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Mastodon and Death by Stereo Purposely showing up late in order to get work done and not be bored through opening acts, I realized that one of the opening bands, Sweden’s Cult of Luna, was something I would have been down for. Oh, well. The Cradle at half-capacity was chock full of tough muthas, metalheads and Hessians, so much so that I would have felt nervous in crowd like this in NYC where such people all act out the physical toughness. Before the overlords of Mastodon, came Death By Stereo’s punk-metal brawling to warm up the audience. This was a very strange set for me as at first I thought DBS was just pedestrian, then after a few songs I began to dig them, and when they neared the end of their forty-five minute set I just wanted them to get off stage. DBS’s style perfectly suits them for short blasts, say a thirty minute set, and not a rambling of material. The highlights of the set included the fucking wild frontman Efrem Schulz doing a VFW-style singing in the crowd and the intermittent brilliant guitars of Tito and Dan Palmer. When they were engaging in high pitched soloing, DBS went to another level. Otherwise, the guitars were just a wash and the bass was rumbling so much as to neutralize all sounds and create a white noise effect. Schulz can get a crowd going, but one has to really see him in his element to fully appreciate it. With large Mastodon screens covering their amps, the members of Mastodon took the stage to a moderately-sized though amped up crowd. The Atlanta four-piece then ripped through an hour long set of a well-composed combination of old and new material. All clad in drab clothes (e.g., a set of brown shirts) and hessianed-out, bassist and vocalist Troy Sanders led the shouts on high for both the band and the crowd. Sanders was joined in unison by guitarists Bill Kelliher and Brent Hinds and drummer Brann Dailor to produce an exceptionally tight and heavy set. After the opening song and the members’ mild-mannered movements on stage, dogged concentration on their playing, it became clear how much Mastodon is a stoner metal live band. Though the core of Mastodon, Dailor and Kelliher, are from western NY, you can easily see Mastodon running with the heavy stoner crowd in Texas. What was also clear is how Mastodon straddles the world of huge and small metal acts, as they seemed perfectly comfortable in the Cradle, but you could also see them demolishing an arena. Some song highlights included “Blood and Thunder,” “Iron Tusk,” “Megalodon,” “Naked Burn” and covers from the Melvins and Thin Lizzy (as an encore). If you are fan of metal, then you have to catch Mastodon as soon as you can. It is only a matter of time before tickets will be hard to come by.
copyright exoduster.com 2005 |
