Thursday night I hopped on the L all excited to finally see Mastodon play over at Metro. I had been looking forward to this show ever since I saw they were going on tour because not only would I get to see Mastodon, but Kylesa was also playing with them and that’s another band I’ve always wanted to see. The day at work seemed to move in slow motion as I kept looking at the clock hoping it would tell me it was time to leave and after what felt like 20 hours, I was on my way to the club, fighting off legions of Cubs fans who were in my way. Weren’t these people aware they are rooting for the wrong Chicago team?
Intronaut
Intronaut
Intronaut
Intronaut
Intronaut were the first band to take the stage and are a band I’d never heard of before this evening. They played some mostly mid-tempo metal with a lot of low end and chugging riffs. Their singer grunted and growled and sounded pretty pissed off. For the most part I liked what I heard and they played pretty much the perfect length of time so I didn’t grow tired of them.
Kylesa
Kylesa
Kylesa
Kylesa
They quickly cleared off the stage and soon Kylesa started setting up their equipment. When they started sound schecking it turned out that their sampler wasn’t working at all. After about 15 minutes of trying to fix it with no success, the band just decided to forge on without it. I was kind of bummed because that is such a cool element to their sound and I felt like my first time seeing them play wouldn’t give me the full experience. When the band started playing though all fears were instantly eradicated. They played with such intensity and power and had such a force to their sound that the samples weren’t even needed. I really like the added wall of sound that their dual drummer setup provides. During the entire set I don’t think their bass player held still for more than a half of a second, he was thrashing around all over the place while the rest of the band were pounding the life out of their instruments while whipping their hair around. They played about 45 minutes and when they were done I was wishing they’d get an encore!
Mastodon
Mastodon
Mastodon
After what felt like a very long time and with the crowd starting to grow impatient and chant their name, Mastodon finally took the stage about 20 minutes later than scheduled. They opened up with the first song from their new album, Crack the Skye and the crowd roared with approval. They then proceeded to play the entire album from start to finish. I was surprised by how familiar the crowd seemed with the material with it having only been out for a short amount of time. Everyone was shaking their fists and banging their heads in unison. The band really didn’t stop between songs and each one sort of transitioned into the next so the whole album felt like it was presented in one piece.
Mastodon
Mastodon
Mastodon
With the new songs being such a different direction and more intricate than their previous material, I was curious how that stuff would translate live. I was amazed by how great those songs came across in the live setting and just how the band is such a tight unit and play like a well oiled machine. I also really like the new songs with their more melodic vocals and how the songs have a lot more complexity to them and judging by the crowd reaction during the first few songs I’d say I’m not alone in my opinion.
Mastodon
Mastodon
Mastodon
After they finished the Crack the Skye material, they shifted gears and started blasting out the older material. Those songs sounded so fast and so powerful live that the force of the sound was almost painful from my position up front where I was shooting from. Just like with the newer material, I was blown away by just how tight the band was and how they played those songs to perfection. The crowd went pretty nuts too and the sold out crowd were eating it all up.
After they band played well over an hour it was time to hit the road and the sweaty crowd starting filing out of the packed club to the cool fresh air outside. Everyone, especially myself, left completely satisfied and drained from a show that was powerful and entertaining from start to finish without a single bad minute. I’m making it a point to try and catch both Mastodon and Kylesa every time they come to town from this point forward.
I was at this show, too. I was already a fan of Intronaut and Mastodon but I’d never heard Kylesa before. Needless to say, they blew me away and I picked up their new CD as soon as their set was over (they had a cool deal where if you bought a T-shirt, you got the new CD for free). The whole show was great, Intronaut was awesome and Mastodon killed. One of the best shows I’ve been to in a long time.