

Updated April 16, 2026

Behemoth – The Observatory North Park – April 14, 2026

The night started off on a bad note, as I made the three-and-a-half-hour drive from Los Angeles to San Diego to catch the opening night of Behemoth’s “The Godless IV Tour”, only to arrive at the box office and find no ticket or photo pass waiting for me. As always, I had arrived early in case there was an issue, but as I stood outside on the sidewalk waiting for someone to figure things out, I heard a huge cheer coming up from inside the venue, followed immediately by Immolation launching into their first song, “These Vengeful Winds”. As I stood outside with a dejected look on my face, cameras around my neck, and padded lens pouches on my belt, I heard song after song being played from my unique vantage point on the other side of the 100-year-old wall. Frantic emails were sent and received and time ticked by. When I finally heard my name called from behind the glass window with a sign saying, “Sold Out – Not Even One Ticket For Sale”, Immolation’s set had been over for a while. Ticket in hand, and photo pass sticker freshly pasted on my laminate, I raced around the building to the entrance, unloaded all my gear for the security check, scanned my newly acquired ticket, and booked it into the 1100 capacity theater that was already completely full of metal maniacs, arriving at the photo pit at the exact moment that the lights flashed and Rotting Christ hit their first note.

Behemoth

The first night of Behemoth’s “The Godless IV Tour” kicked off on Tuesday in San Diego at The Observatory North Park. The Observatory is a restored 1930’s theater with excellent sound that holds 1100 people, but there’s no way only 1100 people were in attendance – once the band was on stage, movement in the venue was next to impossible.

The fans went wild as soon as the house lights cut out just before the band’s entrance. The screaming was deafening, as was the sound when the PA kicked in seconds later. As the lights came up and Nergal slowly walked forward towards the mele, the first thing I noticed was the mic stand directly in front of me. Metal cobras flanked either side of the stand, while the Unholy Trinity sigil was placed between the serpents. The first thing written about Behemoth on their record label Metal Blade’s band bio page is “It doesn’t get more blasphemous than this.” That quote was from the record label…this is the very music your parents worried you’d discover when you were a kid.

The instant Behemoth’s opening salvo, “The Shadow Elite” started to blast through the PA system, fans used it as the inspiration to go absolutely wild. A pit opened up, and crowd surfers were everywhere. Concert photographers typically get three songs in the pit before getting bounced, but on this night, we were almost sent away during the first song, as security feared for our safety. I was moving my position, and the head of security motioned that I’d have to move out of the pit and pointed to the constant stream of people coming over the top of the barricade. I nodded, moved to the side, and kept shooting with my off eye towards the security guard, as did the other photographers. Eventually, security had too much on their hands to worry about us, and we kept doing our thing as we had before. I’ve never had anything like that happen, and it’s a testament to Behemoth and their passionate fans that they were able to stir up such a ruckus during the first song.

The intensity inside The Observatory couldn’t have been higher, and Nergal used the opportunity to remind the fans that it had been three years since they’d last played San Diego and the same venue. He said this show was a complete sell-out, while the previous gig only had 800 fans, and he asked why those 800 fans from 2023 sounded so much louder than the current fans. This of course set off a chain reaction from the 1100 fans in the building, and completely upped the already high stakes.

The lighting was spectacular and changed dramatically with each song. The band made full use of the stage, with both Orion and Seth walking up the stairs that led to Inferno’s drum riser at various times. Nergal stayed center stage at his microphone until he’d suddenly dash off left or right, play for a moment, then return to center. This was a big production, and the stage, lighting, and sound were all top-notch. Behemoth have been doing this since 1991, and their experience showed – they are a great live band, and as polished as it already was, you would never know this was the first of twenty-six stops on the US tour.

Setlist:

The Shadow Elite
Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer
Thy Becoming Eternal
Conquer All
The Shit ov God
Ecclesia Diabolica Catholica
Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel
Nomen Barbarvm
Bartzabel
The Return of Darkness And Evil (Bathory cover)
Ov Fire and the Void
The Deathless Sun
Chant for Eschaton 2000

Encore:

O Father O Satan O Sun!

Behemoth is:

Nergal – Vocals/Guitar
Inferno – Drums
Orion – Bass
Seth – Guitar

Deicide

Formed in 1987 in Tampa, Florida, Deicide is a death metal force of nature. I can’t remember ever hearing vocals performed live like Glen Benton, but they were intense and memorable. Glen has talked about his voice changing after having his tonsils removed in his 20’s, and going on tour a week or two later before they’d had a chance to heal properly, permanently altering his voice. Vocal lore aside, these guys are intense, and didn’t let up. There were no moments during the set where fans held up their phones/lighters to wave them around above their heads during a slow song…no…their set was brutal, and the crowd made the most of it. As a band, Deicide doesn’t run around on stage, or jump off the drum riser, but instead kept to their respective spots and let the auditory bludgeoning speak for itself.

Deicide is:

Jadran "Conan" Gonzalez – Guitar
Glen Benton – Vocals
Steve Asheim – Drums
Taylor Nordberg – Guitar

Rotting Christ

The lighting for all three bands I saw (sorry, Immolation) was significantly different. Very dramatic and ever-changing for Behemoth, very photographer-friendly but less theatrical for Deicide, and dark for Rotting Christ, with momentary flashes where the camera’s sensor could actually register something.

Rotting Christ are from Greece, forming in 1987 by brothers Sakis and Themis Tolis. Over the course of their career, there’s been controversy regarding their name, and they’ve been forced to cancel concert dates, had immigration issues getting into various countries to play shows, and on one occasion, they were thrown in jail upon entering the country of Georgia on suspicion of terrorism. With the “Godless” theme of this tour and a strength in numbers approach, they were in good company on this night. By the time the last note of Rotting Christ’s closer, “Grandis Spiritus Diavolos,” faded out from the PA system, their set was deemed a complete success by the packed house in San Diego.

Rotting Christ is:

Sakis Tolis – Vocals/Guitar
Themis Tolis – Drums
Kostas Spades – Bass
Kostis Foukarakis - Guitar

Immolation

Sorry, I spent all of pioneering death metal band Immolation’s set stuck outside listening through the wall while I waited for my ticket and press pass to be sorted out – hopefully I’ll get to check them out next time.

Immolation is:

Robert Vigna – Guitar
Ross Dolan – Vocals/Bass
Steve Shalaty – Drums
Alex Bouks – Guitar

Brooks Robinson Photographer & Writer

Brooks Robinson is an LA-based concert photographer, and 30+ year freelance camera operator for film, television, and music videos. He has photographed some of the largest film/TV projects in history, and hundreds of music videos in MTV's heyday.

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