Tonight I had the pleasure, no wait, honor of interviewing Converge's Jacob Bannon. His band is one of the openers for the Dethklok and Mastodon co-headling tour.
What a tour this one is at that.
High on Fire took the stage, a shirtless Matt Pike laid down licks that Ted Nuggent should be proud of. A little metal, a little Southern draw and a great opening to the evening.
Converge were welcomed to a crowd that wouldn't normally be at a Converge show. The crowd took a liking, opening up a circle pit and generally keeping a bit of mayhem alive. The band played a pretty even set across the board, whether it was the new brutality off Axe to Fall or some Jane Doe sweepers. Next time I'm able to catch the band, I would like it to be in a smaller venue - preferably a rowdy basement.
After seeing a hardcore legend, the next best thing to rock, metal - or whatever you want to call it - Mastodon are nothing short of stellar. This is a band that I have no problem in calling the next Metallica. Their songs are elegant, driving, rough pieces of music, both in the traditional and non-traditional sense of the word. Their show is an experience of classic and new age rock blended into one and setting the audience into both headbanging and dazes.
After a few intros, Brendon Small, drumming legend Gene Hoglan, famous Zappa axe man Mike Keneally and bassist Bryan Beller took the stage with backing video and short films that made the set a live version of Metalocalypse. Small may have created this generations Spinal Tap, though Dethklok may just rock to a level above 11.
It was a wonderful evening to get your ears blown out, be entertained and watch a general ambiance of great rock music. Though the headliner may be a bit of a parody, the bill doesn't include one punchline - just a punch to the face.
[ed. note: the set list below are going off the stage lists. I'm sure of Converge's and Dethklok's sets, and I know Mastodon played all of Crack the Skye, but since there was a delay in fixing the screen before their set, the rest of the set I'm unsure of.]
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